UK Crime Agency Seeks Comprehensive Facial Recognition System

The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a future procurement of a facial recognition (“FR”) solution. Published on October 2, 2024, the RFI is an invitation for potential suppliers to provide feedback on the NCA’s requirements for a scalable, advanced FR system.

While this is not a formal bidding opportunity, it serves as a key step in the NCA’s engagement with industry to gather insights that will help shape its procurement strategy. The specifications and scope outlined reflect a significant potential opportunity in the public safety sector.

The NCA is seeking a comprehensive facial recognition system that can be deployed on a national, enterprise level. The system must be capable of 1:1, 1:Many, and Many:Many retrospective facial recognition (RFR) using still images and video footage, both individually and in bulk. The ability to handle challenging imagery, such as poor-quality or non-frontal images, is a critical requirement.

The solution must also be compatible with Officer Initiated Facial Recognition (OIFR) and Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technologies, reflecting the NCA’s intent to implement a solution that supports both investigative and real-time operational needs.

An important technical requirement for the proposed solution is the ability to integrate with the NCA’s existing IT infrastructure, which lacks direct internet access. The system must also be scalable to accommodate the anticipated growth of the NCA’s image dataset, which is expected to expand in both size and complexity over time. Vendors that can provide modular or cloud-compatible solutions capable of scaling in a secure, offline environment may find this project aligns well with their existing offerings.

Vendors with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or National Physical Laboratory (NPL)-certified algorithms will be particularly well-positioned, as the NCA emphasizes the need for proven accuracy and minimized demographic bias in facial recognition performance.

From a compliance and security standpoint, vendors will need to meet stringent requirements, including Cyber Essentials Plus certification and adherence to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). These requirements suggest that the NCA prioritizes data security and the integrity of its supply chain, given the sensitive nature of its operations. The system must also support the export and ingestion of images and videos to allow data sharing with other NCA partners, which points to the need for interoperability with other law enforcement and public safety databases.

Responses to the RFI are due by October 11, 2024, and are expected to provide the NCA with the necessary market intelligence to refine its requirements and procurement approach. Vendors who participate will have the chance to influence the final design of the procurement process, while also demonstrating their capabilities to a critical law enforcement agency. The formal procurement is expected to be launched by March 31, 2025.

Source: Gov.UK

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October 4, 2024 – by the ID Tech Editorial Team