DoD Prepares to Request Proposals for ABIS Cloud Transition

The Department of Defense is preparing to issue a Request for Proposals concerning the cloud transition of its biometric database, according to a new report from Defense Daily. The solicitation is expected to begin in September.

The report is based on a presentation from Will Graves, the lead engineer for Program Management DoD Biometrics, who spoke at the annual AFCEA Federal Identity Forum. AFCEA is a nonprofit networking and knowledge-sharing organization serving the military, government, and industry sectors.

The Request for Proposals will be issued with respect to “Biometric Enabling Capability (BEC) Increment 1”, which refers to the DoD Automated Biometric Identification System used to identify subjects in military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The platform is currently considered to be in the ‘Increment 0’ phase of its development.

The next Increment of the platform will entail a transition to a cloud setup, and the RFP will seek solutions pertaining to the matching of fingerprints, iris and voice biometrics, as well as facial recognition for both photos and videos. According to Defense Daily, Graves’ presentation also suggested that DNA matching will be a component of BEC Increment 1.

The RFP will be the next major step for DoD in its path toward BEC Increment 1 after the Department issued a Request for Information about its ABIS transition to the cloud in November of last year.

The DoD is already working with some of the biggest biometric solutions providers in the world. IDEMIA has provided the Multi-Biometric Search Services matching engine for the DoD ABIS, and Leidos is currently responsible for the overall system, according to Defense Daily’s report.

Beyond the DoD’s ABIS platform, the US military has demonstrated an intensifying interest in biometric technologies in recent years. For example, the DoD has been exploring an authentication system for internal use that would replace Common Access Cards with a system that uses multiple modalities for authentication, including, potentially, gait and voice recognition. And the Army, which is subordinate to the DoD, began soliciting proposals for a biometric perimeter security system for Army bases this past April.

Source: Defense Daily

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August 25, 2021 – by Alex Perala