SOURCES SOUGHT
99 -- BIOMETRIC LAND EXIT SOLUTION
- Notice Date
- 5/20/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541330
— Engineering Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Procurement Operations, US-VISIT Acquisition Division, 1616 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1800, Arlington, Virginia, 22209-3110
- ZIP Code
- 22209-3110
- Solicitation Number
- USV-001
- Point of Contact
- Patricia AnneOliver,, Phone: 202-295-5490, Bob Richards,, Phone: 202-298-5122
- E-Mail Address
-
patricia.a.oliver@dhs.gov, robert.richards@dhs.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) Program Request for Information/Sources Sought (RFI/SS) Announcement Biometric Land Exit Solution 1.0Purpose This is a Request for Information (RFI)/ Sources Sought (SS) announcement to conduct market research. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses to this document. Information obtained is for planning purposes only. By means of this RFI/SS, the Government seeks to identify potential solutions, service providers, and suppliers interested in participating in the design and development of the Biometric Land Exit Solution for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is also asking for questions and/or feedback on the draft description of business needs; the characteristics of current facilities described in this document; suggestions for concepts of operation, technologies, and devices; and a broad outline of how the Government might provide the Biometric Land Exit Solution for land exit modalities by in-scope travelers at the northern and southern borders of the United States. A respondent to this RFI/SS should describe the technology and/or device(s) that can best be used to capture biographic and biometric information in a notional exit process and how the recommended approach will provide solutions for the needs of this RFI/SS (see Section 3.0 Operational Needs). While it is the intent of US-VISIT to fully comply with the statutory mandates to include biometrics as part of the Land Border Exit Solution, respondents are encouraged to describe incremental solutions that may start with captured biographical data and how the Land Border Exit Solution could evolve to accept biometrics in a set time period. If a respondent has specific recommendations on how biographic and biometric data capture should be done with a recommended technology or product, those recommendations should be made explicit in the response to this RFI/SS. Respondents to this RFI/SS may submit material that addresses all or part of the biographic and biometric data capture needs for any or all of the travel modalities encountered at land ports of entry (POEs). A respondent should provide a clear statement of how each part of its submission addresses a specific need in this RFI/SS. If the described approach requires specific improvements to one or more land POEs, the respondent shall describe what is needed in sufficient detail to allow the Government to evaluate the practicality of the approach. 2.0General and Background Information The 9/11 Commission, Congress, and DHS agree that being able to accurately document the entry and exit of non-U.S. citizens is a priority for securing our Nation’s borders. The results of this market research will be used to inform planning for technologies, devices, processes, and/or procedures that can be used to biometrically verify that a specific in-scope traveler has exited from the United States via a land border. “In-scope” (see Section 4.1 In-Scope Travelers) is defined as the categories of visitors to the United States who are subject to the processes and procedures established by the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) Program. US-VISIT entry procedures use biographic information from valid travel documents and biometric data (currently fingerprints and digital photographs) to verify identity. US-VISIT provides biometric identification and analysis services to agencies throughout the U.S. immigration, border management, law enforcement, and intelligence communities. US-VISIT’s services help other agencies (stakeholders), such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in DHS; Department of Transportation (DOT); Department of Justice (DOJ); Department of State (DOS); and others to accurately identify people and assess risk. Those international visitors who experience US-VISIT biometric procedures—the collection of digital fingerprints and photographs—do so when they apply for visas at embassies or consulates abroad and when they enter the United States through air, sea, and land border POEs. In each case, a visitor’s fingerprints are checked against a database of known and suspected terrorists, criminals, and immigration violators. U.S. consular officers and CBP officers use the results from these checks to make visa issuance and admission decisions. On November 29, 2007, DHS began replacing 2-fingerprint scanners with new 10-fingerprint scanners at U.S. POEs to collect additional fingerprints from international visitors. US-VISIT deploys identification and verification capabilities at air, sea, and land POEs that improve the integrity of the immigration and border management system while also mitigating the amount of time needed to process in-scope travelers. Functionality developed by US-VISIT has been implemented in phased rollouts called increments. Increments 1, 2, and 3 have provided the capability to obtain quick, secure, and biometrically verified identities in the air, sea, and land border environments. These capabilities are used to ensure that certain