SPECIAL FEATURE on BIOMETRICS: a Look at How This Important Innovation in Security Technology Is Transforming Public Safety and the Fight Against Terrorism

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A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE CANADA PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION NETWORK

SUMMER 2004, Vol:: 3- ISSUE USING BIOMETRICS TO FIGHT TERRORISM

Interoperability:

-‘ 41 THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF DI IN CANADA PARTNERS IN Arnow ILF QUEBEC AND SASKATCHEWAN CONNECT TO OMS

BC AND ONTARIO LEIP INTO ACTION

Canad'Â Foreword A Message from the Honourable Anne McLellan

A Note from the Editor-In-Chief

5 Interoperability Are you 2 For the asking Charting the next phase receiving? 1 The RCMP's in the evolution of Tuning into the Integrated integrated justice challenges of radio Query Tool information in Canada interoperability

Getting it done Identifying the possibilities: New Brunswick is making J -j Biometrics in Canada PARTNERS strides in the realm of IJI r-1 Q&A with Raj Nanavati on iu J J biometrics standards development r ) Looking at the bigger picture: J J Canada's new National Security Policy LEIPs and 8Highlights from the CACP forum on Put to the test: bounds 3 information sharing and interoperability Does facial recognition measure up? A "just do it" attitude yields rapid Highlights from the Strategies for Public Charting new waters: progress for IJI in 4 Safety Transformation 2004 conference The Seafarers' Identity Document Ontario and BC on technology and counter-terrorism Iris recognition CANPASS Air simplifies border Connecting clearance for frequent flyers A common will partners in to connect 11 r^ Putting the pieces together: Quebec and /J Update on partnerships J Making real-time Saskatchewan and Canada-U.S. identification a reality Correctional Service public-safety efforts Canada's Offender Management System

ABOUT I1I@W'0RK ' - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Greg Wright Articles may be reprinted in Address all correspondence to: whole or in part with credit to II@Work Ip@Work is published by thé lritégrated %üStice EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eleanor Willing Information Secretariat of Public Safety and Public Safety and Emergency Public Safety and Emergency CONTRIBUTORS Patrick Gant, Emergency.Preparedness Canada. Opinions Preparedness Canada. Preparedness Canada expressed in this publitatinn do not necessarily thinkrt communications Integrated Justice Information Secretariat Letters to the editor, suggestions reflect the views or opinions of the Public Safety Laurier Ave. West Andrew Kirkwood, for articles and contributions are 34o and Emergency Preparedness Canada. Ottawa, ON KiA oPS Stiff Sentences Inc. welcome. Telephone: (613) 991-4279 ISSN 1703- 0129 GR(nPHK DESIGN Accurate Design and Material submitted may be edited Fax: (613) 991-33o6 Vol. 3 Issue i Communication Inc. for style and length. All contribu- © Her Majésty,the Queen in Right oN^nada, Web: www.psepc.gc.co PHOTOGRAPHY tecklesphoto.com tors must include an email address represented by the Solicitor General of Canada Email: ijis-süjC,a`psepc-sppcc.gc.ca (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency and daytime phone number. Preparedness), 2004. AII rights reserved. Printed in Canada s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Citizens, interested stakeholders, Canadian Safety and Emergency Preparedness, I am Public Safety Information Network (CPSIN) A pleased to have the opportunity to provide partners, and front-line workers in criminal greetings to the readers of IJI@Work. justice and public safety can take pride in On December 12, 2003, the Prime Minister Canada's integrated justice information announced the creation of a new Department achievements to date-many of which have of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness been profiled in this publication. Each accom- Canada (PSEPC). The Department brings plishment is a step forward for public safety together the core functions of security and and criminal justice in Canada and abroad. intelligence, policing and enforcement, corrections and crime prevention, border services I encourage you to continue to work with and integrity, immigration enforcement, and your domestic and international partners emergency management. to maintain and enhance the security of Canadians. The creation of PSEPC, along with its agencies, is a fundamental component of the Government of Canada's efforts to better secure Canada's public safety and security. PSEPC is working with its partners in all levels of government, and all sectors of society, to build a safer, more secure Canada The Honourable A. Anne McLellan, P.C., M.P. that respects the civil liberties of a diverse Deputy Prime Minister and democracy and the collective security ex- Minister of Public Safety and Emergency pected by our citizens. Preparedness Canada

These partnerships are essential to our work, and therefore, must be nurtured by an environment that encourages an open exchange of information and ideas. Through - „a.. this publication, lJl@Work, the Integrated ,r^, ;.. `^:^?',` .`"^ • Justice Information Secretariat continues to play this important role in support of public safety. k ^ ^>::f• + G ^ ^^ .^. titi•'• ti y r^?a.:). ^:

Summer 2004 3 I 1 I@ W 0 R K A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Change is a constant force in nature-partners in the integrated justice information community are not immune from this fact. In the span of time between this fourth issue of !JI@Work. and its predecessor, we have seen some very important changes in the Government of Canada's public safety portfolio, including the creation of our new department, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, and the launching of Canada's first-ever integrated National Security Policy.

These changes are part of a much wider set of developments that are taking place in Canada's public safety and criminal justice communities. Interoperability and biometrics are being pursued through various undertakings across government, offering tremendous new potential for information sharing in a controlled, secure environment.

Recognizing the importance of these changes, we've devoted a significant portion of this publication to highlight the efforts underway across Canada right now. Each article reveals how important breakthroughs hold the promise of advancing our collective goal of integrated justice information.

The Canada Public Safety Information Network derives much of its strength from the achievements of its partners who are seeking better ways to work and share with each other. That's why this issue of lJl@Work. also highlights some of the key achievements of the provinces, including: a Correctional Service Canada agreement with Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia; law-enforcement collaboration efforts in Ontario and British Columbia; as well as highlights from recent conferences on information sharing, technology and counter-terrorism.

As always, I am interested to hear your impression about IJI@Work. Be sure to send us an email at [email protected]. Your feedback will help shape future issues of this magazine.

Eleanor Willing Editor-in-Chief, IJI@Work

I J I@ W O R K 4 Summer 2004 INPROFILE ^ I ' ^ T *all A Lial / V CANADA0

NTEROPERABILITY IS A TERM THAT IS QUICKLY No country has yet achieved full interop- WHAT IT MEANS TO CITIZENS

BECOMING PART OF THE LEXICON OF THE erability or ah-encompassing information Canadians wilt soon be able to see the sharing, but that could soon change. Thanks results for themselves on their streets, at PUBLIC SAFETY, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND INFOR- I to the efforts of partners in the Canada airports, and in the courts (among many MATION-TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITIES. AND Public Safety Information Network (CPSIN), other public places). For example, police wilt INTEREST IN THIS WORD AND ITS MANY APPLICA- the stage is set for improved interoperability be able to readily exchange criminal justice TIONS IS NOT LIMITED JUST TO CANADA. A among Canadian criminal justice and public information with their counterparts in cor-

KEYWORD SEARCH FOR INTEROPERABILITY USING safety organizations-in effect, rections and parole, using common

GOOGLE (A POPULAR INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE) opening the door to the data standards and adhering to next phase in the evo- a common dictionary of terms, GENERATES MORE THAN TWO MILLION INDIVIDUAL lution of integrated descriptions and offences HITS, WITH LINKS TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE, TECHNOL- justice information related to criminal justice OGY AND SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE. in this country. cases. Eventually, courts YET A STANDARD DEFINITION OF THE TERM- In 2005, will be able to access

THE ABILITY OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE ON CPSIN's five-year information generated by Action Plan will correctional organizations MULTIPLE MACHINES FROM MULTIPLE VENDORS come to a close, and parole boards, again TO COMMUNICATE-ONLY HINTS AT THE REAL having achieved adhering to common data POTENTIAL OF INTEROPERABILITY AND OF THE its key objectives. standards and a common CHALLENGES PRESENTED IN ITS PURSUIT. This will serve as an data dictionary. Already, important foundation Customs can read a licence on which future integrated plate number on a vehicle at a justice information initia- border crossing and know right away tives-and indeed interoperability whether the police are looking for that vehicle. across the public-safety sector-will The potential public safety applications be enhanced.

