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Biometrics Domain Submits First Official Content—To Be Included In NIEM 3.0

Great news! A team composed of members from the NIEM Biometrics domain community has successfully drafted and submitted content for the NIEM version 3.0 release—forming the core of the new NIEM Biometrics domain. This means that in 3.0, developers will have a more robust mechanism for exchanging biometric-related data using NIEM. This submission includes fingerprint, facial, and tattoo biometric content. The Biometrics domain’s administrative team has also developed a release roadmap for other Biometrics content types, such as iris and dental.

The Biometrics domain is currently working with the NIEM Program Management Office (PMO) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to address final comments and requirements for inclusion in the NIEM 3.0 release. “This has been a highly collaborative effort, bringing together community members from diverse organizations”, said William Graves, NIEM Biometrics domain steward. The effort included individuals from the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and state-level subject matter experts from both public and private sector organizations.

“This initial Biometrics architecture establishes the NIEM Biometrics standardized data model and code lists—forming the foundation of the biometrics schema of NIEM 3.0. With unconditional support from the community, in a short few months, we have produced mission supporting results,” said Kamran Atri, the lead architect of the project and chief technology officer of Constellation Software Engineering (CSE) Corp.

Going forward, the NIEM Biometrics domain, working with members from the community, will develop successive iterations of the schema to address emerging issues, including cross-organizational interoperability, new biometric modalities such as iris and dental, and operational policy concerns related to the sharing of biometric information.

The Biometrics domain plans to conduct multiple releases throughout the year in order to rapidly and effectively mature the biometric schema for adoption and incorporation by community members. The Biometrics domain’s administrative team is currently identifying working groups (technical and operational) that will be involved in upcoming releases, in addition to other matters of issue resolution.

Thank you to everyone involved, particularly the NIEM Biometrics domain schema review team, for your tremendous efforts—and congratulations on this accomplishment!

Interested in joining a working group to help develop the biometric schema?

  • If you are a NIEM Biometrics domain member, send a letter of interest to: NIEM-BD-Facilitator@cse-corp.com.
  • If you or your organization is interested in future development of the biometric schema (and the Biometrics domain), but are not yet a member of the NIEM Biometrics domain, please email the NBD Facilitator at the address above for more information.