categories of aliens who travel to the United States are here legally, that the documents presented are legal documents within valid periods, and that the bearer of a valid travel document is the person to whom the document was issued. The biometric exit capability that is the subject of this RFI/SS might use the same information currently gathered by US-VISIT, but respondents to this RFI/SS are invited to suggest other approaches for establishing identity and verifying that identity with biometric data that is highly accurate and difficult to falsify. Because DHS already provides biometric (fingerprint) matching capabilities, and a great deal of DHS infrastructure has been deployed to acquire, transmit, match, and provide the results of fingerprint matching, the respondents to this RFI/SS should make use of these capabilities where they are relevant. However, DHS appreciates that other modalities may emerge in responses to this RFI/SS that also require a centralized matching capability (i.e., biometric matching on modalities other than fingerprints). In these cases, respondents should structure their responses to use existing capabilities, including additional capabilities for the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) managed by US-VISIT, and describe how and why the suggested approach would be an improvement over the fingerprint methods currently used. However, if the response does not require a centralized biometric matching capability, the respondent should describe how biometric verification of identity would occur in a manner that minimizes the opportunity for the fraudulent use of documents, credentials, devices, or other means to establish identity, and should also describe how and why the suggested approach would be an improvement over the fingerprint methods currently used. The entry process at land POEs accommodates in-scope pedestrians; in-scope travelers in personal automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and similar conveyances; and in-scope travelers in commercial vehicles, including buses, trains, boats, ferries, and other surface transport conveyances. These modes of travel are referred to as land entry and exit modalities. In-scope travelers include people who intend to arrive or actually do arrive at U.S. ports for any purpose that involves applying for entry to the United States. If a non-U.S. citizen traveler is subject to US-VISIT procedures on entry into the United States, that traveler will likely also be subject to US-VISIT procedures to be established for exit from the United States. For entry into the United States, US-VISIT in-scope travelers must carry and present appropriate travel documents (e.g., a valid passport and visa, if required) and possibly other documents (e.g., Arrival Departure Record, CBP Form I -94, for nonimmigrant visitors with a visa for the United States). Each US-VISIT in scope traveler is required to provide biometrics—digital fingerprints and a photograph—during the entry inspection process. Standards for fingerprints and photographs are available at www.biometrics.gov/standards. In contrast to the entry process, other than a pilot testing program (e.g., see 8 C.F.R. 215.8; no such formal biometric procedures have yet been required for in-scope travelers exiting the United States). This RFI/SS seeks ideas, approaches, processes, technologies, devices, and/or operational models for implementing an automated, biometrically verified exit capability that interfaces to and interoperates with other Government networks, services, and databases that are also used for US-VISIT entry procedures. Specifically, US-VISIT has provided the means to collect certain biographic and biometric information from in-scope travelers as they enter the United States to verify identity and to provide information used to decide the legal basis for entry into the United States. Biometric verification applies to non U.S. citizens—persons who exit the United States and who are within the applicable categories of in-scope travelers subject to US-VISIT requirements. Generally speaking, US-VISIT currently applies to all visitors (with limited exemptions) holding nonimmigrant visas and to visitors from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries, regardless of country of origin. The biographic and biometric information collected is used by DHS to verify identity, to implement screening procedures, and to execute the responsibilities it has to operate a comprehensive immigration program. As part of the systems and capabilities used to establish and to verify the identity of in scope travelers and to record entry and exit information, US-VISIT operates two systems: IDENT is a secure biometric matching system that uses fingerprints, and it may be extended in the future to use other biometric modalities to verify identity and to identify persons when a verification attempt cannot be confirmed. IDENT includes information collected by DHS as well as from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with records of deported felons and other criminals and DHS information on previous criminal histories and previous IDENT enrollments. A separate system, the Arrival and Departure Information System (ADIS), is used to securely store non U.S. citizen entry and exit data received from the entry and exit manifests of air and sea carriers and from land entries. Other systems also support or are connected to IDENT, including the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the Computer Linked Application Information System (CLAIMS), the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), the