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NIEM Showcased at 2017 Biometrics in Government and Law Enforcement Event

On January 23, the 11th annual Biometrics for Government and Law Enforcement Conference was once again held in Arlington, Virginia. The three-day conference featured speakers and event attendees from multiple organizations, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Interpol and many others discussing a variety of topics related to information exchange within the biometrics and identity management community.

Opening the event on Monday, NIEM Business Architecture Committee (NBAC) Co-Chair Kamran Atri conducted a wide-ranging session for an audience of approximately 80 attendees that braved heavy rain and cold temps to attend the event. Atri's session provided an overview of how NIEM has continued to be an integral tool in the information exchange arsenal of an increasing number of organizations around the globe.

Atri's session, "NIEM Maturity Drives Information Exchange Capabilities in 2017," provided attendees with both a high-level strategic overview of NIEM activities and capabilities, as well as material relating to the NIEM Biometrics Domain tailored specifically to the identity management-centric audience.

Topics for discussion included:

  • NIEM 4.0 development and release
  • Harmonization of cross-agency biometrics messaging protocols via NIEM
  • Internationalization

During the session, Atri emphasized the proactive community engagement and continual focus on improvement that characterize the NIEM program. He went on to provide an overview of NIEM harmonization and alignment activities, providing an in-depth view of how organizations such as DHS, DOJ and DOD rely on NIEM to reduce risks associated with their own internal exchange protocols. Finally, he noted that the release of NIEM 4.0, coupled with an enhanced focus on increasing the usability of NIEM for international stakeholders, would have a tremendous impact on the Biometrics Community of Interest in 2017 and beyond.

For more information on the NIEM Biometrics Domain, please visit the Biometrics community page. For information related to membership or training, please contact the Biometrics Domain facilitator team at NIEM-BD-Facilitator@cse-corp.com.