Summer2004 5 I1I@WORK INTEROPERABILITY INPROFILE are endless and the ramifications point to report for the federal Cabinet, due in the fall ENHANCING improved safety and security for all Canadians. of 2004, that will identify the most pressing Interoperability and new information-sharing interoperability priorities. PUBLIC SAFETY possibilities will not manifest themselves IN CANADA overnight. Rather, they will take time to FINDING AN AFFORDABLE SOLUTION achieve. More work has to be done to Carrie Hunter (Director, Interoperability The Government of Canada has respond- achieve a fully interoperable environment Division) likes to refer often to a sign affixed ed to the public safety challenge by: and an integrated flow of information across to her bulletin board: "If we can't afford the the public safety community. Among the solution, then it's not a solution." That's the • creating the new Department of Public initiatives that are currently being assessed essence of the challenge at hand, she Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in this regard is one that will enable part- explains. "It's a reminder not only to our improving coordination and bringing ners to exchange secret-level information suppliers, but to those of us in government together vital services and responsibil- across a secure network. who are working on interoperability and ities under a single federal Minister; other integrated justice information-related A NEW PROJECT AIDED BY A activities that we have to be practical in • announcing a comprehensive Public NEW DEPARTMENT what we're doing." Safety and Security Information Indeed, there is much excitement within the As Director of the Integrated Justice Sharing and Interoperability project III Secretariat about the new Interoperability Information Secretariat's Interoperability to address interoperability gaps and project, launched in May 2004. Its task over Division, Hunter wants to ensure that achieve secure, effective communica- the subsequent 18—months is to develop a interoperability does not become an informa- tions across all organizations that comprehensive vision and strategic design tion-technology project with a budget as big have significant public safety and for achieving a sustainable interoperable as its promises. Far from it: "We want to security responsibilities; environment that will serve the public safety find a way to achieve our goals in a way interests of the Government of Canada. This that's as painless and as cost-efficient to • establishing the Canada Border project aims to address specific legal and citizens as possible," she says. Services Agency, integrating several policy challenges, such as respecting the key functions previously spread across privacy rights of the individual. three organizations—the Customs The need to get key agencies involved in Program from the Canada Customs the Interoperability Project was aided in part and Revenue Agency; the Intelligence, by the creation of the new department, Interdiction and Enforcement Program Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (PSEPC). Canada; and the Import Inspection This department will be leading the work at Ports of Entry Program from the on interoperability, conducting consultations Canadian Food Inspection Agency; and and providing updates to public safety stakeholders. The project team is already • launching Canada's first-ever integrated focused on its first milestone—a progress National Security Policy, ensuring a coordinated effort among domestic and international partners to address CARRIE HUNTER, DIRECTOR, threats to Canadian national security. INTEROPERABILITY DIVISION, IJI SECRETARIAT

"If we can't afford the solution, then it's not a solution."

IJI@WORK 6 \ Summer 2004 manner and on a department-by-department basis. We lacked an overarching solution that could serve all of the Government of Canada."

But finding an inexpensive route is only evaluation criterion products have built-in the start of the work within this new project. used by Public interoperability. Hunter "We also want to encourage significant Works and is encouraged by the changes in information management and Government response she's received technology (IM/IT) business practices within Services Canada from suppliers and the Government of Canada," she explains. in deciding on expects the working "In doing so, we're striving to create a new who will be the group will start holding environment where interoperability can influ- successful bidder its first meetings by ence the way we buy and what we buy, with on a contract," she mid-2004. respect to new technologies." says. "We'd like to see that change." AN END TO NON-INTEROPERABILITY With respect to suppli- PIECEMEAL SOLUTIONS Hunter contends, however, that this project ers, she notes that "there's a Attempts to date at solving inter- will influence the public safety community tendency among some, presumably for operability have also created problems, within government and beyond. Too many reasons of competitiveness, to create closed Hunter explains. "Up until now, solutions information-technology systems within govern- systems so that their client base remains loyal have generally been piecemeal, conducted in ment exist in a state of non-interoperability- to their products." Users encounter the an ad-hoc manner and on a department-by- monolithic processes and structures unable effects of this every day, from databases that department basis. We lacked an overarching to provide a meaningful level of information cannot share data, to documents that cannot solution that could serve all of the Government exchange with systems in other departments open on computer systems in other offices of Canada." The new Interoperability Project, or jurisdictions. "We need the capacity to where different software is being used. As led by Mark Bornais (Project Director), will easily permit or stop information flows, when a result, time is wasted finding work-around serve to address this-not only due to the circumstances and the law dictate," she says, solutions-or worse- information exchange broad mandate of the department in which "this is important as we continue to address between some partners simply doesn't occur. it resides, but also because the scope of its ever-changing public safety challenges." Interoperability isn't a solution that can be work has been extended beyond Canada's There are a host of reasons that caused purchased by simply buying new equipment criminal justice system to include other non-interoperability to become so pervasive or new software. Rather, achieving it will public safety organizations. across government-age, design and out- hinge on changing many practices that "What we're saying," Hunter adds, "is that dated functions of many IM/IT systems, for characterize the way business is conducted we're quite willing to work with other organi- example-but there are also business reasons in federal departments, including the way zations-from public safety to national as well. that equipment and technology are procured. security-to help find out what's preventing Hunter cites inherent federal procurement To address these kinds of issues, the them from achieving full-scale interoperabil- practices and competitiveness among suppliers Interoperability Division is calling on informa- ity with their partners." as key barriers to interoperability. "We've dis- tion-technology suppliers to join a voluntary covered that interoperability isn't a prominent working group to study ways to ensure their

Summer 2004 7 IJI@WORK INTEROPEki LITY INPROFILE MAKING A CASE FOR "Happily there was discussion and agreement A COMMON APPROACH on an efficient way to serve both purposes." To illustrate the need for a common federal Any potential for overlap or over-spending approach to interoperability, Hunter cites a can be avoided, she adds, "by ensuring that case study. During 2002-2003, the former all information-technology projects related Canada Customs and Revenue Agency was to information sharing and interoperability working with its counterparts in the United are coordinated and that linkages are States on an information-sharing system to understood." provide authorities with advance passenger Granted, these are still early days for information on all in-bound flights into the interoperability in the new department. The United States. Canada's role in this was to Interoperability Project has just started its develop a system that could collect work—a task that is best summed up as a information from airlines and enable scouting and research mission to provide security screening of passengers the Government of Canada with a clear set before they arrived. Meanwhile, the of options from which to choose. Concludes RCMP, CSIS and Transport Canada Hunter: "we can't presume what the outcome were considering a similar initiative will be of this assignment, but what we can proposed under the Public Safety be sure of is that interoperability will define Act. In this instance, information how the Canada Public Safety Information would be collected for use at Network will continue to evolve and grow airports to identify criminals and over the next several years and well into the suspected terrorists who might next decade." attempt to board an aircra ft . Overlap between the two proposed IM/IT systems was remarkable—all but three data fields were identical. "Different areas of our organizations were involved with these systems," Hunter explains.

The lnteroperability Project is best summed up as a scouting and research mission to provide the Government of Canada with a clear set of options from which to choose.

111@WORK 8 Summer 2004 1, 1, .V", !0 !•r‘g INPROFILE ARE YOU \.7 TUNING INTO THE CHALLENGES OF RADIO INTEROPERABILITY

T'S OFTEN NOTED THAT CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES,

NATURAL DISASTERS AND TERRORIST ACTS I HAVE NO REGARD FOR JURISDICTIONAL BOUNDARIES. AND THAT MAKES IT IMPERATIVE

FOR PUBLIC-SAFETY AGENCIES TO COMMUNICATE

ACROSS THOSE BOUNDARIES-SEAMLESSLY

AND IMMEDIATELY.

ANDRÉ LAFLÈCHE AND FRANCINE BOUCHER

ARE PART OF A TEAM AT THE RCMP DEDICATED

TO ENABLING EXACTLY THAT KIND OF COMMUNI-

CATION THROUGH RADIO INTEROPERABILITY:

PROVIDING LAW-ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER ORGANI-

ZATIONS WITH THE TOOLS TO COMMUNICATE IN

REAL TIME ACROSS ALL KINDS OF BORDERS -

OPERATIONAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ALIKE.

THROUGH A PILOT PROJECT CURRENTLY UNDERWAY

IN ONTARIO'S WINDSOR AREA, LAFLÈCHE,

BOUCHER AND THEIR COLLEAGUES HOPE TO GAIN

A CLEAR, LONG-TERM UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT

INTEROPERABILITY REALLY REQUIRES.

KELOWNA, BC COMMUNICATIONS TOWER SHARED BY RCMP, NAV CANADA AND TELUS.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE PATTERSON, RCMP

9 Ill@WORK INPROFILE A MULTI-FACETED CHALLENGE border things become more complicated, you gain flexibility and functionality. But at The pursuit of radio interoperability is because now you're talking about creating the same time, digital technologies are a lot complicated by the fact that jurisdictional international agreements, which are neces- more complex than analog, and that—com- boundaries exist at many levels. Multiple sarily more intricate—and which agencies bined with a lack of standardization—makes agencies may operate within a single metro- don't have direct authority to negotiate on them more difficult to integrate." politan setting—their 'jurisdictions' defined their own." Not surprisingly, Laflèche is convinced that by role and mandate. They may operate on Laflèche says that while he and his team digital solutions will prevail in the long term opposite sides of city limits, along provincial had originally believed such agreements —especially because they can support both boundary lines, and even along the interna- needed to be operational in nature, that voice and data communications. tional border between Canada and the U.S. proved far too complicated in practice. "All "But for now," he says, "agencies under- It is in fact this latter case that led the these agencies—police, customs, border standably want to get as much life out of RCMP to establish its radio interoperability patrol—have their mandates and their ways their legacy systems as they possibly can. team in the first place. At the summer 2002 of working," he says. "To try to define those So you have a mixture of technologies at meeting of the Canada-U.S. Cross-Border in detail—or redefine them—in the context work. To achieve interoperability in the Crime Forum, it was agreed that agencies on of radio interoperability is simply too big near term you have to take a tactical, prag- both sides needed the freedom to communi- a task." matic approach." cate operational information in the interest Instead, Laflèche has determined the best It's exactly such an approach that Laflèche of public safety. approach is to isolate and concentrate on and his team have taken to their project in André Laflèche—Senior Systems Project communications issues: who needs to talk Windsor. However, before describing that Manager of Mobile Communications Services to whom, and under what conditions. "Of work in greater detail, there's one more at the RCMP—was tasked with defining inter- course, you have to be operationally aware," factor of radio interoperability to consider: im solutions and developing a long-term he's quick to add. "All of this always comes spectrum management. interoperability strategy. back to front-line requirements." "In a city like Ottawa," Laflèche explains WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY? by way of example, "it's relatively simple for THE QUESTION OF TECHNOLOGY Laflèche's colleague, Francine Boucher, is a agencies operating locally—the RCMP and Laflèche observes that it is technically Senior Systems Engineer and Manager of the Ottawa Police, for instance—to sit down and feasible today for many radio systems to Radio Spectrum Management Section of the work out an agreement to share communica- intercommunicate in sophisticated and effec- RCMP's Mobile Communications Services. She tions. One has federal responsibilities, the tive ways. But he notes that what's good for notes that the radio spectrum in Canada and other municipal, but they function at virtually today isn't necessarily good for tomorrow. the U.S. is almost fully assigned. the same level and cover virtually the same "We're between two paradigms," he "It's not an easy process for spectrum- territory. And in fact this is what they've remarks, "the analog and the digital. New licensing bodies to open up new bands," done, establishing a General Duty Protective technologies, digital technologies, give you she says. In Canada, that body is Industry Policing arrangement to support each other. a lot of freedom to divide and subdivide a Canada; in the U.S., the responsibility is But when you look across the Canada-U.S. given frequency into controlled channels. So

"New technologies, digital technologies, give you a lot of freedom to divide and subdivide a given frequency into controlled channels."