Consolidated Consular Database (CCD), the Global Enrollment System (GES), the USCG Mona Pass proof of concept mobile biometric capability, and others. As a general rule, US-VISIT prefers open systems, standards-based data collection and data messaging formats, and commercially available and readily interoperable technology so that installation, operation, maintenance, and communications are based on accepted, widely deployed, and proven technology solutions. While products and technologies that do not attain all of these goals will be considered, US-VISIT requires that respondents to this RFI/SS clearly describe and detail any nonstandard, not-open, and/or proprietary aspects of their responses to this RFI/SS so that the Government can develop an accurate understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the responses. The current exit procedure in effect at air, sea, and land ports is specific: all international in-scope travelers who received a Form I-94 upon arrival must return it to an airline or ship representative when departing the United States or deposit it into a designated receptacle if exiting the United States by means of one of the land travel modalities. DHS published a proposed rule establishing air and sea biometric exit requirements and plans to deploy an air and sea port biometric verification of identity solution for exit in 2009. This RFI/SS is to support a similar biometric verification of identity for in-scope travelers as they exit the United States at land POEs. Legal entry to the United States occurs at specific POEs. Land POEs are defined as those that accommodate pedestrians; vehicles, such as cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and other conveyances; or other facilities or processes that accommodate travel by train, boat, or ferry for entry into the United States. Each POE also accommodates exit from the United States In-scope travelers who enter the United States via one mode may exit via any other mode. The primary goal is to implement the mandated biometrically-verified land exit process with minimal impact on travel time and processing; cost and impact on traffic; surrounding environment and communities; and expense and inconvenience to the traveler. US-VISIT is seeking information to help implement the collection of biographic and biometric data from in-scope travelers as they exit from the U.S. by any of the land modalities noted in this RFI/SS. All such collection capabilities must interface to and interoperate with all existing DHS networks, infrastructure, and systems as necessary to maintain the integrity of DHS’s border and immigration management system. This RFI/SS requests that responses focus on the sensing/recording/input technology, devices, and/or operational and technical processes to be used at the land exit part of a POE only. Because of the unique challenges of deploying a biometric exit identity verification solution in the land border environment, especially for multiple occupants of vehicles, land border biometric exit is being addressed separately from air and sea. Note that, for practical reasons, biometric identity verification is established by matching valid travel document(s) with biographic information and a biometric image or scan that agree with existing entries in DHS records. This RFI/SS requests that industry consider and provide suggestions to satisfy the functional needs and desired properties of biometric identity verification for land exit capability or technologies applicable to all land modes of travel. 3.0 Operational Needs The following presents a combination of characteristics that outlines the solution space for a land exit system and associated processes, components, and applicable technology. The land exit solution is envisioned to be a combination of processes and technology specifically adapted to the land exit environment, its in-scope travelers, and, as required, system operators. Land exit may encompass multiple technologies, each of which is superior in meeting a particular aspect of the land exit solution. This section presents operational needs as constraints, complexities, qualities, and processes that US-VISIT anticipates the land exit solution will need to address and possess, as well as to attain the following goals: •Provide automated capture of an in-scope traveler’s biographic and biometric information safely and with limited traveler intrusiveness and throughput delays. •Biometrically verify the identity manifested by biographic information on legal documents that are presented as part of the exit process. The following describe the steps in a notional exit process that would be executed by existing DHS capabilities: •Transmit the biographic and biometric data collected at a port for an exiting in-scope traveler to DHS systems for biometric verification of the identity. •Perform biometric match operations. •Record an in-scope traveler’s departure from the United States in the existing ADIS system. •Match the exit record to the traveler’s entry record in the existing ADIS system. Any or all of the above may be addressed by the response to this RFI/SS as appropriate to provide the solution suggested by the respondent’s work, or work in a way that improves the value to the Government and/or the traveler. In all cases, the response should maintain or enhance the following overall US-VISIT goals: •Enhance the security of our citizens and visitors. •Facilitate legitimate travel and trade. •Ensure the integrity of our immigration system. •Protect the privacy of our visitors. 