BIOMETRICS MOVES TO CENTER STAGE

NEW FEDERAL PROJECTS

Although companies and federal agencies are exploring a variety of
biometric solutions, most current projects involve fingerprinting. That's because the FBI
has used fingerprints as a form of identification for decades, and both the agency and law
enforcement offices across the country have invested in fingerprint technology, said Tim
Corcoran, a senior systems analyst for biometrics and identification systems with Northrop
Grumman Corp., Los Angeles.In addition, the public is familiar
with fingerprints as a form of unique identifier, he said, and many people have already
submitted fingerprints for one reason or another, from military service to security
requirements for their jobs.Perhaps the best known federal effort
involving biometrics is the Defense Department's smart-card project, administered through
a General Services Administration contract worth up to $1.5 billion over 10 years.From October 2000, when multiple contracts were awarded, to the end of
August, more than 1 million Common Access Cards have been issued. In June, Lt. Gen. Pete
Cuviello, chief information officer for the Army, said the Pentagon plans to include a
biometric identifier on all the cards.A new, major federal effort
requiring a biometric solution is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential
system. The TWIC will be a smart card incorporating some form of biometric identifier,
issued to Transportation Security Administration employees and to those who work in the
aviation industry, according to Mark Emery, acting deputy CIO of TSA. The card will later
be rolled out to workers in the maritime, rail and trucking industries. SIZE="2">"There are millions and millions of people who would make use of this
card," Emery said.TSA had $35 million in funding for fiscal
2002 to conduct research and development for TWIC. Emery said the agency is requesting
continued R&D funding and money for a pilot program in the 2003 budget, with major
funding to begin full-scale implementation in fiscal 2004. TSA
officials have not decided whether to treat this as a standalone program or if Unisys
Corp., which just received the agency's $1 billion infrastructure startup contract, will
administer it, he said.The Justice Department has three
prospective biometrics-related projects under evaluation. In one, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service would run the Overseas Refugee Fingerprinting Program, establishing
fingerprinting facilities at U.S. embassies and refugee camps abroad to identify and track
individuals seeking refugee status in the United States.The
second program, also for the INS, would link the agency's existing automated biometric
identification system, called IDENT, with the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint
Identification System, or IAFIS, to create a single fingerprint identification system.
One of the biggest programs still to be unveiled is the U.S. Entry-Exit
System, intended to systematically track the arrival and departure of foreigners. In
particular, the system is intended to allow the government to establish the identity of
those who intend to visit the United States, verify the identity of those who enter the
country, flag their status if they overstay the terms of their entry documents, and alert
the government if they are or become identified as national security threats.SIZE="2">The agencies are still preparing the request for proposals for these programs,
whose projected costs are uncertain.With the government market
for biometrics expected to heat up, some integrators are investing in their own biometric
solutions.Science Applications International Corp., for instance,
has created a dedicated biometrics laboratory for assessing technologies and how they
integrate into larger systems. The San Diego company is using facial recognition as an
entrance requirement to the lab's offices. If a face doesn't match any records on file,
the person cannot enter. There also are workstations using iris or retinal scanners to log
in.SAIC is working on a contract for the New York Police
Department involving fingerprint biometrics, in which commanding officers in the field can
use a handheld computer to verify police officers' fingerprints and use the information
for time and attendance records and other human resources applications.SIZE="2">"Sept. 11 just advanced the schedule. Everybody was kind of going this way
before the attack," said Mark Gibson, smart solutions division manager at SAIC.
NCI Information Systems Inc., a small integrator with just 1,350 employees,
has selected biometrics as an area where it can stand out. The McLean, Va., company
recently completed integrating a project at Arlington National Cemetery providing a
fingerprint solution for physical access control that ties into time sheet and personnel
functions."Not all the innovation takes place in the
behemoth companies," said Tom Reinhardt, vice president of business development and
homeland security for NCI.Unisys also is looking to provide
biometric solutions to the government. Ed Schaffner, director of positive identification
and access control solutions in the company's public-sector unit, said Unisys is working
with the Defense Department to enhance facial recognition technologies to more accurately
identify individuals. The company also is talking to the State Department about using
biometrics for controlling its network access.TRW's Langley
believes that biometrics will be both crucial to security and ubiquitous in presence.
Consequently, the government should be considering how to develop a biometrics
infrastructure over the next 15 years, such as the frameworks already in place for
electricity, telecommunications and roads, he said.Whether in
their professional or personal lives, people will come to realize that biometrics provide
protection against identity theft, just as the government recognizes biometrics as a
useful tool against fraud and abuse.The growing debate over
privacy vs. security does not have to derail the widespread use of the technology, Langley
said."These stovepipe mechanisms [are] a patchwork system
without an architecture," he said. "There needs to be an overall architecture...
a national infrastructure, but not a national database."Staff Writer Patience Wait can be reached at
pwait@postnewsweektech.com.