1.11@WORK 10 \ Summer 2004 INTEROPERABILITY INPROFILE shared between the National Telecommunications and Information "What's most important to develop at this stage is Administration (NTIA) and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). some kind of national plan—a strategy for radio "They have to apply to the International interoperability that Industry Canada can draw upon Telecommunications Union (ITU), which convenes just once every three years at the to establish concrete priorities." World Radio Conference. So these bodies have to be very careful and well-considered about how they assign the parts of the spec- United States—it presents a relatively con- The approach was developed in collabora- trum that are available." tained environment in which agencies such tion with the expertise of both operational This can make cross-border communica- as the Windsor police, the Ontario Provincial and technical personnel at the RCMP. tions arrangements even more challenging Police, the Canada Border Services Agency, the to negotiate. U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs operate. NEXT STEPS "If you have a Canadian police force that For this reason, the Windsor area already Even as interoperability is being explored wants to open up its radio frequency to a serves as an IBET site—IBET standing for in the field, policy-related issues are being U.S. counterpart," Boucher explains, "there Integrated Border Enforcement Team. (The dealt with elsewhere. A draft agreement for may already be someone who has licensed first IBET was established in 1996 among shared communications, for example, has that same frequency for another purpose on law enforcement agencies in British Columbia been developed by the RCMP and the IJI the other side of the border, and vice-versa. and the state of Washington.) Secretariat, reviewed by the Windsor IBET So how do you work out the solution?" The RCMP is capitalizing on partnerships and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and is Phuong Vu manages Mobile & PCS already established through Windsor's IBET undergoing legal review. Spectrum Engineering for Industry Canada. program to study radio interoperability. Looking ahead, André Laflèche and He says his department is certainly commit- "What we've done to date with the interim Francine Boucher agree that once a long- ted to overcoming these kinds of hurdles, solutions," explains André Laflèche, "is term strategy is developed, it may be time and is working with NTIA and the FCC to implement devices that enable tactical that a lead department such as Public Safety streamline the authorization process for interoperability. Agencies pick partners for and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) spectrum allocation along the border. predefined operations and use our devices clarify the governance of radio interoperability "We held a National Public Safety Radio to bridge their communications networks." as a national activity. Communications conference in zooz to try At present, it's a somewhat cumbersome, "We have a real sense that the will is there to define the issues," Vu says. "We're very labour-intensive process that requires to make this happen," says Laflèche. "I think interested in improving radio interoperability, connections to be established one the work we're doing right now to and we recognize that spectrum is part of by one. But Laflèche is less define the requirements will the equation." interested in the method of help bring the various

That said, he notes that what's most connectivity than in the "WE'R E VERY agencies' priorities into important to develop at this stage is some way that connectivity alignment and give us kind of national plan—a strategy for radio is used. INTERESTED IN IMPROVING the direction we need interoperability that Industry Canada can "With the Windsor to go forward." RADIO INTEROPERABILITY, AND draw upon to establish concrete priorities project, we want to see for spectrum management in the future. what agencies do with WE RECOGNIZE THAT The foundation for such a strategy is these communications being built right now in Windsor. tools—what their priori- SPECTRUM 15 PART OF ties are. The outcomes THE EQUATION." A PRACTICAL CASE STUDY will inform our long-term Windsor is in many respects an ideal interoperability strategy." location for studying radio interoperability at work. Located on a peninsula in south- western Ontario—on the border with the

Summer 2004 11 IJI@WORK INTEROPERP"'""" INPROFILE

THE RCMP'S INTEGRATED QUERY TOOL GIVES MEMBERS ACCESS TO MULTIPLE INFORMATION REPOSITdRIES VIA A SINGLE INTERFACE

»M. na

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RCIVIP

N NOVEMBER 2001, THE RCMP BEGAN WORK ON A NEW ELECTRONIC INFORMATION STORED IN PIRS TO SIMPLY SHUT IT DOWN, AND, FOR A NUMBER

CASE- AND RECORDS-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, ONE THAT WOULD PROVIDE OF PRACTICAL REASONS, THE MIGRATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO THE NEW I A WEALTH OF PRACTICAL FUNCTIONALITY AND BE TAILORED TO THE SYSTEM WAS DEFERRED FOR FIVE YEARS. REAL-WORLD NEEDS OF FRONTLINE USERS. THAT SYSTEM WAS PROS: THE

POLICE REPORTING AND OCCURRENCE SYSTEM. FACED WITH THE PROSPECT OF MAINTAINING PARALLEL SYSTEMS-BOTH OF

WHICH WOULD HAVE CONNECTIONS TO THE CANADIAN POLICE INFORMATION

THE VISION WAS FOR PROS TO REPLACE THE RCMP's EXISTING RECORDS- CENTRE (CPIC) DATABASE-THE RCMP DECIDED WHAT IT REALLY NEEDED WAS

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, PRS (POLICE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM). AND A TOOL THAT COULD INTERFACE WITH ALL THREE. AND SO THE INTEGRATED

YET FROM THE OUTSET IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE REPLACEMENT PROCESS QUERY TOOL (KIT) WAS BORN.

WOULD HAVE TO BE A GRADUAL ONE. THERE WAS TOO MUCH VALUABLE

IJI@WORK 12 Summer 2004 IN PROFILE ONE WINDOW, THREE VIEWS THE IQT FACTOR "The DSS team has been very interested in As its name suggests, the IQT provides a Kettle Paquette is the IQT Project Manager our work all along," says Paquette, "because single mechanism for querying the contents at the RCMP. She says IQT has been at once we're one of the first projects to work with of PROS, PIRS and the CPIC core database- a challenging and exciting project. The devel- the CPSIN standards—one of the first to apply presenting results from all three in a opment and supporting teams have worked them in a practical, real-world environment. standardized format. In the final stages of hard to deal with a variety of technical issues, Through our experience, the DSS has gained development, the IQT is slated for rollout from working on a WebLogic platform to insights that have helped crystallize its con- alongside the official launch of PROS in integrating with the Entrust PKI. tent, and we on the IQT team have benefited summer 2004. One of the RCMP's key aims was to by having the Secretariat actively help us Users logging into the IQT—which is fully incorporate CPSIN (Canada Public Safety achieve conformance." secured via an Entrust public-key infrastruc- Information Network) data standards into "This is a solid solution," she concludes, ture (PKI)—have a range of search options the IQT. This was a challenge from an inter- "the solution does not require users to change available: Person, Business/Organization, operability perspective because PROS, their underlying systems. PIRS is still PIRS. Property, Unique Identifiers, and Vehicles. having been built from an off-the-shelf solu- CPIC is CPIC. Now there's PROS, and you can Queries in any of these categories yield a tion, only partly conformed to the CPSIN query all three using this one tool. I'm very result list based on the user's authorization standard, and PIRS, as a legacy mainframe excited to see how users respond to it." privileges in the source systems. Members pre-dating CPSIN, had no relation to it at all. Future plans for IQT include leveraging then have the option of viewing additional "The development of a data transformation the investment in order to provide wider details and the related occurrence records component emerged to standardize query information-sharing capacity to the greater from the result list. terms within the IQT," Paquette explains. "Of public safety community. The RCMP proposed An additional feature of the IQT is its abili- the 125 elements currently included in the that the National Criminal Justice Index (NCJI) ty to access the PIRS and PROS applications IQT, I would say 9 0 percent are in accor- initiative be replaced with an expanded ini- directly via a convenient single sign-on dance with the standard." tiative referred to as the National Integrated mechanism. Of course, to do so, members The IQT team's effort to conform to the Interagency Information System (N-III). Work need the PROS application software available CPSIN data standard was helped by the is currently under way to provide access to on their workstations—and must have the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness IQT to the Canada Border Services Agency. proper authorization to view the contents of Data Standards Secretariat (DSS). each database. All source systems maintain their own authorization requirements.