3.1 Constraints Statute, DHS policy, or practical considerations impose the following constraints on, and preferences for, the land exit solution: •All data collection, usage, and storage related to land exit must comply with all applicable statutes, regulations, international treaties, and DHS guidance on privacy and security. •Land exit physical infrastructure improvements and construction must comply with applicable environmental statutes and regulations. •Biometric technologies must follow applicable biometric standards as documented at www.biometrics.gov/standards. •The Government prefers a land exit solution that applies to all existing land POEs on the northern and southern borders of the United States, but it will consider responses that describe potential solutions that are applicable to a subset of the land POEs. •Biographic and biometric data shall be collected at the time and place of exit from the United States or at a time and place that is, for practical purposes, virtually at the place of actual exit, such as a roadway or pedestrian facility leading to the actual border crossing point. •Respondents who propose a solution that would not be at the actual border crossing point (before exiting or after exiting) should describe in detail how this could be done securely. 4.0 Solution Complexities Complexities are circumstances or facts that make the identification of a solution difficult and that drive the Government’s desire for an innovative solution. The following are key complexities. 4.1 In-Scope Travelers In-scope travelers are: •Overall only a small percentage of travelers. Out of the approximately 350 million land border entrants to the United States annually, only about 3 percent are currently subject to US-VISIT procedures and data collection. Presumably, about the same number of travelers who enter via land ports will exit via land ports. •In-scope travelers are mixed with out-of-scope travelers. •A single vehicle may contain both in-scope and out-of-scope persons, and biometric exit procedures will apply only to the in-scope travelers. In -scope travelers can cross at a land POE as: •Pedestrians. •Operators of private vehicles, including automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and similar conveyances; or commercial vehicles, such as automobiles, buses, trucks, trains, ferries, boats, ambulances, bicycles, motorcycles, and similar conveyances •Passengers in either private or commercial conveyances. In-scope travelers present multiple travel profiles: •Frequent travelers. •Infrequent travelers. •One time/infrequent travelers. •Travelers who may enter at one port and leave from another, including air, sea, and land ports. 4.2 Facilities There are 167 land POE facilities. Each land POE has some kind of exit infrastructure that may be as simple as a road, pedestrian path, or gate; or that may have improvements that provide inspection booths, other structures, road modifications, more elaborate gating structures, or other controls. The physical characteristics of POEs vary widely and may be no more than the roadway that crosses the border, a pedestrian path, or an improved facility that may or may not include specific arrangements to accommodate exit processing. These facilities present a variety of complexities: •Some POEs are extremely limited in regard to the extent of physical changes that could be introduced due to a variety of considerations, ranging from existing infrastructure that may or may not be owned or leased by the U.S. Government; historic and environmental considerations; weather and geographic constraints in land use; lack of utilities and/or communications; and similar considerations. •POE designs vary from large-scale, complex facilities to simple, nearly rustic remote buildings. •POEs may be 24-hour/7-days-per-week operations while others may have limited operating hours and procedures. •POE operations and procedures are often driven by the physical layout of the POE. For example, some pedestrian exit areas have controlled turnstiles, while others have open and uncontrolled outdoor areas for pedestrian exit; some vehicle exit lanes are “at speed” and others lead into toll booth areas currently not used to conduct routine exit operations. The facilities for exit capabilities are varied. Some POEs have infrastructures that make collecting biometrics at departure manageable, such as extended power communications; installed roads or structures; gate houses, turnstiles, and/or in-lane vehicle inspection booths; utilities; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC); high-speed data communications; space for sensitive equipment; and sheltered areas for inspections. Other POEs may not provide these kinds of infrastructure. Furthermore, border crossings may be adjacent to each other or only separated from each other by distances of a few feet. This RFI includes in-scope travelers who exit by ferry or rail crossings because they are categorized with land crossings, distinct from those exiting via cruise lines. 