Under Construction

The FBI’s Science and Technology Branch created the BCOE — a one-stop shop for biometric collaboration and expertise — to strengthen our ability to combat crime and terrorism with state-of-the-art biometrics technology. The BCOE, which was established to help meet the challenges and opportunities that the widespread use of biometrics represents, is the FBI’s program for advancing the use of new and enhanced biometric capabilities. The BCOE is a collaborative initiative of the Laboratory Division, the Operational Technology Division, the Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and the Special Technologies and Applications Office.

Together, scientists, technicians, and biometrics experts are advancing the BCOE's mission to “foster collaboration, improve information sharing, and advance the adoption of optimal biometric and identity management solutions within the FBI and across the law enforcement and national security communities.”

Protecting the privacy of individuals also plays an important role in our work. The BCOE is committed to the protection of individual privacy rights and civil liberties. Privacy will be treated as an essential component in the planning and implementation of all BCOE-sponsored initiatives.

Services

The BCOE is working to bridge the gap between current biometric capabilities and future capabilities.

The BCOE’s services fall into three categories:

Biometrics & Emerging Technologies (Technology Services): The BCOE sponsors targeted applied research and prototyping activities, facilitating the test and evaluation of emerging technologies and systems, incrementally expanding the FBIs Certified Products List, and participating in standards development activities. The BCOE will champion the internal and external development of technology to accelerate the delivery of biometrics and identity management capabilities and to support multimodal system development and system interoperability.

Collaboration & Information Sharing (Relationship Management Services): The BCOE focuses in two areas: 1) building and maintaining key domestic and international relationships needed to bridge the gap between promising biometric research and operational needs and 2) engaging a team of experts to address privacy and other important legal, policy, and procedural issues related to research, standards development, functionality, data management, and deployment of biometric systems.

Enhancing Stakeholder Capabilities (End User Services): The BCOE provides expanded training offerings and certification curriculum to law enforcement and national security partners to prepare for the emergence of new biometric capabilities. The BCOE will also provide hosting and other services (data center, system administration, continuity of operations, and examiner services) for agencies that would benefit from the FBI’s expertise and economies of scale.