Sizing up who will succeed in government IT market

BY JERRY GROSSMAN

Since Sept. 11, investors and market analysts have
correctly identified the government information technology market as a good sector for
investment. While this is a sound strategy for many reasons, all companies will not
prosper. The size and scope of the opportunity in this sector can
differ from company to company, depending on the degree to which each company has aligned
its thinking and organized its resources with market realities. The
continuing migration in government IT from staff augmentation to outsourcing shows no
signs of abating. Historically, government agencies purchased support services to augment
employee teams, managed by supervisors. Today, government executives are looking to buy
solutions. Government entities, faced with shrinking staffs and
retirements of key people, want full-scope capabilities from their service providers,
including situational analysis, alternatives identification and selection, solution
architecture, implementation and -- increasingly -- operation.There
are other factors supporting these IT contracting trends. Military transformation has
high-priority focus on interoperability. The communications element within and between
organizations is paramount. And IT capability is the foundation, the platform upon which
interoperable communications systems will be designed and implemented. SIZE="2">Systems modernizations at the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Aviation
Administration and U.S. Customs Service, among others, will require complex,
enterprise-scope solutions. Another factor is government reorganization, most particularly
the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. As a
consequence of the number and scope of government IT projects, the emergence of Web-based
systems and the goal of improved data sharing among agencies, the Office of Management and
Budget set forth 24 e-government initiatives and placed a temporary hold on major projects
pending OMB review.Taken together, these government objectives,
and the priorities attached to them, provide a target-rich market for well-positioned
government IT companies.For some IT businesses, the emerging
environment is more of a threat than an opportunity. Segmentation of IT companies into
four tiers helps in assessing the performance outlook. Based upon revenue size, the
breakdown is: tier 1, more than $1 billion; tier 2, $250 million to $1 billion; tier 3,
$30 million to $250 million; tier 4, under $30 million.Successful
companies will combine all elements of an effective solution into their offerings.This is a very complex environment, requiring significant resource
mobilization, pricing, costing, negotiating and project management skills. While staff
augmentation has its place, it will capture a shrinking proportion of government budgets,
generally, at lower margins.Typically, tier 1 companies will lead
on large, complex IT projects. In these circumstances, companies in tiers 3 and 4 will
serve as subcontractors. For most of the smaller IT projects, companies in tiers 2 through
4 will be best cast in a prime contractor role. Focus and depth in
critical IT segments will increase in importance for all companies, but is most critical
for tiers 2 and 3. Companies in tier 4 will continue to benefit from contract set asides
under 8(a) and small business preference programs.At the end of
the day, the winners will be companies that can think in terms of problem-solving based
upon available IT. The size and growth of government information management needs,
considered in the context of ongoing upgrades in technology tools, suggest a long-term,
robust market for government IT companies. Well-managed companies
can expect double-digit, organic revenue growth, profit margin expansion and acquisition
opportunities.

Jerry Grossman is managing director at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin
in McLean, Va. He can be reached at jgrossman@hlhz.com.

Don't think biometric access devices are silver bullets for your security
vulnerabilities. In fact, if not applied correctly, they can create new gaps in security.

Carlos Soto is an associate editor of Government Computer News and
is a technology reviewer with an expertise in security, storage, wireless devices and
digital cameras. His reviews of biometric technologies can be found with this article at www.washingtontechnology.com.

Upcoming contracts

Contactless/Biometric

Technology for Controlling AccessAgency: Navy Space and Naval

Warfare Systems CenterStatus: Pre-RFPPurpose:
Provide access control to facilities and IT networks of the Navy and the rest of the
Defense Department. IDENT/IAFIS
Integration ProjectAgency: Justice DepartmentSIZE="2">Status: Pre-RFPPurpose: Integrate the fingerprint
databases of the Immigration and

Naturalization Service and the FBI into

a single database. Internet
Software Security PackageAgency: Social Security

AdministrationStatus: Pre-RFPPurpose:
Provide security for

applications hosted on the agency's WebSphere applications. 
Overseas Refugee

Fingerprinting ProgramAgency: Immigration and

Naturalization ServiceStatus: Pre-RFPStatus: Pre-RFP