Project Summary 

• Develop a framework for evaluating biometrics in a range of large-scale, mission-critical air travel applications, including smart card-based Trusted Travel, Access Control, and Surveillance

IBG Responsibilities  

• Assessed issues involved in development and implementation of interoperable infrastructure for U.S. air travel, proposed alternatives and solutions to address performance, scalability, and process flows 
• Performed complex requirements gathering for multiple applications designed to provide transactional authentication and 1:N identification for millions of individuals 
• Assessed role of smart cards in Trusted Travel framework, highlighting risks involved in biometric interoperability and standards 
• Delivered comprehensive feasibility study based on IBG's Project Evaluation Framework Provided detailed recommendations and pilot guidance based on knowledge of core technology, biometric process flows, integration with existing systems, and real-world performance

In the weeks prior to the official formation of the new Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration engaged IBG to develop a framework for evaluating and deploying biometrics in a number of extremely challenging air travel environments. The largest and most complex, Trusted Travel, represents a large-scale initiative to introduce smart card-based authentication into the U.S. travel process. This framework is among those intended to direct key decisions in the piloting and deployment of biometric technology in U.S. air travel applications.

The scope and scale of the applications evaluated by IBG are quite large by biometric standards, with the potential for thousands of transactional authentication points interacting with tens of thousands of travelers on a daily basis. Because of the potential scale of air travel biometric systems, special attention was paid to critical biometric deployment challenges of enrollment, interoperability, performance, and fallback processes. Three air travel applications - surveillance, Trusted Travel (an opt-in, card-based system for passengers), and access control - were evaluated through IBG's Project Evaluation Methodology.