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NIST to Release Schema Aligned with NIEM 3.0 and Biometrics Domain Schema

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will soon release an updated schema that includes 2013 supplemental material to the ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011 standard and that will align with NIEM 3.0. NIST is working hand-in-hand with the NIEM Biometrics domain to ensure that all existing and new modalities in the standard are properly aligned with NIEM 3.0, including the Biometrics domain schema. The current NIST schema is aligned with NIEM 2.1.

NIEM 3.0 was developed over the course of about a year and was released in late 2013. Nearly simultaneous to the development and release of NIEM 3.0, NIST was refining and releasing its 2013 Supplemental Update to the ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011 biometrics standard. Prior to 2013, the ANSI/NIST-ITL standard included friction ridge images and minutiae, body part images (including face, iris, and tattoos), DNA data, and associated context images. The 2013 Supplemental Update expanded the standard to include:

  • Forensic and investigatory voice
  • Forensic dental
  • Medical device identifiers
  • Medical imagery (X-rays, etc.)
  • NIEM Biometrics domain conformant XML schema

The release of the new schema by ANSI NIST will be the final step in harmonizing the work done in the last few years by each of these organizations. Going forward, the NIEM Biometrics community and NIST will continue to collaborate to ensure the alignment of new modalities in order to support operations across the identity management and biometrics sectors.