GAO: DEFENSE MANAGEMENT - DOD Needs to Establish Clear Goals and Objectives, Guidance, and a Designated Budget to Manage Its Biometrics Activities

GAO: DEFENSE MANAGEMENT - DOD Needs to Establish Clear Goals and Objectives, Guidance, and a Designated Budget to Manage Its Biometrics Activities

Highlights of GAO-08-1065, a report to congressional requesters

The Department of Defense (DOD), in its response to unconventional threats from terrorists, uses biometrics technologies that identify physical attributes, including fingerprints and iris scans. However, coordinating the development and implementation of biometrics and ensuring interoperability across DOD has been difficult to achieve. Biometrics also is an enabling technology for identity management, a concept that seeks to manage personally identifiable information to enable improved governmentwide sharing and analysis of identity information. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DOD has established biometrics goals and objectives, implementing guidance for managing biometrics activities, and a designated budget. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed documentation, including DOD biometrics policy and directives, and interviewed key DOD officials involved with making policy and funding decisions regarding biometrics.

What GAO Recommends
To improve DOD’s management of its biometrics activities, GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense ensure that the Principal Staff Assistant and Executive Committee establish clear goals and objectives, implementing guidance, and a designated budget for managing its biometrics activities. DOD concurred with all of GAO’s recommendations.

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