FBI Issues Third Market-Research RFI for Biometric-Matching Algorithms

The FBI is pressing ahead with market research into biometric-matching algorithms, issuing a third request for information through its Criminal Justice Information Services division as it surveys what vendors can offer. Responses to the request are due July 15.

The notice, labeled the third in the series, invites industry to submit information on possible biometric-matching solutions across a defined set of areas. Those include the biometric algorithm itself, response times and accuracy, scalability, the proposed transition approach, software maintenance, licensing, company ownership and structure, and a secure build and compilation facility. As market research, the request carries no commitment to buy, but it signals that the bureau is methodically mapping the field before any future move.

The Criminal Justice Information Services division operates the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system, the large-scale repository that matches fingerprints, faces, and other biometrics for law enforcement across the country. The accuracy and speed of the algorithms behind that system determine how reliably a submitted print or image returns the right candidate, which is the capability the bureau is now probing the market on.

The current request follows earlier outreach tied to that system. The bureau previously issued an RFI for Next Generation Identification biometric matching algorithms, and it has run parallel hardware market research, including a request for near-infrared iris cameras to support the NGI system. Taken together, the repeated requests point to sustained interest in refreshing the matching technology behind the bureau’s biometric infrastructure, the kind of groundwork that can precede modernization or procurement, though the notice commits to neither.

Sources: SAM.gov

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team