The Biometric Technology Rally is an event that aims to challenge industry provide face or face/iris systems that meet specific DHS use cases. The use case for the Biometric Technology Rally is traveler identification in a high-throughput security environment using an unmanned system. During the rally, participants’ systems will be evaluated on several metrics with the use of scenario testing.

Any groups from industry with demonstrated experience in face and optionally iris biometrics may participate in the Biometric Technology Rally. Participants will be required to agree to Rally terms and conditions. Successful submissions will demonstrate intuitive integrated biometric systems capable of meeting or exceeding rally performance metrics.

Systems selected to participate in the Biometric Technology Rally will be evaluated on efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Efficiency refers to the time it takes for Rally Participants’ systems to complete a biometric transaction. Effectiveness refers to the performance of the biometric, including failures to acquire, process, and match. Satisfaction refers to the degree to which users like or dislike using the system relative to others. DHS will have sole discretion in selecting participants. After all application packages have been received, DHS S&T will down-select the number of Rally Participants to a maximum of 12. DHS will be advised in this process by a panel of biometric experts.

Parties interested in participating in the Biometric Technology Rally will be required to submit an application package describing their system, including a white paper and a video of the system in action. The white paper should provide an overview of the technology/software, imagery captured by the system, references to previous system evaluations, and estimates of biometric performance. The video should demonstrate the capabilities described in the white paper and that the system is capable of operating in an unmanned mode.

Due to space limitations, a maximum of 12 systems will be selected for inclusion in the Biometric Technology Rally based on how well they meet the full requirements of the rally as judged by a panel of experts selected by DHS S&T. Successful systems will demonstrate a strong capability of meeting and preferably exceeding the rally metrics outlined on the Rally Metrics page.

Description of the application package, selection criteria, and evaluation metrics will be presented in a Webinar Schedule.

Participation in the Biometric Technology Rally has several advantages for Rally Participants and other interested parties.

1. Opportunity to collect biometric data – Rally Participants will be able to capture thousands of face and iris images as well as video data from a diverse group of volunteers recruited for the rally. Rally participants will be allowed to keep all data, subject to limited restrictions, collected from their system during the Biometric Technology Rally.
2. User Feedback – Rally Participants will receive feedback from volunteers that use their systems. This data will inform Rally Participants the degree to which the traveling public may like or accept their system.
3. Receive a performance report – Rally Participants will be provided with a report of how well their system performed relative to the rally’s goals. Rally Participants may use this report to advertise the strengths of their systems.
4. Showcase system performance to potential customers – Successful Rally Participants may be invited to demonstrate their systems to invited DHS operational end users and stakeholders.

The Biometric Technology Rally is currently scheduled to occur in mid-March 2018 at the Maryland Test Facility (MdTF). The MdTF is a controlled test environment where numerous biometric testing studies have occurred and is designed for large scale volunteer testing. Information about the MdTF can be found at: https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/maryland-test-facility

Please see the full schedule Here.

If you missed the Interest Webinar on 11/17/2017, you can view it Here.

You can download the slide decks from the Interest Webinar here:

• DHS/MdTF Interest Webinar Slides
• NIST Interest Webinar Slides

If you missed the Technical Webinar on 11/29/2017, you can view it here.

You can download the slide deck from the Technical Webinar here:

• DHS/MdTF Technical Webinar Slides

You can download the slide deck from the Logstic Webinar here:

• DHS/MdTF Logistic Webinar Slides

You can find the API documentation here.