4.3 Desired Qualities and Values Respondents should identify potential technologies, devices, processes, and/or procedures that can provide all or parts of a biometrically verified data collection system for any or all of the 167 land POEs. The following qualities are desired: •Safe: The solution imposes no potential health risks to the traveler or inspector (if required in the context of the response), either through the use of the potential solution or an individual’s proximity to the devices associated with the potential solution, and does not interfere with the duties of any operator or inspections officer in a manner that poses a threat to the safety of the operator or officer. •Secure: The solution prevents unauthorized duplication, alteration, or otherwise fraudulent use of devices or tokens that interfere with the intended use of the solution to biometrically verify the identity of in-scope travelers; the data associated with the solution is captured and transmitted in a manner by which it cannot be intercepted or used in a way other than as intended; and the data and use of the data is structured to protect the privacy of travelers. •Unobtrusive: The solution minimizes the actions (if any) by the traveler in the biometric collection process. •Accurate: A minimum of 97 percent, with a goal of 100 percent, correct biometric identification and verification of legally exiting in-scope travelers, with no collection of data from out-of-scope persons. •Durable: The solution is built to withstand long periods of use, environmental exposure, both large and small volume use, and resistance to mechanical damage due to dropping, misuse, moisture, etc. •The solution is easily used by the traveler and operator, if an operator is required. •The solution is compatible with, or does not interfere with, the existing port environment to the maximum extent possible, including other technologies, such as those used for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI), U.S. Canada Border Crossing Initiative (NEXUS), and Free and Secure Trade (FAST); and radiation portal monitors, license plate readers, and other screening devices. •Comprehensive: The solution applies with minimum adaptation to the population of in-scope travelers exiting the United States. •The solution has minimal impact on traffic flow. •The solution has minimal cost to the Government and to in-scope travelers, in terms of initial operating and maintenance costs, and in time or effort spent by in-scope travelers in the exit process. •The solution has low environmental and social impact (e.g., does not increase or render objectionable traffic patterns, impact historic sites, or compromise privacy) on in-scope travelers and surrounding communities. •The solution provides a scalable solution/technology that can be used at both high-volume POEs as well as smaller, less well-developed, and less frequently used ports. However, this is not to be construed to discourage responses that provide a solution that is best for specific ports or situations. •The solution accommodates full-scope training and testing to ensure that personnel can operate the equipment/technology/process/procedure quickly, competently, and safely, and are able to obtain the intended results. The Government prefers but does not require a solution that is as open, compatible, and interoperable with industry standard equipment and existing DHS biometric verification capabilities, including interfaces, protocols, and practices. The Government will evaluate responses in this light. It is generally understood that openness, compatibility, and interoperability mean that hardware and software easily attach to and work with commercial off-the-shelf products from other vendors without the need for custom hardware or software adaptation. Software drivers that are otherwise fully compatible with operating systems, computer hardware, and communications equipment in general use in DHS systems are considered “interoperable.” Respondents are requested to highlight not-open, incompatible, or noninteroperable aspects of their responses. 5.0 Specific Needs The following information is provided to stimulate responses on how these needs might be satisfied. While many of these needs are stated in a “shall” format (suggestive of a mandatory requirement), for purposes of this RFI/SS respondents should respond with all appropriate or useful information, even if the information suggests an alternative requirement or standard or suggests reconsideration of the requirement described in this RFI/SS: 1.Self identification by individuals to determine whether the traveler is in-scope may not be sufficiently reliable. Some assistance, indication, or screening step may be necessary to reliably and accurately apply US-VISIT processing to in-scope travelers. 2.Processes, procedures, technology, or some combination of these that will enable two objectives: A.Rapid identification of in-scope travelers who are in-scope for US-VISIT processing. B.Rapid biometric verification of the identity of in-scope travelers, usually accomplished by evaluation of the validity of travel documents and the use of a biometric modality to verify the identity that is asserted by a document. For example, biometric identity verification is performed at entry by using an optical scanner to scan the machine readable zone (MRZ) of a valid travel document and by using fingerscans to determine whether the fingerprints of the person bearing the documents match the fingerprints of the identity on file in IDENT. 3.The land exit potential solution shall be applicable to and effective with all current and anticipated categories of exiting in-scope travelers within US-VISIT scope. 4.The land exit potential solution should be compatible across exit modalities. At a minimum, the potential solution should not interfere with devices, technologies, and processes in use for other modalities. 