Page 184 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

STANDARDS AND INTEROPERABILITY 169

took many days for a check to clear because the various banks involved had to
verify and approve the transaction. Now that each of the major financial insti-
tutions has agreed on a set of standards, the process has become much more
streamlined. Checks clear quickly, financial institutions can cut their costs by
not reinventing the existing practices, and customers can now access their
money from almost anywhere on the globe.
Efforts are underway to improve AFIS systems’ interoperability through
technical resources. Various “black boxes,” which to some degree allow
images and data from one set of native records to be searched on another data-
base, have been created. These searches, particularly in the area of latent prints,
may require the introduction of “sneakernet” to physically move the data
from point A to point B, search the point B database, and return the results to
point A.
Many of the technical issues will be resolved as more agencies begin to follow
the NIST transmission standards and the FBI transmission specifications. In
1998, the AFIS Committee of the International Association for Identification,
chaired by Peter Higgins, and AFIS vendors demonstrated the possibility of
5
searching a latent print on various databases. This proof of concept was the
first organized attempt to provide an automated electronic latent print search
of multiple databases beyond IAFIS. While not elegant, it confirmed that the
concept was viable.
Prior to the introduction of AFIS systems, agencies providing identification
services developed their own standards and business practices to meet their
needs and the needs of the submitting agencies. Standards for transmission and
specification did not exist in the developing stages of AFIS technology. Agen-
cies relied on existing practices in those areas where AFIS systems were not
mature, or where there were financial limitations. For example, the standard-
ized electronic capture of finger images, mug shots, and alpha data is fairly
routine on newer AFIS systems; the expense to upgrade equipment and revise
processing procedures to include these on older systems is significant. AFIS
vendors, in response to governmental needs, are working to develop systems
that can be interconnected, allowing access to systems in other agencies built
by other vendors.
The management challenges to interoperability may exceed the technical
challenges. In addition to any programming or modification of existing hard-
ware that may be required, both the host and user agency will have to enter
into an agreement that has passed through legal and administrative review. The
host agency will protect its assets and allow use of its system only on a limited
basis. It will demand assurances that the systems are being used as agreed, and

5 For a complete report see Appendix or http://onin.com/iaiafis/IAI_AFIS_071998_Report.pdf.