Defining the terms: CPSIN DATA STANDARDS

"It's important to remember that what we're developing is an To date, Rondeau says the DSS has received many compliments on exchange standard, not a database standard," says Alistair Rondeau, the structure of its data dictionary from industry experts. Vendors Manager, Data Standards Secretariat (DSS). "In other words, we're not have also followed its development closely, eager to ensure that telling agencies how they should store information; we're giving them their solutions meet the needs of government departments adopting a framework and a vocabulary for sharing it." the standard.

In the East 18 months, work on that front has proceeded at a rapid "It really is a new road we're on," Rondeau acknowledges. "And it's pace. The final beta version of the CPSIN core data dictionary was been great that project teams like IQT and SSDUE (Streamling Service completed in early spring; a gold release of the document is slated Delivery Using e-Collaboration)—another RCMP information-sharing for Fall 2004. venture—are so keen to make the journey with us. I'm convinced that as people get to see the benefits of standardized information "In defining each element of our data dictionary, we've worked from sharing—and the philosophy of information sharing that standards the best examples available," says Rondeau. "For example, the way promote—we'll take a major step forward on the path to true justice we treat names is modelled on the approach of Citizenship and information integration." Immigration Canada, because that department has the most experience working with names that don't always follow the traditional North American formula of given name, middle name, family name."

Summer 2004 13 Ill@WORK SPECIAL FEATURE ON BIOMETRICS: A look at how this important innovation in security technology is transforming public safety and the fight against terrorism

Identifying the possibilities I Ne CANADA ii

HE ONE THING THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF WHEN IT COMES

TO BIOMETRICS IS OPINION. EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE T A THOUGHT ON THE SUBJECT-FROM THOSE WHO BELIEVE BIOMETRICS TO BE THE GREATEST-EVER ADVANCE IN SECURITY

TECHNOLOGY TO THOSE WHO FEAR BIOMETRICS PRESENT A

SERIOUS THREAT TO INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY. ,

_ THE TRUTH LIES AT NEITHER EXTREME. YES, BIOMETRIC

TECHNOLOGY IS HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED. YES, PRIVACY HAS TO BE

CONSIDERED WHEN DESIGNING BIOMETRIC SOLUTIONS. BUT THOSE

SOLUTIONS DO NOT MAGICALLY ANSWER EVERY SECURITY NEED,

NOR DO THEY INHERENTLY INTRUDE UPON THE BOUNDARIES OF

PERSONAL INFORMATION.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RCMP

t? I, 7 1 14 Summer 2004 SPECIAL FEATURE

Different biometric systems have different accuracy rates: while still subject to some debate, it is generally recognized that iris scans, for instance, are more accurate than facial-recognition solutions.

The challenge today—for agencies, organizations and governments that are responsible for security—is to determine the potential of biometric technologies, and to develop practical approaches to implementing them. It is no small task, and there is much to consider. Biometric systems often employ proprietary software, for example. There can be a lack DEFINING THE TERM of interoperability between vendors' solutions. A case in point: one facial-recognition vendor's technology may not be able to share the Electronic biometric systems are relatively recent phenomena, image of a face with the system of another vendor due to the absence but biometrics themselves have been used by human beings of interoperability standards. While many potential standards have for as long as there have been human beings. VVhen you been proposed for biometric technologies, only a very few have recognize someone you knovv upon seeing their face—in been ratified. person or in a picture—you've essentially used a 'biometric' Accuracy is a further issue. Different biometric systems have differ- to identify that individual. ent accuracy rates: while still subject to some debate, it is generally recognized that iris scans, for instance, are more accurate than Biometric technologies—from fingerprint, ear and iris scan- facial-recognition solutions. And accuracy can vary by many factors, ning to facial and hand-geometry recognition—replicate that one of which is the level of control system operators have over the process of identification (and authentication) electronically. environments in which samples are taken. Collecting a fingerprint (Authentication is the act of verifying that the person from someone voluntarily undergoing a criminal background check recognized is indeed who he or she claims to be.) will yield a better-quality record than collecting the fingerprint of an uncooperative individual being charged with an offence. As a result, For identification, the scan of an individual biometric is biometric systems cannot be fully automated; they must involve a compared to an archive of biometrics in a 'one-to-many' verification process that depends on human intervention. search. For authentication, the biometric accompanies some Finally, the implementation of biometric systems cannot be achieved other form of identification, and is used to confirm that the without a complete analysis of privacy and legislative impacts. On identification is valid. This involves a 'one-to-one' comparison this topic, it is necessary to proceed slowly and methodically to of records. ensure that individual privacy rights are not compromised for the sake of a higher level of public safety and security. This article looks at some of the biometric projects underway in Canada today from the perspective of the people leading them. Each feature illuminates a different piece of the biometric puzzle: from high-level policy-related issues to the nitty-gritty challenges of bringing a specific biometric solution to life.

Summer 2004 15 IJI@WORK oNBIO METRICS

with1:18cit Raj Nanavati on biometrics standards development

PARTNER IN THE INTERNATIONAL BIOMETRIC GROUP (1 BG), RAJ NANA VATI IS WIDELY

REGARDED AS A LEADING AUTHORITY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BIOMETRIC STANDARDS. A HE RECENTLY OFFERED HIS THOUGHTS TO IJI@WORK ON THE LAY OF THE LAND TODAY- AND WHERE THINGS MIGHT BE HEADING.

IJI@Work: How does the IBG see the present National Institute of Standards in Technology state of biometrics standards development? (NIST). ISO/IEC (the International Standards Organization and the International RAI NANAVATI, PARTNER, Rai Nanavati: Undeniably, substantial progress Electrotechnical Commission). They're all INTERNATIONAL BIOMETRIC GROUP has been made. But many of the more difficult looking at different biometrics: fingerprints, areas to standardize—such as performance faces, irises. IJI@Work: What are your thoughts on biomet- and accuracy—still have a long way to go rics in terms of accuracy rates and the impact before they could be considered even IJI@Work: That raises another question, then: of high-volume installations at airports and reasonably mature. The fact that biometrics how will these standards be rationalized? border crossings? is in most respects such a young discipline complicates standards development, because RN: Through the various liaison relationships RN: It's a question that demands lengthy sometimes adopted standards enshrine inade- maintained via ISO/IET JTC .I. committees. analysis, to be honest. To answer at a very quate technologies and approaches. Specifically, technical work being executed by high level: accuracy vvill be much less affected ILO and ICAO is aligned with the proper com- by the gritty details of algorithms and sensor IJI@Work: Who's taking on the challenge? mittees within SC37 Biometrics, SC17 Cards specs than by things like integration into and Personal Identification, and 5C27 workflow, training, and end-user motivation. RN: There are many organizations creating Information Technology Security Techniques. The volume of an installation does not have biometric standards, in fact. The International This is a time-consuming process, but these anything to do with accuracy rates—unless Labor Organization (ILO). The International groups see the long-term value in aligning the application is an identification application. Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The their formats and interfaces.

Ill@WORK 16 Summer 2004 oNB I 0 METR I CS

From what we've seen so far in U.S. VISIT There are at least two methods for com- RN: It is neither likely nor necessary that a Status Indicator), fingerprint accuracy has paring fingerprints: minutia-based matching single biometric must be 'picked' in order to been 'good enough' to meet the needs of and pattern-based matching. Minutia-based maintain the integrity of international borders. inspectors. That's primarily because in addi- matching is often seen as better-suited to In instances where a traveller is required to tion to the biometric data, inspectors have traditional applications where a large amount obtain a visa prior to presenting him- or her- been given access to more sources of data of fingerprint data is acquired. This is the self at a border for inspection, the issuing about visitors, especially via the Consular case in the forensic AFIS market, for example. country can choose whatever biometric it Consolidated Database. If CBP (the U.S. Min utia-based systems dominate there. Pattern wants to secure the document. For visa-less Customs and Border Patrol) is able to keep algorithms are emerging more strongly for travel—such as through the Visa Waiver the average time for clearing false matches applications in which less fingerprint data is Program—participating countries need only at or near the one-minute, seven-second mark present. But the two types of matching are agree to exchange with one another the discussed at the House hearing in January, not interoperable. And the vendors of each means to decode and match a traveller's the performance of the biometric itself is type of solution tend to assert that their biometric sample in the same format as that much less likely to become an issue. It still approach is more accurate. employed by the issuing country. isn't clear, however, whether current through- puts can be maintained as the size of the US Some within the industry have questioned People have wondered about cultural barriers VISIT database increases, as the summer trav- whether pattern-matching solutions will ever to the use of particular biometrics: is there el season arrives, and the installation of US be tested thoroughly enough to compare their a specific aversion among certain people to VISIT at land ports is implemented. true performance against minutiae-based solu- being fingerprinted, for example, or having tions. Ultimately, the choice of which to use their irises scanned? Based on the results of III@Work: VVhat are your thoughts on the comes down to operational need. It's likely US VISIT to date, it appears that these objec- efforts to create template standards for that pattern matching is 'good enough' if tions are likely to be far less problematic biometric information exchanges and interop- the performance focus of a solution is on than anticipated. Travelling to another country erability? Doesn't a template standard take throughput and 1:1 accuracy more than the remains a privilege, not a right, and visitors away from a vendor's proprietary competitive 'needle in a haystack' production line work have shown great patience and restraint so capabilities? performed by an AFIS. long as measures are considered reasonable. US VISIT has been relatively efficient. It Part of the question really is: will stan- So, to get back to the question: image and applies to all visa holders and seems to be dard templates or images actually interfere template standards are being developed to regarded as a reasonable security measure. with the ability of vendors to match a live allow for cross-system and cross-jurisdictional I believe 'cultural barrier' issues will quickly biometric reading with an archived one? And interoperability. There is considerable contro- become a non-issue if people perceive the there isn't sufficient data to know one way or versy in the area of pattern-matching standards, border crossing experience to be efficient the other. To be honest, not only has such as the many different approaches cannot be and fairly administered. testing not been executed, but there is no reconciled through a single standard. real agreement on how one would even test to measure such factors. In the AFIS IJI@Work: This touches on the broader—and (Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems) pressing—question of what's involved in world, where interoperability image standards picking a biometric that will be inter- were developed, the technology has been able nationally acceptable? to function effectively. Template standards may be a different matter. In many cases, they heavily favour one vendor or approach. "It is neither likely nor necessary that a single biometric IJI@Work: You mention AFIS. What's happen- ing specifically with fingerprint biometric must be 'picked' in order to maintain the integrity of standards right now? international borders."

