DHS looking to upgrade employee IDs with iris recognition

The Homeland Security Department has gotten the green light to move forward with a $100 million plan for modernizing employee badges with iris recognition technology, according to Nextgov.

The department has been looking for a contractor to replace its fingerprint identification system with more advanced technology, but there wasn’t a consistent way to exchange eye images between cameras and card readers; however, as of last Friday, this is no longer the case, Nextgov reported.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology finalized guidelines for incorporating irises into government employee IDs, and as of July 3, the department expected to purchase up to $102.8 million worth of services to upgrade employee smartcards over the next decade.