As part of the FBI’s push toward modernization, it has completed the digitization of more than 30 million records and about 83 million fingerprint cards. They were converted to digital form in the bureau’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, a state-of-the-art digital platform of biometric and other types of identity data.

The new system will replace the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System to better serve the FBI’s biggest customers: law enforcement agencies, veterans, government employees and its own laboratory.

“It makes those records immediately accessible to law enforcement across the country,” said Penny Harker, who runs the Biometric Services Unit at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services division. Now requests for fingerprint matches can be fulfilled within minutes, instead of hours.

The new system is expected to be fully operational in September with the digital conversion effort projected to be completed next month as well.

To read the entire article, please visit www.fiercegovernmentit.com.