Internationally, the EU Biometric Matching System (BMS), Japan VISIT, and UK e-Borders awards are noteworthy, and all eyes are on the UK as it moves forward on its biometrically-enabled National Identity Scheme (NIS).

Commercial sales are also up with some impressive milestones (e.g., Authentec’s 25 millionth sensor), but it’s still not where we’d like to see it overall, such as being embraced by the financial sector.

We also saw an increased focus on interoperability. Testing for both general technology performance and interoperable performance took a leap as the EU announced the results of its Minutiae Template Interoperability Test (MTIT), the US MINEX testing program was extended and MINEX II initiated, and the results of the FRVT/ICE tests were reported. Look for this trend to continue as NIST has announced an upcoming Compact Iris Interoperability Test (CIIT) 2008.

‘Qualified’ or ‘Approved’ product lists also moved forward in 2007, the Personal Identity Verification (PIV)/FIPS-201 and Airport Access Control programs in particular.

Another area that saw a rise was in the area of biometrics at a distance and/or for moving targets, with no less than four different iris products in this category shown at BCC this year. Face and iris continue to show the most promise, but research continues in other modalities (and mixed modalities) as well. This is part of a larger trend related to improving the overall usability of biometrics–how to make them more intuitive and usable by real people in real operational environments.

As Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based systems gain popularity, especially among the larger programs, so does the use of biometric middleware. This trend gained ground in 2007 and promises to continue in 2008 as end users and integrators seek openness, flexibility, scalability, and specific technology/vendor independence. In fact, many of the programs mentioned above have selected such an architecture.

Standards work continues to press ahead but with more focus on conformance and conformity assessment. Additionally, a flurry of revision and amendment projects reflect feedback into the standards (improvements and corrections) based on usage. (Note the implication that at least some of the standards are moving from existence to adoption.) At ISO, several new standards were published in 2007 (e.g., vascular data format) and new projects initiated (e.g., for voice and DNA formats) that will move towards completion in 2008.

Privacy continues to be a concern in the development and deployment of biometric systems, both from a perception and political viewpoint, as well as in due diligence in designing adequate protections into the system as a whole–both technical and procedural. Ground can be gained in this area if sufficient attention is paid to it.

The role of biometrics in IT security and identity management has not yet settled itself out. Look for more work in this area and hopefully more dialogue between the biometric community and the greater security and identity worlds that have not yet fully embraced biometric technology.

Bottom line: biometrics had a reasonably good run this year, but still has significant untapped potential (especially in the commercial market). Perhaps 2008 will bring the epiphany we seek.

About the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel At the close of each year, AVISIAN Publishing’s editorial team selects a group of key leaders from various sectors of the ID technology market to serve as Expert Panelists. Each individual is asked to share their unique insight into what lies ahead. During the month of December, these panelist’s predictions are published daily at the appropriate title within the AVISIAN suite of ID technology publications: SecureIDNews.com, ContactlessNews.com, CR80News.com, RFIDNews.org, FIPS201.com, NFCNews.com, ThirdFactor.com, and DigitalIDNews.com.