ImageWare Systems [IWSY] has created the Open Biometrics Initiative (OBI) for the advancement of biometrics technologies in the open source community. The first library to be released into the OBI is OpenEBTS, an application programming interface for the management of Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification data. EBTS is an open specification used by government agencies for the management of biometric data. ImageWare says that OpenEBTS allows developers to quickly and easily add EBTS functionality in their applications. “The goal of the Open Biometrics Initiative…is to advance the current state of the art and product by releasing certain elements of ImageWare’s technology as open source for closer collaboration with the public, private and academic sectors while still maintaining all of our other proprietary technology,” says Jim Miller, IWS chairman and CEO.