Summer 2004 11 IJI@WORK C ^Ii^MÉTRÎCS S oN LOOKING AT THE IGGER CTURE Canada's new National Security Policy gives prominence to biometric technologies

LTHOUGH THE IDEA OF USING FACIAL, IRIS, broader use of biometrics, having acknowl- OR FINGERPRINT SCANS WITHIN TRAVEL edged that "the international community

ADOCUMENTS OR AT BORDER CROSSINGS is increasingly using new technologies, including biometrics," to improve security.2 USED TO BE SOMETHING RIGHT OUT OF THE After 9/11, the federal government intro- MOVIES, IN LITTLE MORE THAN TWO YEARS duced voluntary biometric ID cards for BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES HAVE PRACTICALLY travellers and iris scanning kiosks at major BECOME THE GOLD STANDARD FOR CONFIRMING airports.3 At the same time, the government THE IDENTITIES OF TRAVELLERS AND OTHER was pursuing a number of other biometric

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.1 initiatives, including the Permanent Resident Card initiative and active cooperation with At the end of April 2004, as part of its the International Civil Aviation Organization new National Security Policy, the Government (ICAO) to develop globally interoperable of Canada announced it would begin issuing security standards for facial recognition for passports embedded with biometrically travel documents. enabled smart chips by early 2005. It also But when federal departments and agencies announced that it would spend nearly begin to consider using biometrics to enhance $Zoo-million to enhance its capacity for security, a number of critical questions need electronic fingerprint screening. In fact, the to be answered. For instance, what frame- new National Security Policy contains a work exists in Canada for implementing Government commitment to work toward a biometric solutions? When is a biometric

I Staples, Sarah. "Red-Hot Cybersecurity: Biometrics, shared databases create virtual borders," Ottawa Citizen, 6 May 2004, pp. Gi, G3. Securing an Open Society: Canada's National Security Policy (April 2004), P. 45, www.pco-bcp.gc.ca Staples, Sarah. "Red-Hot Cybersecurity: Biometrics, shared databases create virtual borders," Ottawa Citizen, 6 May 2004, p. G3.

IJI@WORK 18 Summer2004 9711 _ I ^ 71

Canada's Passport office answers the question

JOCELYN FRANCCEUR, ADJUDICATOR AND OMBUDSMAN FOR CANADA'S PASSPORT OFFICE

HEN THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION the National Institute for Standards in technologies and articulate the FR business ORGANIZATION (ICAO) CALLED FOR Technology (NIST) have yielded less- case, the Passport Office set about devel- W A BIOMETRIC TO BE INCLUDED WITH than-superb results. oping a methodology that would yield PASSPORT DOCUMENTS IN MAY 2003, IT SPECIFI- Canada's central agencies wanted to see practical, relevant results. That methodology

CALLY RECOMMENDED FACIAL RECOGNITION (FR). for themselves if FR was up to the task. (which was informed by existing models) As the department with a readily available involved comparing pairs of images: taking "It makes sense," says Jocelyn Francoeur, database of hundreds of thousands of two different pictures of the same individual Adjudicator and Ombudsman for Canada's images, the Passport Office volunteered and determining if today's available tech- Passport Office. "After all, the passport to lead the study. nologies could make a match with a high already features an image of a person's face. degree of assurance. It's no great leap to think about using FR NO PRESUMPTIONS "While other tests in the past have looked technology to verify and link the bearer of "We hadn't made any decision to deploy at 500 to Z,ooo pairs of images," explains a passport to an embedded picture in FR," says Francoeur, who directed the research Francoeur, "We used over 6,ooo pairs. It's the the book." project from an independent perspective. largest number that's ever been employed for Yet questions have been raised about the "Neither had any other agency. We were very this kind of test. And we added 'noise' to accuracy and efficacy of FR technology, in open-minded about the testing; if FR failed, make our test-case more like the real world. the context of one-to-many verifications. In then it would fail. We had no stake in it." So there weren't just 6,00o pairs; there were the United States, tests conducted through Having secured funding to pilot-test FR

IJI@WORK 20 Summer 2004 oNBlôrviETRIcs technology most appropriate for enhancing agency or department and support a security? What are the next steps? comprehensive approach to security." A team of Government of Canada engineers The CSE team recognizes there is no one- at the Communications Security Establishment size-fits-all approach, and that the particulars The following Government of Canada (CSE) recently took steps to consider the of any biometric solution are derived from an business requirements for biometrics answers to these types of questions. Between organization's specific functional require- were identified: September 2 003 and IVIarch 2004, the ments. "Biometrics don't exist in isolation 1. A common need for the identification Government of Canada produced a pair and can't be approached in that manner," of unique individuals using non-sharable of documents, based on surveys with nine says Smeaton. This is where the value of the credentials federal government departments and agen- Government of Canada Identification and 2. A common need for high-assurance cies.4 The first document is the Biometrics Authentication Framework document lies, authentication of those identified Business Requirements Report and the putting parameters around the business individuals second is a Government of Canada requirements when it comes to developing 3. A cautionary approach to the introduction Identification and Authentication Framework solutions. of biometrics (technology, privacy, user for Biometric Enabled Applications. The acceptance, etc.) business requirements and framework are A FIRST STEP 4. A determination of acceptable error rates designed to assist agencies to assess the The recently published Government of and processing rates, depending on an viability of biometric options according to Canada documents are expected to be the application's environments their needs. first in a series. They describe the need to 5. Consideration of industry-specific require- survey specific available technologies, define ments for backwards compatibility with A REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE specific functional requirements, and explore existing human characteristic systems The reports do not document a broad policy-related issues as required next steps. 6. Consideration of project scope and scale spectrum of biometric business requirements, "There are still a lot of policy questions (scalability varies between levels of gov- but focus instead on those that could be around interfacing, sharing biometric infor- ernment, with user bases ranging from used in an actual, deployable system. CSE's mation, and privacy," notes Smeaton. hundreds to thousands to millions) mandate is to provide technical advice and As the government moves forward with 7. Integration of Biometric Identification guidance to the federal government on biometric initiatives in the coming months, and Authentication (I&A) services with issues of security technology and technical in accord with internationally recognized a variety of application and physical solutions that can be adapted to the needs standards, a number of policy issues will access control deployment scenarios of individual departments. no doubt need to be addressed. During 8. Integration of l&A services with a variety The business requirements are defined in that time, CSE's team of engineers intends of security model deployment scenarios, terms of purpose, environment, and integra- to continue probing technical requirements with particular consideration given to tion issues: What are biometrics supposed for implementing biometrics within the PKI interoperability to achieve? Where are they going to be Government of Canada. "We want to be able 9. A testing and certification process to deployed? How will they be incorporated to provide a sound technical perspective for ensure biometric-enabled products are into existing systems? making decisions when the [policy] questions effective and meet recognized standards "Biometrics are just one of a number of are raised." Consideration of Government-wide possible authentication mechanisms in a policies and standards secure system," explains Drew Smeaton, CSE Technical Manager for Biometrics. "The Adapted from the Biometrics Business option has to match the security require- Requirements Report, 9 March 2004, CSE ments of applications being used by an

4 Transport Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, the Privy Council, Correctional Service of Canada, the Ill Secretariat, the RCMP, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Summer 2004 19 Ill@WORK ONBIOMETRICS Passport photos are particularly ideal for facial recognition, as they're taken under controlled conditions to a defined standard of quality.

also another 143,000 single images in the "The test results themselves have been PRIVACY PROTECTED test database." quite positive, ranging from 75 percent to Facial recognition, like other biometrics, The reason for engaging in such large-scale more than 9o percent depending on the involves the translation of an image-in this testing was a practical one. Canada's Passport quality of images and size of the gallery case, a human face-into a unique alphanu- Office processes more than z,ooo,ooo appli- against which they were matched," says meric identifier called a template. (When cations every year. Every one of the associated Francoeur. "Again, that's indicative of our people refer to the inclusion of a biometric pictures would, in an FR environment, have approach. Each of the FR technology vendors "in the book"-the passport-they're refer- to be queried against images of individuals that participated in our project had ten days ring to including the picture on a chip.) included on security watch lists. to refine its processes, algorithms and the The template itself is not recorded on the "Unlike including the picture on a chip- like. This is totally realistic. In a real-world passport, nor does the template contain which would be inserted into a passport implementation, no vendor would have just any personal information. document and which would enable a one-to- a few hours to prove a solution. There has "There's more personal information on your one comparison-the biometric system we to be a phase of tuning in to the specific driver's license," says Francoeur, "than there considered would be used in a one-to-many challenge. And so what we've done is is in a biometric template. In fact, the tem- comparison mode," observes Francoeur. measure the best application of technology plate is completely anonymous." in the most strenuous circumstances we For its test, the Passport Office applied the HIGH CONFIDENCE could simulate." Privacy Commissioner's four criteria for deter- The Passport Office had its methodology The other reason for the high match rate, mining the privacy implications of biometric scrutinized and validated successfully by Francoeur suggests, is that passport photos technologies and other security measures, the University of Ottawa's Department of are particularly ideal for facial recognition, as which are that: Mathematics and Statistics. The size of the they're taken under controlled conditions to i. the measure is demonstrably necessary image sampling used provided a confidence a defined standard of quality. to meet specific needs; level of 99•7 percent in the test results. "You do need good images," he says. "The 2. the measure is demonstrably likely to better the quality of pictures, the better your be effective in addressing the needs solution will perform." underlying the proposed deployment; 3. the loss of privacy is proportional to the security benefit; and 4. it can be demonstrated there is no less privacy-invasive measure that could achieve the same results. Again, says Francoeur, because photographs are already collected for passports today, and because the biometric template itself is anonymous, he and his team felt the technology satisfied all four requirements.

