Case Study

Neurotechnology's matching engine used for NATO Automated Biometric Identification System (NABIS).

NATO Automated Biometric Identification System (NABIS) was authorized by the NATO Biometrics Program of Work Coordination Group and developed as a part of the Defence Against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT POW), mainly to support interoperability in the biometrics domain.

With the core objective of processing multi-biometric information, the face, fingerprint, and iris, the NABIS system was developed using the intelligence application framework available within NATO and Neurotechnology's matching engine. In this way enhancing NABIS interoperability and integrating multimodal biometric data matching.

The biometric records are firstly uploaded into the NABIS as images, then translated into biometric templates and stored in the database by modality. Powered by Neurotechnology's matching engines, the matching process combines multimodal results into a global result that is presented to the user.

The overall matching engine is constructed around a client-server architecture. While the database with all recorded biometric data is installed and managed on the server side, the new records are converted to templates on the client side, which are then sent to the server for comparison with existing records, or for storage. The matching results are converted by NABIS into the format required by NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG 4715) and submitted as a response to the requestor.

The NABIS system uses a "ping and ring" concept to allow countries to share biometric data only when necessary, while protecting the sources of that data. If a country collects biometric data and needs more information to identify a person, they can "ping" the system to see if any other countries have a match. Countries can also "ring" another country to ask for data if they have something that could help them. The NABIS system allows countries to share this data securely.

The NATO ABIS was described in these documents:

1. B. M. Niculescu, C. Coman. "NATO Automated Biometric Identification System (NABIS)" MTA Review, Vol. XXVII, No. 2 (2017)
2. Online publication. "Countering terrorism: NATO Agency aids in the development of biometrics capabilities" NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency, November 18, 2020.

Neurotechnology's MegaMatcher product line offers versatile biometric matching capabilities and can serve as a central part of various identity management ecosystems. Ranging from a software development kit (SDK) and automated biometric identification system (ABIS) to complete identity management systems (IDMS), MegaMatcher products can adapt to project-specific needs.