5.US-VISIT is committed to facilitating legitimate travel and trade. Accordingly, the time needed to obtain usable biographic and biometric data from a traveler shall be as short as possible while also ensuring that biometric verification of identity is at least 97 percent accurate, with a goal of 100 percent. Technical, process, or procedural add-ons must not cause excessive queuing or congestion at POEs. 6.The technology described by the respondent for biometric verification of identity should not result in a false positive verification more than 0.1 percent of the time. 7.The biometric verification of identity should not result in a false negative verification more than 0.1 percent of the time. 8.Methods and mechanisms for reporting the results of identity verification both to individual ports and to DHS shall be defined in the context of the respondent’s solution. 5.1 Inputs and Outputs These are the key inputs and outputs that the land exit solution needs to provide: •Input: Capture biographic and biometric data from in-scope travelers at exit from the United States, regardless of the land mode of travel and with as little interference with or delay of travel as possible. •Input: Accurate collection of biometric information from in-scope travelers as they exit through land POEs. •Output: Verification or failure to verify that the biographic and biometric data presented by travelers at POEs match with associated DHS records. 6.0 Response Guidelines Respondents to this RFI/SS must provide information describing the suggested technologies, products, and biometric matching processes that are included in the solution. If the respondent’s solution is based on fingerprints, IDENT in its current form will provide the matching capability needed to verify identity. If some other biometric modality is part of the solution described, the relevant matching capability would presumably be added to IDENT. The respondent should describe how other biometrics for land border crossers would be collected at entry to facilitate the proposed solution for land exit. As noted elsewhere in this document, respondents should assume that the Government already has capabilities for storing data that associates biometric data with biographic data, network capabilities within the POEs and across DHS, and basic physical infrastructure (e.g., power, communications, and buildings). However, respondents should note any special needs or facilities necessary to accommodate their solutions, especially in the context of less well- developed ports and better developed ports where exit areas may be located adjacent to, but many yards from, the entry facility. The narrative of the suggested solution should also outline how biometric characteristics will be used for comparison at exit to biometrically verify the identity of travelers. The narrative should also describe how the suggested technology will capture or interoperate with biographic information to be collected at exit. 6.1 Technologies and Products Descriptive material shall be provided for each product or technology proposed by the respondent for the suggested solution, including devices for initial biometric capture as travelers enters the United States, the capture of biometric information as travelers exit through land POEs, the comparison of biometric exit data against stored data for identity verification, and any other equipment required to enable the suggested solution. The description should include: •Operational parameters, such as the distance from which biometric data can be captured, whether the biometric sample can be captured while the subject is moving, and environmental considerations, such as temperature, precipitation, dust, dirt, and illumination requirements. •Performance parameters, such as biometric read rates (how long data capture takes and how many in-scope travelers can be processed simultaneously), factors that impact performance (such as heat, humidity, or physical barriers between the reader and the traveler), and sources of capture or comparison errors. •Test reports or results that demonstrate how the performance parameters were calculated. •Equipment specifications, such as size, power, and communication and location requirements (e.g., outside and unprotected, office environment, and computer room controlled conditions). •Description of the maturity of the devices (e.g., whether these devices are currently in use in an operational environment, in testing, or in the conceptual or design stage). •Operations and maintenance requirements that would have an impact on large-scale deployments to the full range of ports described in this RFI/SS. 6.2 Biometric Matching Processes US-VISIT currently uses fingerprints as the biometric modality for verifying traveler identity and so has extensive knowledge and existing capability in this area. IDENT, the system that provides the DHS biometric identity service, also is capable of extensions for matching on multiple biometric modalities. If the suggested solution includes the use of biometric data other than fingerprints, the respondent shall provide information to address the following: •Content of biometric data stored (e.g., image or mathematical representation of data). •Any biometric needed to be captured at entry to facilitate the exit process for those individuals exiting via a land border. •Approach for comparison of biometric data. •Uniqueness of biometrics captured (e.g., provide the probability that two individuals will have identical biometric data in a population of several hundred million, as will be contained eventually in IDENT for fingerprints). •Results for a comparison of biometric data (e.g., whether there is an absolute match/no match result or a list of potential matches is provided). •Approach to resolution if automated equipment cannot confirm whether there is a complete match between