CAN

±'S SEPT 03 HULL CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 `+-SEPT/SEPT 08

:Al(!2fi,f I N«5 A R A H ««««««««««««« 44zU0000<2CAN8101017F0809155«««««««04

Summer 2004 ; 21 I J I@ W 0 R K 7 .. rie oNBI OMETR I CS

HERE ARE MORE THAN A MILLION SEAFARERS

AROUND THE WORLD TODAY-MEN AND T WOMEN EMPLOYED IN THE MARITIME- TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY. THAT INDUSTRY 72006 8607 IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MOVEMENT OF MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S v COMMERCIAL GOODS; IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS ECONOMICALLY ESSENTIAL.

Since 1958, seafarers have had the option of procuring something called a Seafarers' Identity Document (SID). Issued by Member States of the International Labor Organization (ILO), this document was designed to facilitate seafarers' entry into ILO member countries for the purposes of leave, transit, transfer or repatriation. In June 2003, responding to security concerns raised by the terrorist attacks of September 11, zool, the ILO adopted a convention to amend the SID. The aim: to ensure that by increasing the security aspects of the document, the SID would continue to serve as a professional document while at the same time becoming an information-certification document. These changes will make the SID the world's first truly globally deployed biometric solution. Donald Roussel, Director of Marine Personnel, Standards and Pilotage at Transport Canada, is this country's point man on the SID file. As such, he has a unique perspective on the process involved in defining such a large-scale solution.

Pe--1 r4-lia l arTId«hl The Seafarers' Identity Document 1 eveloping the world's first truly global biometric solution

IJI@WORK 22 , Summer 2004 ONBIOMETRICS CONSENSUS-BUILDING conforming to ICAO standards for such a countries for shore leave and transit. For "The first challenge for the ILO," reflects document. Each SID is assigned a unique border authorities, it provides an extra Roussel, "was to identify a biometric that number by the issuing country. In addition to measure of security and reassurance." could be implemented in any member country the barcoded biometric, it includes a digital around the world, taking into consideration photograph as well as basic information such TOWARD THE HORIZON technological factors, economic disparities as the name of the issuing authority, the full The new SID convention (C-185) will come and issues of interoperability. That atone name of the bearer, and the date of the into force six months after the date on which was an enormous task." document's expiration. the ratification of two members is registered Out of these considerations, fingerprints In practice, the SID will be presented to with the Director General of the ILO. In other were selected for the SID, as fingerprint port authorities or customs officials in ILO words, there's no fixed date. But Roussel technology is readily available, fairly straight- member countries. They will use special anticipates it will happen within the next forward, and relatively inexpensive. devices which will read the biometric 12 months. The next requirement was to satisfy the information (the number in the barcode) In that time, Canada still has some prepa- concerns and expectations of a tripartite and match it to the live fingerprint of the ration to do. Formal authorization must be stakeholder group. seafarer. They will then be able to verify the established for Transport Canada to issue "Because the SID is the product of an authenticity and validity of the SID either the SIDs, and a national database of regis- international labour convention, workers, electronically or by contacting what's termed tered seafarers must be established. As well, employers and governments have jointly a 'focal point' in the issuing country. It is the the Canada Border Services Agency and contributed to defining how the new biomet- responsibility of each country's issuing Citizenship and Immigration Canada have to rically enabled document will work." authority to provide 24-hour-a-day, seven- prepare themselves to process biometrically With the new SID, a seafarer's fingerprint day-a-week verification services. enabled SIDs possessed by international is scanned and translated into a numeric In Canada, Transport Canada will be the seafarers seeking to enter Canada. sequence that is then printed, in bar-code issuing authority of the new SID, just as Roussel is proud of the work that has been format, onto the SID itself. On its own, that today it issues the previous version. It plans done on the SID to date, and confident numeric sequence is entirely anonymous, to manage the entire process in-house. that-as the first global biometric solution- and no information can be added to it once "We have the facilities to produce the it is going to achieve its objectives. it has been printed. documents," says Roussel. "If we were to "There is a lot of technology out there "There is still a lot of mystery around provide an SID to every seafarer in Canada, related to biometrics, and a lot of standards. biometrics these days," says Roussel. "Some we would issue approximately 30,000 in total. However, the SID convention is, to date, the people may be concerned that the informa- This is a volume that Transport Canada can only program to have received recognition tion on the SID could be used to replicate manage both securely and cost-effectively." from a large number of countries via an an individual's fingerprint, but that's simply Roussel adds that his ambition is to see international organization. It is the world's not the case. The biometric identifier in the every Canadian seafarer receive one of the first truly global biometric solution to barcode isn't a representation of a fingerprint, new SIDs-and ultimately for the document enhancing marine security while meeting it's just a template or series of numbers. to become a required credential for the the needs of today's marine transportation Others may be concerned that a person's pri- world's seafarers. industry in a global economy." vacy could be infringed upon. However, the "It's a voluntary convention," he observes, manner by which the biometric is stored on and always has been. While seafarers must the SID protects it from being altered or used carry a passport for transit, they are not cur- without the card holder's consent." rently required to also hold a SID. However, there are advantages to having both docu- STANDARDIZED FORMAT ments-for seafarers and border authorities The security model for the SID is similar alike. For seafarers, the SID accelerates the in size and shape to that of a passport, process of gaining access to ILO member

Summer 2004 23 IJI@WORK ONB I OMETRI CS ' IRIS RECOGNITION 1

CANPASS Air simplifies border HAVE IT clearance for frequent flyers

HILE MOST TRAVELLERS APPRECIATE THE NEED FOR STRINGENT SEEING THE NEED Aileen Dimasuay is the Senior Project Officer for CANPASS SECURITY AT AIRPORTS, THOSE WHO FLY OFTEN MAY NOT-IF THEY'RE Air at CBSA. She explains that the choice of iris recognition BEING HONEST-ALWAYS APPRECIATE HAVING TO GO THROUGH THE W technology was based on four criteria. Specifically, the chosen SCREENING PROCESS. AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTER, MOST biometric had to: CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION OFFICERS WOULD AGREE THAT THEIR TIME IS BEST i. Be secure-something that couldn't be lost or stolen. SPENT DEALING WITH UNKNOWN, POTENTIALLY HIGHER-RISK TRAVELLERS THAN 2. Be usable via technology available today.

WITH WELL-KNOWN, LOW-RISK ONES. 3. Be accurate. 4. Perform rapid identifications in a non-invasive manner. Determining iris recognition technology to best meet all four, THESE TWO SETS OF CONSIDERATIONS ARE AT THE HEART OF THE CANPASS AIR CANPASS Air opened its first enrolment centre at Vancouver PROGRAM. A JOINT INITIATIVE OF THE CANADA BORDER SERVICES AGENCY International Airport in March 2003. Eight months later, a (CBSA) AND CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CANADA (CIC), CANPASS second enrolment centre was established at Halifax AIR FACILITATES QUICK, SECURE ENTRY INTO CANADA FOR PRE-APPROVED, LOW- International Airport.

