The fingerprint matching portion of the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system is going through its contractor tests right now in preparation for independent testing by the agency later this year and is on track to be operational early next year, an FBI official tells TR2.
NGI prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT] will deliver the fingerprint matching system later this summer at which time the FBI will begin its independent testing regimen, says Kevin Reid, the agency’s deputy program manager for NGI. “We’re pretty much on track to be deployed by the beginning of 2011,” he says.
The agency had hoped to implement the fingerprint matching capability by late this year but the schedule always had flexibility built in given the challenge of migrating from the current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) to NGI (TR2, Feb. 18, 2009). IAFIS does fingerprint matching but the NGI database will host multiple biometrics.
Morpho Trak, a unit of France’s Safran Group, is responsible to Lockheed Martin for the new fingerprint matching system, called Advanced Fingerprint Identification Technology (AFIT). Reid says that in testing AFIT is “well beyond” the 99 percent accuracy requirement for submitted prints and is on its way to meet the requirement for response times.
“We’re going in a lot of cases from minutes to seconds and in other places from hours to minutes” for response time, he says.
At one time the FBI thought it might need a second fingerprint matching software vendor to help it meet the accuracy requirements but Morpho Trak’s solution is doing so well “there is no need for a second vendor,” Reid says.
The AFIT portion of NGI, along with various supporting systems that are being integrated make up Increment 1 of the new system. The first increment, called Increment 0, consists of 800 new Advanced Technology Workstations (ATWs) will finish deliveries this month, one month ahead of schedule, Reid says.
The workstations have larger screens with higher resolution to better present biometric data and to accommodate future upgrades in biometrics and technology (TR2, Jan. 20).
Reid says that the FBI is already involved in the ongoing test regime for the initial NGI increments. The chief information officer of the FBI has independent verification and validation personnel that are involved in all phases of the program, he says.
In parallel with Increment 1, Lockheed Martin is also working on Increment 2, which entails the development of a database of several million people. The Repository of Individuals of Special Concern (RISC) will consist of individuals such as known and suspected terrorists, sexual predators, and others.
Lockheed Martin has already developed an operational prototype of RISC and is piloting it with local law enforcers in several states and a FBI field office. In the pilot tests, the local police use handheld devices to capture a suspect’s fingerprints and then submit the data wirelessly to get a response from RISC.
The response goal is within seconds and “we’re seeing that right now,” Reid says. The prototype and pilot testing has “been successful so far,” he adds.
The RISC design has been finalized and the goal is to be operational by the end of 2011, he says.
Future Modalities
Increment 3, which is on track to be delivered in 2012, will entail the introduction of the first additional biometric modalities into NGI. This will involve palm prints as well latent fingerprints. IAFIS has a latent fingerprint capability but in NGI it will be expanded, more accurate, faster and able to support more queries, Reid says.
As for palm prints, the FBI currently stores some in an offline database. The agency gets these prints, which make up about 30 percent of prints left over at a crime scene, from various localities across the country that collect them. Palm prints are also widely used in certain other countries such as Australia, Reid says.
Lockheed Martin has already conducted a trade study and selected a vendor to supply the biometric matching software for Increment 3, Reid says. However, he says it’s premature to disclose the name of the vendor. The early results from this have been “very good,” he adds.
The schedule for the rest of the increments is also holding. Increment 4, which will incorporate facial recognition as well as scars, marks and tattoos, will come online in 2013. The FBI already has a database for scars, marks and tattoos but NGI will allow for technology to make better use of the existing and future information, Reid says.
Another feature that will be part of Increment 4 is the “Rap Back” function. This will be sort of like an automated alert for government agencies that may want to know if an employee that went through a previous civil check for a job has since been arrested, Reid says. Who uses it depends on the agency and state laws. If that person is arrested and their biometric is in the database through the prior civil check an indicator will go off letting his or her employer know what happened, he says.
Next up is Increment 5 which will be the incorporation of iris matching. That will be delivered sometime in 2014 along with Increment 6, which is biometric fusion. Biometric fusion refers to being able to combine the individual matching scores of different biometrics, say a latent fingerprint and a mug shot, and increasing the overall ability to make a positive match.
The FBI’s combined budget for NGI, IAFIS and a related interoperability program in FY ’10 is $216 million, about a third of which is NGI. The request for FY ’11 is $207 million, which is down slightly from FY ’10 as some parts of IAFIS are decommissioned, Reid says.
The FBI awarded Lockheed Martin the potential $1 billion NGI contract in 2008. The company also developed IAFIS in the late 1990s.