RFI No. 3 - CJIS Biometric Algorithm.pdf

Notice to Industry

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Justice Information Services Division

Disclaimer:

THIS NOTICE IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR

PROPOSAL OR QUOTE. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL

NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN

ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION

TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE

AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL

DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.

Introduction:

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal

Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division headquartered in Clarksburg, West Virginia is conducting market research on biometric algorithms commercially available from the industry.

This Request for Information (RFI) follows previously issued FBI Request for Information -

Biometric Matching Algorithm and Request for Information - Biometric Matching Algorithm RFI

No. 2 on 01/31/2025 and 12/31/2025.

Background:

Title 28 of United States Code section 534 authorizes the FBI to collect and preserve identification information such as biometrics for criminal justice purposes. The mission of the FBI’s CJIS

Division is to equip our partners with the criminal justice information, including biometrics, they need to protect the United States while protecting civil liberties. In accordance with this authority and in support of its mission, CJIS manages its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system which is one of the world’s largest electronic repositories of biometric and criminal history information.

The FBI continues to look to new scientific advancements to increase the range and quality of its identification and investigative capabilities. To stay apprised of advances in the biometrics industry, the FBI partners with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to evaluate performance of biometric technology. This is accomplished through the various NIST biometric vendor testing platforms, providing the industry with the ability to bring their automated matching technology to NIST to test against biometric data sets for accuracy and performance.

NIST then openly publishes their test results for consumption by the vendor community, users of this technology, and other various interested parties Published NIST results will be a requirement for all vendors interested in supplying biometric algorithms to the FBI.

The FBI will be publishing a “vendor notice” at a future date in 2026 to identify a deadline for when companies need to have full working copies of their algorithms submitted for testing. It is incumbent upon the vendor to have a fully functional interface for your algorithm with NIST for your submission prior to cutoff date. Vendor algorithms (1) failing to function with the NIST application programming interface by this date or (2) that are submitted to NIST after this date, will not be accepted for consideration by the FBI.

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/bbeff9e0a5f447c9904141a0aceb023e/view

Objective:

The FBI is currently conducting market research on biometric matching algorithms. The FBI is inviting industry to submit information pertaining to possible solutions in the following areas:

Company Ownership/Structure, Secure Build and Compilation Facility, Biometric Algorithm, Transition Approach, Scalability, Software Maintenance, Licensing, Response Times and

Accuracy.

Company Ownership/Structure Provide information on your company’s ownership structure, including any foreign ownership concerns such as stakeholders or investors.

Secure Build and Compilation Facility To safeguard the integrity and security of software developed for the FBI’s NGI system, all foreign companies responding to this RFI must provide a secure facility physically located within the U.S. for the building, compiling, and initial testing of all software components intended for integration into the NGI system.

Biometric Algorithm Provide a comprehensive list and brief description of all biometric modalities offered by your company. If offering a latent services solution, a web based latent case management system is required. All modalities and the latent case management system must fully reside within an FBI approved GovCloud environment.

Please provide a detailed description of the software solution your company offers for the following modalities:

• Rolled fingerprints

• Flat/slap fingerprints

• Latent fingerprints – including Latent Case Management

• Face recognition

• Iris recognition

• Tattoo pattern recognition

Transition Approach Using the below scenario, provide a recommended approach and timeline to transition NGI’s biometric repositories to your solution. The response should clearly outline any assumptions and include supporting information to help the government’s understanding of the level of effort with your approach.

Government Requirements:

• Biometric Algorithm(s) must be able to operate in an FBI approved GovCloud environment

• Biometric Algorithm(s) must meet FedRAMP High certification.

• Personnel may be required to be cleared at minimum Secret clearance

• Approach must inform government of the GovCloud resources that are required to support the approach

• Approach must include key milestones including enrollment, validation, and reconciliation of each biometric repository

• Approach must outline how transition will migrate all biometric records currently stored in the NGI system without data loss

• Describe your strategy for identifying and resolving error records during the transfer, including any “force” migration techniques to guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the final dataset

• The gallery sizes and average monthly search volumes are outlined below:

Modality Average #

EBTS Searches (Month) Gallery Size

Latent 24,800 650,000,000

Fingerprint 5,288,000 200,000,000

Face 4,800 175,000,000

Rapid Ten Print 800,000 10,000,000

Iris 3,500 2,000,000

Unsolved Latent

File 5,200,000 2,000,000

Scalability Please describe how your company’s technology, infrastructure, and services support scaling the

NGI system to handle more data, users, and complexity while maintaining performance, reliability, and security. Explain how your system is designed—such as through modular components or flexible architecture—to easily grow or adapt as needed. Also, describe how your solution stays ready for future biometric technologies and changing requirements to ensure long-term scalability.