RISK AIR TRAVELLERS. THE KEY? AN IRIS BIOMETRIC THAT ACCURATELY AND

INSTANTANEOUSLY CONFIRMS THE IDENTITY OF PROGRAM MEMBERS. HOW IT WORKS The CANPASS Air system records a photographic image of a traveller's irises. (Both eyes are used because each is unique- making the metric that much more secure.) This image is encrypted and stored in a secure database managed by CBSA. When a person registered in the program arrives in Canada after an international flight, he or she steps up to a self-serve kiosk equipped with a digital camera: the camera captures the member's iris and compares it with the one on file. The traveller must answer some questions-onscreen at the kiosk. When the system verifies a member's identity, it prints a receipt, which the member presents to the officer upon exiting

IJI@WORK 24 Summer 2004 100001010100000111010001110010101010111010101101011011110100101010101- 0101101111010010101010110101010101101011110001101011010100001010101010 1 01010101011100001010100000111010001110010101010111010101101011011110 01011101010110101101111010010101010110 1 n 1 010101101011110001010101 innnOini "' -)0001i1e1000111001010 1101011011'. 1010 01

the Customs Hall. For compliance verification in the future. To date, some 3, 000 people purposes, travellers may also be pulled aside have registered. GOING FORWARD for a random inspection. In keeping with the consumer-oriented Later in 2004, the program will be expand- "What makes CANPASS Air so accurate and nature of the program, CANPASS Air has ed across the country with enrolment centres reliable is that the system will only accept been promoted at airports and on airport opening at: the image of a live iris," explains Dimasuay. websites, in travel publications such as En • Lester B. Pearson International Airport, "You can't hold a picture up to the camera Route and Bon Voyage and via public Toronto — June 2004 and trick it, for example. It looks for depth announcements. • Calgary International Airport — fall 2004 and certain critical dimensions, and it makes • Edmonton International Airpo rt — fall 2004 a comparison with the archived iris template A THOROUGH REVIEW • Winnipeg International Airport — fall 2004 that's been recorded previously." The security strength of CANPASS Air is • Montreal Trudeau International Airport — For Dimasuay, part of what makes CANPASS derived in part from its use of the iris bio- spring 200 5 interesting is the fact that, in many ways, it metric and in part from the thoroughness of • Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International is a consumer-oriented biometric program. its member-review process, which includes a Airport — spring 2 005 "CANPASS Air is a voluntary program for formal application phase, a risk assessment "We've had great success so far," says frequent flyers," she says. "It expedites the whereby a search of five law enforcement Dimasuay, "and we're eager to build on it. customs clearance process for them. At the databases is done, and a detailed, in-person But at the same time, we're all aware the same time, by taking 'pre-approved' trav- interview at an Enrolment Centre—all before biometric is really a tool. It's just one ele- ellers out of the line, CANPASS Air allows the biometric is recorded and a CANPASS Air ment of the larger security process." officers to focus on unknown travellers." card is issued. (That card includes personal Open to citizens and permanent residents identification information and a digital of both Canada and the United States at photograph.) The membership fee is $5o present, eligibility for CANPASS Air member- per year. ship may be extended to other visa-exempt countries and North American Free Trade Agreement business travellers

Summer 2004 / 25 \ Ill@WORK omomETRIcs PUTTING

SERGEANT C.H. CARL MCDIARMID, RCMP (LEFT) AND LLOYD BUNBURY, BUSINESS LEADER, RTID, RCMP WITH A LIVESCAN MACHINE.

HE REAL-TIME IDENTIFICATION (RTID) The next step, according to Lloyd Bunbury, "It would take over nine months to clear PROJECT BECAME PART OF THE CANADIAN RTID Business Leader at the RCMP, is to the backlog [of fingerprint and criminal- T GOVERNMENT'S CPSIN INITIATIVE IN 2000. bring all the pieces together. record transactions] if no new requests ITS AIM IS TO STREAIVILINE AND ACCELERATE THE "This is an enormous undertaking," says for updates were received," says Bunbury. Bunbury. "But the end result is going to "Without RTID, this backlog represents RCIV1P's INFORMATION AND IDENTIFICATION be well worth the effort. What we're talking information the police may need today, SERVICES, AND TO FACILITATE INFORMATION- about is shrinking the timeframe for identifi- and it can't be shared." SHARING INTERNATIONALLY-SPECIFICALLY WITH cation and criminal records checks from weeks REGARD TO FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION, to literally just hours. And the advantages to AL IN THE PLANNING CRIMINALITY CHECKS AND MAINTENANCE OF THE Canada's law enforcement community will The RTID business case outlines over

NATIONAL CRIMINAL RECORD DATABASE. be invaluable." 3, 000 business and technical requirements The goals of RTID are: to return digitally for the system that will eventually replace submitted criminal identifications within two AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification To DATE, MORE THAN THREE MILLION EXISTING hours; to update all criminal records within System), CREMMS (Criminal Records Entry FINGERPRINT RECORDS HAVE BEEN CONVERTED 24 hours; and to process civil security Maintenance and Monitoring System), ADS INTO A STANDARDIZED, HIGH-RESOLUTION clearances within 72 hours. The benefit (Active Document System) and the CNI ELECTRONIC FORMAT TO BE USED BY THE SYSTEM; of achieving such turnarounds is obvious (Criminal Name Index). Every one of those

MORE THAN 144 LIVESCAN BIOMETRIC READERS when one looks at the present backlog of requirements has been reviewed by key information requests—and the number of stakeholders—including the system's ultimate HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED ACROSS CANADA; AND A new records waiting to be entered into the end users and members of the vendor THOROUGH BUSINESS CASE HAS BEEN PRESENTED existing file system. community that will have to build it. TO THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE OF THE RCMP.

1.11@WORK 26 Summer 2004 oNB I 0 M ETR I C S "We'll be proceeding in phases," says "People have wondered why we imple- Bunbury. "At first, only fingerprints will be mented the LiveScans before we had a searchable elements. But over time we'll modernized database for them to feed into," be able to expand on the information Bunbury admits. "We felt it was good to put available to include palms and faces." the tools in users' hands and build familiari- With data coming from multiple ty with them at the local level, so that they sources—and to be shared with multiple can be incorporated into their workflow agencies—standards are of tremendous processes. In the U.S., when authorities importance to the RTID project team, established a similar system to RTID, they particularly the National Police Services- built the infrastructure first and then had to NIST-Interface Control Document (NPS- wait while the users geared up. The practical NIST-ICD), which governs the sharing of reality is that, desirable as it might be, it's biometric information. impossible to do both simultaneously." "When you're dealing with a project of this "NPS-NIST-ICD is a variation of the ANSI- Bunbury is therefore eager to deliver a scope," says Bunbury, "a national database NIST (American National Standards Institute request for proposals (RFP) to the technol- that thousands of law enforcement and jus- and National Institute of Standards and ogy vendor community and get the design tice agencies will contribute to and extract Technology) standard that was developed and development phase of the project under- information from, you have to be incredibly by law enforcement for law enforcement," way. He expects the RFP to be issued in the thorough in your preparations. By involving says Bunbury. "It reflects the needs of the fall of 2004. the vendors up front, we've been able to RCMP, the FBI, Interpol and other agencies. "The big challenge going forward," he make sure that our requirements aren't We know that ISO is working on its own says, "is dealing with the complexity of the unrealistic, unachievable, or skewed toward biometric standards, and we've participated system. In our 3, 000 business requirements, any one particular company's expertise." actively in its process because we want to we've been very careful to tell vendors what be sure the work we've done to date is we need, but have avoided suggesting how A MULTI-MODAL BIOMETRIC SYSTEM protected in the international environment. those needs might be met. We need that to While fingerprints are at present the There's already been a significant investment come from the experts; we want the benefit primary biometric identifier to be stored in of time and energy in consensus- and of their best practices." RTID, the system in fact has the potential to infrastructure-building." Due to the complexity of the project, the handle a wider range of input, including palm RCMP has insisted on being a daily design prints and photographs for facial recognition. THE WAY AHEAD partner in the process, working directly with Already, in a separate but connected proj- The deployment of LiveScan units in developers to arrive at the final product. ect, the RCMP has implemented RAFIAS 2001-2002 — and the creation of a networking "We really want to see this system devel- (Regional Authenticated Fingerprint ID Access interface—has allowed the RCMP to start oped for the sake of all law-enforcement System) at 9 0 sites across Canada, which processing urgent real-time identification agencies," says Bunbury. "It could be a key provides police with the technology to record requests electronically even while the devel- tool for ensuring public safety—especially and upload crime-scene information electron- opment of the formal RTID system remains as biometric data becomes increasingly ically at 1.,000 pixels per inch. This, too, will in progress. important to police and public-safety work." eventually be deposited in RTID.

The deployment of LiveScan units in 2001-2002—and the creation of a networking interface—has allowed the RCMP to start processing urgent real-time identification requests electronically even while the development of the formal RTID system remains in progress.

Summer 2004 ( 21 Ill@WORK A LOOK AT THE ONGOING INFORMATION SHARING AND COLLABORATION EFFORTS OF PARTNERS IN THE CANADA PARTNERS PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK

LEIPs and bounds A "just do it" attitude yields rapid progress for Iii in Ontario and BC

N FEBRUARY 2003, BRIAN COLLINS- AND SO THEY DID. IN A MEETING

THEN CHIEF OF THE LONDON POLICE ON APRIL 16 OF LAST YEAR, REPRESEN- I SERVICE-SENT A LETTER TO HIS TATIVES OF VARIOUS ONTARIO POLICE COLLEAGUES IN WINDSOR, TORONTO, SERVICES MET IN LONDON AND ESTAB-

OTTAWA AND ELSEWHERE IN ONTARIO LISHED A VISION FOR INFORMATION

OUTLINING HIS DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING SHARING. AN IMPLEMENTATION TEAM

ABOUT THE LACK OF INFORMATION WAS STRUCK, RIGHT THEN AND THERE,

SHARING AMONG POLICE IN THE WITH ELDON AMOROSO AND RICK

PROVINCE. "To MY MIND," SAYS GILLESPIE AT ITS HEAD. (AMOROSO IS

JIM CHU, DEPUTY CHIEF CONSTABLE, COLLINS, "IT WAS SCANDALOUS. I REAL- THE SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION, VANCOUVER POLICE IZED HOW MUCH INFORMATION COULD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BRANCH OF

BE SHARED-SHOULD BE SHARED, THE LONDON POLICE; GILLESPIE IS

ROUTINELY-AND HOW EASY IT WOULD SUPERINTENDENT OF THE FORCE'S

BE TO SHARE IT. MY LETTER SAID, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION.)

