NIST HOSTS WORKING GROUP MEETING ON ITL BIOMETRICS INITIATIVE.

In February 2001, the Biometric Interoperability, Performance, and Assurance Working Group held its second meeting at NIST. Sponsored by NIST and the Biometric Consortium, the group is developing a simple testing methodology to determine the performance of biometric systems, as well as addressing issues on biometric assurance. In addition, the group is focusing on the use of biometrics data in smart card applications by developing a smart card format compliant to the Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF), another NIST initiative (www.nist.gov/cbeff). NIST plans to validate the testing methodology and implement tests on the CBEFF smart card format in its Biometrics and Smart Cards Laboratory.

The NIST initiative promotes exchange of information and collaborative efforts between users and private industry in all things biometric and supports the advancement of technically efficient and compatible biometric technology solutions on a national and international basis. The group consists of 65 participants representing over 50 national and international organizations from the U.S., Australia, Italy, South Korea, UK, Canada, Sweden, and France. Member organizations include biometric vendors, system developers, information assurance organizations, commercial end users, universities, government agencies, national laboratories, and industry organizations. The Web site is: www.nist.gov/bcwg.