Software Maintenance Describe your approach to providing ongoing software maintenance, including timely updates, patches, and bug fixes to ensure the software remains secure, reliable, and compliant with evolving FBI requirements. Respondents should address the following maintenance-related requirements and capabilities in their response:

• Availability and Reliability

Due to NGI’s 24x7 no fail mission, any software delivered must be designed and maintained to achieve an availability of 99.95% uptime, ensuring continuous and reliable operation to support critical NGI system functions.

• Documentation and Training

Provide information on the availability and maintenance of comprehensive documentation, including release notes, user guides, and developer resources.

Describe any training or knowledge transfer plans to support FBI personnel and contractors.

• Vendor Availability

Describe proposed personnel availability for maintenance activities, including response times for critical issues and scheduled maintenance windows that support the required availability.

• Change Management and Version Control

Detail your change management processes and version control practices to ensure traceability, accountability, and rollback capabilities for software updates. Please include a description of the process (with approximate times) for resolving a defect found in the delivered product.

Licensing with all Costs The response should clearly outline any assumptions underlying your rough order of magnitude cost estimate and include information to support the government’s understanding of the level of effort with your approach and associated costs. Please submit pricing for: (1) a fully integrated system encompassing all modalities offered and (2) individual biometric modalities.

Please provide detailed information, including all costs, on the licensing types/models/structures that would be in place for continuation of service, including but not limited to Perpetual, Subscription, Open-Source, User or Concurrent, Enterprise, Trial/Evaluation, and Cloud/Saas

Licenses.

For each license type, please include:

• License Terms: Summarize key terms including usage rights, modification rights, redistribution rights, sublicensing, and termination conditions. Clarify ownership rights, patent grants, and liability limitations or disclaimers.

• Pricing structure costs and any additional fees. Outline any licensing fees, subscription costs, or other financial obligations. Discounting model based on procuring single algorithms, multiple algorithms, or all algorithms.

• Support and maintenance terms: Detail the support services included under the license, including updates and security patches. List any licensing implications related to data security or privacy.

• Restrictions or obligations imposed on the licensee. Explain any compliance or auditing obligations imposed by the license for monitoring or reporting.

• Compatibility with other software or license components.

Response Times and Accuracy Vendors should supply supporting documentation or benchmark data from recognized independent testing frameworks, such as NIST evaluations or comparable sources. This information must include average, median, and worst-case response times, along with accuracy metrics and false match / false non-match rates for biometric transactions across each of the following modalities:

• Rolled fingerprints

• Flat/slap fingerprints

• Latent fingerprints

• Face recognition

• Iris recognition

• Tattoo pattern recognition

Definitions Latent

The Latent service deals with the processing and identification of latent fingerprints, which are partial or unclear prints typically collected from crime scenes. The system helps analysts compare and match latent prints against known prints for investigative leads.

The Latent service also contains a specialized system designed to support the management and processing of biometric data, particularly latent fingerprint information. It facilitates efficient case handling through capabilities such as data management, advanced image processing, biometric search functions, and database administration. Latent services must include a web based latent case management solution.

Fingerprint

The Fingerprint service involves the collection, storage, and searching of complete ten-print fingerprint records fingerprint records for individuals. It supports criminal background checks, identity verification, and law enforcement investigations.

Face

The Face service provides facial recognition capabilities by capturing, storing, and comparing facial images to assist in identity verification and suspect identification.

Rapid Ten Print

The Rapid Ten Print service enables quick processing and searching of two to ten-print fingerprint records against existing records in NGI to expedite identification.

Iris

The Iris service captures and compares iris patterns to support biometric identification, offering a highly accurate modality for identity verification.

Unsolved Latent File

The Unsolved Latent File is a specialized repository within the latent fingerprint service that contains latent prints from unsolved cases. It is used to continuously compare new prints against unresolved latent prints to potentially identify suspects or link cases.

RFI Submittal Instructions All submissions must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint or PDF format. All information should be UNCLASSIFIED material only. Submissions must not exceed twenty-five (25) one-sided 8 ½ x 11 pages. The pages must have one-inch margins and must be

Times New Roman, 12-point font. Every submission must follow the heading order found under the Objective section of the RFI. A description of pricing must be included as well as the pricing template submitted for ease of review.

All questions must be sent via E-mail no later than June 12th, 2026, Noon Eastern Time and answers will be posted via SAM.gov by June 17th, 2026. The E-mail subject for questions must be labeled “RFI No. 3 – CJIS Biometric Algorithm Q&A” The government reserves the right to not answer questions that may provide an unfair advantage. All submissions should be e-mailed no later than June 30th, 2026, Noon Eastern Time to Contracting Officer Teala Watkins, tmwatkins@fbi.gov. The E-mail subject must be labeled “RFI No. 3 – CJIS Biometric Algorithm

Submission.”

The cost of responding to the RFI must be exclusively borne by the organization submitting the information. No costs will be reimbursed by the government. The FBI makes no implied or in fact contract by issuing this RFI.

All clarifications, questions, and responses must be made via email. All questions regarding this

RFI must be in writing. No phone calls will be accepted. Phone messages will not be returned.