An HS Daily Wire conversation with Walter Hamilton of the International Biometrics Industry Association (IBIA)
the work of the Association to promote industry growth benefits all of our members. Those of us who serve on IBIA working groups or committees, or on the board of directors in various capacities, all come from the membership.
We also have a professional management staff, provided by a consulting division of Williams Mullen, one of the largest law firms in the D.C.-Virginia area. Our managing director is Ms. Tovah LaDier, an attorney with that firm.
DW: How, precisely, does IBIA define its mission?
Hamilton: It is to advance the use of biometrics with potential users of the technology. This includes government, the business community, and the consumer. We act as an advocacy organization promoting the use of biometrics for identification purposes in such applications as securing financial transactions, managing access control to facilities and information systems, border security, home security, entitlement programs and law enforcement. We try to educate policy makers and influence public policy, and to enhance general public awareness of biometrics as a useful and beneficial technology.
We also partner with other technology and trade associations, as well as with the government, to help promote biometric awareness and support initiatives for biometric projects.
DW: Most of the names on your membership roster are U.S.-based. Yet the IBIA defines its area of interest as international.
Hamilton: While we do focus on the United States, we monitor international developments in biometric programs. Also, many of our member companies operate internationally and have offices worldwide. Some have their head offices in foreign capitals. So we are an international body — hence our name — but our main focus is the U.S. in terms of supporting our members’ interests in that region. We try to act as the industry’s leading voice on biometric matters and issues in the U.S. and we strive to build social consensus between government and the public in support of biometric technology.
DW: How closely do you work with Congress?
Hamilton: We work very closely with Congress. As you know, the U.S. government has a number of major programs related to homeland security, law enforcement, border protection, etcetera, and IBIA supports all of those congressional initiatives that have biometrics as a component.
An example would be the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Next Generation Identification (or NGI) program, recently awarded to Lockheed Martin as a systems integration contract. This will update the bureau’s fingerprint repository and search and identification system to include other biometric technologies like facial
