Zalud’s Blog (securitymagazine.com/blog) reported that Biometric Services International LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NBSP, held the first meeting of the Biometric Technology Working Group (BTWG) in its headquarters in Morgantown, W.V. last month. The BTWG, comprised of vendors, manufacturers, integrators, government and private sector users, was established by BSI to assess user requirements and define industry development priorities to address those requirements.

Twenty-three organizations representing users, developers, integrators, and academia from Canada, Europe and the U.S. participated to voice their views on the state of the biometric industry. The group, which will meet periodically over the next year, will issue a “State of the Biometric Industry Report” that will include specific recommendations on four areas deemed by the BTWG as critical to industry advancement. These include: Standards and Interoperability; Education&Training; Socio-Political Impact and Technology. During the course of the first meeting four subcommittees were formed to address these topic areas.

The next meeting of the group is scheduled for mid to late January. In the interim, subcommittee chairs will be appointed to define specific objectives and deliverables of each subcommittee.

Valerie Evanoff, CEO of BSI, said that the purpose of the BTWG is “…to identify the technology, social and economic priorities that need to be addressed as biometrics technology evolves from emerging to mainstream. New and larger applications are going to require greater interoperability, better-defined user training and a keener understanding of privacy and cultural issues. The BTWG has been formed to advance development in these critical areas.”