Potential Opportunities for Common Federal Biometric Services
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The document outlines opportunities for improving common federal biometric services through strategic partnerships, technological innovation, and policy discussions. It includes recommendations for interagency collaboration, consolidation of systems, and governance to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. The study suggests that further analysis and planning are necessary to explore and implement these opportunities effectively.
Potential Opportunities for Common Federal Biometric Services
- 1. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. Potential Opportunities for Common Federal Biometric Services August 2012 Duane Blackburn Skip Reindollar Kim Shepard
- 2. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE Mission As a public interest company, MITRE works in partnership with the government, applying systems engineering and advanced technology to address issues of critical national importance. 2
- 3. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. Understanding FFRDCs ■Operate as strategic partners with their sponsoring government agencies ■Organized as independent entities with limitations and restrictions on their activities ■Assist the U.S. government with scientific research and analysis, development and acquisition, and systems engineering/integration ■Bring together the expertise and outlook of government, industry, and academia to solve complex technical problems 3
- 4. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. Identifying opportunities and driving technological innovation Analyzing federal systems and enhancing operations Developing strategy for federal systems and interagency architectures Leading cross-agency collaboration and policymaking MITRE Role in Biometrics Page 4
- 5. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ OUSD/P: In the future, would it be possible for one federal biometric system to serve as a COOP backup for the others? ■ MITRE: Looking long-term, what could be done to alter the foundations that each system is built upon, thus enabling advancements that may not be possible today? ■ This study: – Perform quick analysis to develop initial strategic thoughts – Focus on ideas where impacts would be a few years in the future – Identify trends and possibilities – Recommend areas for further study. Study Origins and Parameters Page 5
- 6. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ ABIS, IDENT and NGI perform the same basic function, but their services, designs, and operational implementations are unique to their parent organizations in the following areas: – Standard agreements and specifications – Architectures ■ MITRE Recommendation: Task an interagency forum to study consolidation options and set long-term goals. – Common Exchange Services – Biometric Matching Services – Data Management Processes and Terms Systems Engineering Page 6
- 7. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ Annual O&M for the big three is approximately $300M – Originates from multiple funding streams – Spent through numerous contracts ■ There are many common O&M disciplines across the systems that could potentially be opportunities for improved performance and efficiency: – Data centers – Hardware and software management and maintenance – Problem management (e.g. help desk) – Change and configuration management – Capacity, performance, application and network management ■ MITRE Recommendation: Consider sharing system-level services. – Further SE analysis required for viability. Operations and Maintenance Page 7
- 8. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ Each agency develops and manages its own policies regarding biometric system(s) and data in the following type of areas: – Data ownership and acceptable use – Reciprocity between agencies – Privacy and civil liberties – International data sharing. ■ MITRE Recommendation: Begin interagency discussions now. – Premature to begin policy development now, but required if systems engineering opportunities are acted upon. – Near-term policy discussions are necessary to support systems engineering study and (potentially subsequent) decision-making. Policy Page 8
- 9. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ Separate agency-based acquisition processes are currently used for new development and O&M – DHS IDENT: Four contracts – DoD ABIS: Two contracts – FBI NGI: Two contracts ■ Multiple contracts are agency- or departmental-level contracts that encompass IT activities beyond the specific biometric system – Modifications to support interagency activities are problematic (agency independent policies and procedures in place for years) ■ While action on this front wouldn’t start in the near-term, the long preparation time inherent in the federal budget and congressional authorization processes necessitates much earlier action. ■ MITRE Recommendation: Investigate and plan for common approaches to reduce acquisition costs. – Understand issues associated with appropriations, FAR, legal and policy – Explore avenues to support common services and O&M activities Acquisition Page 9
- 10. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ Numerous governance structures in place – While some individuals do serve on multiple panels, there is no formal means of cross-panel coordination or information sharing – No long-term operational strategic planning across all systems Governance Page 10 Agency-Specific Advisory Agency-Specific Governance Cross-Agency Governance FBI IAFIS/NGI Advisory Policy Board Compact Council Interoperability IPT NSTC Subcommittee NSS Watchlisting IPC DoD ABIS Biometrics Executive Committee Interoperability IPT NSTC Subcommittee NSS Watchlisting IPC DHS US-VISIT Executive Stakeholder Board Interoperability IPT NSTC Subcommittee NSS Watchlisting IPC Blue designates operations and/or short-term strategy. Red designates long-term (3+ years) strategy. ■ MITRE Recommendation: Review governance, integrate activities, develop long-term strategy – Identify process to integrate activities where needed and develop long-term strategy – Explore how a single cross-agency governance structure could be created, managed and executed and still serve the needs of the individual agencies well
- 11. © 2012 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. ■ This study uses MITRE’s cross-agency experience to explore and identify opportunities for common federal biometric services that could potentially: – Decrease cost – Enhance capabilities – Ease O&M and oversight burdens ■ Ideas that warrant additional study are presented for federal consideration and subsequent studies – MITRE is not recommending formal decision-making on any of these ideas at this time Conclusion Page 11