the data captured at exit and the stored biometric data for a single individual. •The algorithm used for the basis of comparison (e.g., whether the matching is based on a proprietary matching algorithm or published biometric standards) •Description of the maturity of the biometric matching process (e.g., whether the suggested matching process is currently in use in an operational environment, in testing, or in the design stage). •Compliance with relevant capture, data formatting, compression, communication, and other standards per the information available via the www.biometrics.gov/standards Web site. 7.0 General Guidance for Submittal The Government requests that respondents confine their responses to the information requested below. Elaborate bindings, illustrations, brochures, company descriptions, descriptions of past experience, and other materials that speak to qualifications to perform work are unnecessary. All responses to this RFI/SS shall instead be focused on the specific categories of information requested. A response shall not consist of more than 30 pages, as described in this RFI/SS. The Government will use its best efforts to respond to questions that respondents submit in the context of this RFI/SS. Questions may be submitted via e-mail as an additional separate document and/or CD-ROM. An e-mail, hard copy, or CD-ROM page shall be 8.5 inches by 11 inches in size, have 1-inch margins, and shall use single spaced Helvetica or Arial fonts no smaller than 10 point. Electronic submissions shall have the same content as hard copy submissions, including formatting. Respondents shall certify that electronic (i.e., CD-ROM) and printed copies are the same. The only allowed media for submission are hard copies and CD-ROMs. Respondents may submit both hard copies and electronic formats. The Government prefers hard copies and the electronic format as defined above. All electronic responses shall be free of viruses, Trojan horses, or other malware. Any submissions found to contain such may be rejected without notification by the Government. Intentional submission of malware within submitted documents may also result in legal action against the respondent. A respondent shall submit four identical hard copy documents and four CD-ROMs as described above for the response to this RFI/SS. Questions may be submitted via e-mail, as an additional separate document, and/or on a CD-ROM in the format described above. All hard copies and electronic media must have attached labels or cover sheets that identify the respondent and the respondent’s contact information, title of this RFI/SS, and the RFI number. 7.1 Method of Submission A summary paper not exceeding one page in length shall be submitted both in hard copy (four copies) and in electronic form on CD-ROM (four copies). Electronic copies should be submitted in Microsoft Office Word 2003 format. Supporting information, such as brochures, must be submitted in a binder that holds all such material together for each technology submitted by a respondent and also in electronic form. CD-ROM is the preferred medium for electronic submission. The Government may, at its sole discretion and at no cost to the Government, copy all or parts of a respondent’s submission for the purpose of evaluating, summarizing, or compiling information. Stakeholders in the RFI/SS process will share information. The Government will use usual and customary means to safeguard proprietary information, but only when such information is (1) clearly marked as proprietary; (2) is in fact information that could not have been obtained from another party or source; and (3) is otherwise deserving of such treatment under standards and processes described in 6 C.F.R. 5.8. 7.2 Submission Due Dates Responses to this RFI/SS must be provided no later than 3:00 p.m. EDT on July 16, 2008, to: Ms. Patricia Oliver Contracting Officer 1616 N. Fort Myer Drive, 17th Floor Arlington, VA 22209 Ms. Oliver may also be contacted at (202) 295-5490 or patricia.a.oliver@dhs.gov. 7.3 Next Steps US-VISIT intends to hold an Industry Day Briefing at 1:00 p.m. on June 30, 2008, at: Top of the Town 1400 N. 14th Street Arlington, VA 22209 Those intending to attend should notify Ms. Oliver no later than 3:00 p.m. EDT on May 27, 2008. Space is limited and the number of participants per company is limited to two. Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. 8.0 Acquisition Potential US-VISIT may issue a solicitation as early as January 2009 to address the Government’s needs described in this document. Sources identified through this RFI/SS process will be solicited, along with others. Deliverables would likely include system design, development, integration, and deployment services, as well as the delivery of equipment, labor, and materials for integration with existing systems, and follow-on operations and maintenance services. US-VISIT will require that any equipment performance be demonstrated and proven through actual tests as a part of the DHS Enterprise Life Cycle Management process. 9.0 Other Information Interested parties are advised that US-VISIT and the DHS Office of Procurement Operations are under no obligation to take any further action with any party as a result of this RFI/SS. Summary reports supplied in response to this RFI/SS will be made available to all US-VISIT stakeholders. As applicable, identify any other accompanying information that you would prefer not being disclosed outside of DHS. A list of attendees at the Industry Day Briefing will be disclosed to all participants.
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