ESSENTIALLY, THAT IT'S TIME WE DID

SOMETHING ABOUT IT."

IJI@WORK 28 Summer 2004 INPROFILE

By September 17, 2003, London and information between sepa- SHOW, DON'T TELL Windsor were actively and electronically rate RMS installations is Chu explains that virtually sharing information via a Law Enforcement achieved through LEIP. from the outset, the BC Information Portal (LEIP). On November 6, When all police team knew that the best Ottawa came online. And Toronto-the largest detachments in BC way to secure widespread municipal police service in Canada-started implement PRIME, 'buy-in' for LEIP was to contributing data as of March 31, 2004. LEIP will be the build the system-on Pretty impressive for a little over a year's means by which whatever scale might be work-and just three formal meetings of the they share informa- possible-and prove its project team. And it's extremely gratifying tion with external advantages in action. So for Collins, who retired in March 2004 after agencies. the project team recruited 34 years of service. "You learn a lot police forces to link up to "Just in what's been done to date," says when you design, test LEIP without obligating them Collins, "I think we've effectively demonstrated and roll out our own appli- to contribute anything. that this kind of thing isn't a mystery- cation," says Chu. "Not just To implement a project in that and doesn't have to be a bureaucratic technically, but also in relation to way, notes Chu, you have to be extremely nightmare. What it takes is commitment at project management and the logistics of cost-effective. "We didn't hire any high- the top, and one realistic goal at a time." implementation. I was more than happy to priced consultants," he says. "We had let the team in Ontario know what we'd police agencies contributing their own staff THE ADVANTAGE OF EXPERIENCE discovered through our experience. When it to our project-hundreds to thousands of It also helps to have the perspective of comes to sharing justice information, there's human-resources hours. That's how you someone who's `been there' before-who absolutely no point reinventing the wheel." have to do it. And we had support from the knows the potential pitfalls and how to Chu provided Ontario's LEIP team with the Integrated Justice Information Secretariat, avoid them. For the Ontario LEIP project info-sharing Memorandum of Understanding for which we are very appreciative." team, that someone was Jim Chu, Deputy (MOU) BC had developed, as well as results Once the value of the system became clear, Chief Constable, Support Services Division, from research conducted into the implications of course, users grew increasingly eager to Vancouver Police. Chu is one of the driving of setting up an electronic system-legally give something back, Chu explains. forces behind British Columbia's own LEIP and with regard to freedom-of-information "People got online and saw what they initiative, which has been up and running issues. "We knew Ontario would have to could get out of the system-they wanted to since September 2002. Today, all municipal adapt what we gave them to suit their contribute. And once high-level decision agencies and RCMP detachments in BC have provincial environment," says Chu, "but at makers saw how well LEIP performed, they access to LEIP. least they had something to start from. We recognized it was the right thing to support; In BC, LEIP was necessitated by the also helped them satisfy the security require- they resolved to keep it going." development of PRIME: the Police Records ments for their architecture and network. Information Management Environment. The We'd had a lot of conversations with security aim of PRIME was to outfit all BC police officials at the RCMP and we'd cleared a lot forces with a common, standardized records- of hurdles. That experience benefited the management system (RMS)-a decidedly Ontario group." massive undertaking. In the interim, sharing

"We had police agencies contributing their own staff to our project-hundreds to thousands of human-resources hours. That's how you have to do it."

Summer2004 29 I1I@WORK :nrai igI awn ar»

In Ontario, police services on the LEIP system continue to upload occurrence information into their individual records management systems. Basic information such as persons and vehicles can be searched, via LEIP, by any member of any force connected to the system. That search yields an index-style report of top-level information. Members can then drill down, as authorized, into the appropriate RMS to get more detailed information.

PICTURED (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): CHIEF BRIAN COLLINS (RETIRED), SENIOR DIRECTOR ELDON AMOROSO, SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST CASE HUYSMANS, AND SUPERINTENDENT RICHARD GILLESPIE

PHOTO COURTESY OF LONDON POLICE SERVICE

OPENING UP for the interface was key. What one system case. There was no record in London that In Ontario, unlike BC, there has been no classifies as a 'subject', for example, another a subject accused of domestic violence had province-wide move to institute a common might classify as a 'suspect.' been charged previously with a similar offence RMS. Consequently, the Ontario LEIP system "We had a business analyst sit down with in Windsor. But a LEIP search by the investi- had to be designed openly, ensuring that all the departments involved to look at those gating officer revealed that more complete any RMS could connect. issues and develop a working standard for history—providing additional information for "Already, we've shown that we can accom- the LEIP system," says Amoroso. "Everybody the "Show Cause" portion of the requisite modate a variety of systems," says Senior continues to input data into their own RMS bail hearing. Without LEIP, that crucial bit of Director Eldon Amoroso. "London, Windsor in their own way, but when they're querying history might have been missed. and Ottawa all use the same brand of RMS, LEIP or reviewing search results, there's a "It also shows you how important LEIP is but Toronto has a homegrown system, and standard terminology that's used." for breaking down information silos," says we successfully started loading their produc- Amoroso says the LEIP data standard is Gillespie. "Windsor is right down the road tion data in March." very close to the CPSIN data standard, and from London, and yet that information Having demonstrated its interoperability, that marrying the two precisely will not be wouldn't otherwise have been shared." Amoroso says there's no reason why an onerous task in the future. In British Columbia, Jim Chu says the Ontario's municipal LEIP system couldn't experience has been similar. "You look at interface with a whole range of other sys- EARLY RESULTS Boundary Road in Vancouver," he points tems—from the shared RMS of the OPTIC Detective Superintendent Rick Gillespie out. "On one side of the street you have group (40 municipal police agencies and says that Ontario LEIP users have already Vancouver PD patrolling; on the other, it's the Ontario Provincial Police) to the BC seen the system's real-world advantages. the RCMP. Crooks benefit from the inability LEIP itself. He cites the example of a domestic-violence of police agencies to share information." Because multiple RMSs are involved in the Ontario system, establishing a data standard

1.11@WORK 30 \\ Summer 2004 "WE MADE SURE FROM THE INPRO START THAT WHEN THE TEAM SAT FILE

TAKING IT FURTHER DOWN TO TALK, WE WEREN'T THERE TO And, as was mentioned start-up costs were partly covered by two Eldon Amoroso says previously, BC LEIP serves PACTAD grants from Statistics Canada. DISCUSS PROBLEMS, WE WERE THERE that he and his Ontario as a bridge to the province's But by far the most important determinant LEIP colleagues have TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT HOW standardized PRIME RMS. was the will to get something done. received numerous / Work is underway to migrate "We set up a server, we established con- requests from other police TO GET THINGS DONE." PRIME from a network of dis- nections, we started growing from there," services in the province to crete databases into one single, says Collins. "We made sure from the start join up. "It's really gathering massive, virtual database. Why, one that when the team sat down to talk, we momentum now, which is exactly what we're might wonder, when LEIP is already giving weren't there to discuss problems, we were looking for. Honestly, with the technology we departments access to each others' RMSs? there to make decisions about how to get have today, we could connect the entire "More access," says Chu, plainly. "It's all things done. We knew it wouldn't be perfect province of Ontario within the next year." about getting more information faster. LEIP from the get-go; we knew we weren't going While Ontario continues to add members gives access to about 90 percent of the to build the whole system in one shot. But to its LEIP network, BC is pioneering still information in departmental RMSs. It handles in this era of globalized crime, we were com- other new directions. common queries. But it can't do everything. mitted to doing something. LEIP is really "Right now in Victoria," says Jim Chu, With a single multi-jurisdictional RMS, it's all part of our bigger philosophical picture, a "we're extending LEIP information to field there. But that kind of RMS is still some growing recognition that integrated policing officers wirelessly. So members out on the time away from being a reality—and we is absolutely essential to public safety in the needed something yesterday." zi.st century." To date, the Victoria capital region—which consists of four municipal police departments—is already on the new multi-jurisdictional PRIME system, including the full LEIP interface. Vancouver and BC's other lower-mainland police departments are slated to migrate later this spring from Commitment from their stand-alone databases to the multi- jurisdictional PRIME as well.

REFLECTING ON SUCCESS Brian Collins, Eldon Amoroso and Rick The following police chiefs committed their Gillespie all recognize that a variety of fac- organizations to supporting phase one of tors have contributed to the initial success Ontario LEIP: of the Ontario LEIP project. Commissioner • Chief Brian Collins, London Police Service street can see real-time information coming Zaccardelli of the RCMP was committed to • Chief Glen Stannard, Windsor Police Service from Vancouver. And Vancouver PD has started supporting it—and the RCMP provided the • Chief Vince Bevan, Ottawa Police Service sharing information with the Richmond RCMP connectivity infrastructure via its NPS net- • Chief Julian Fantino, Toronto Police Service detachment. That's huge for us. I don't know work. That accelerated implementation. And anywhere else in Canada where a non-PIRS agency5 can access RCMP information on their laptops in the field." LEIP is really part of our bigger philosophical picture, a

5 PIRS is the RCMP's legacy RMS. White a new growing recognition that integrated policing is absolutely system . PROS, is being rolled out in many parts public safety in the 21st century. of the country, Richmond and other BC-based essential to RCMP operations are remaining, for the time being, PIRS users.

Summer 2004 ( 31 IJI@WORK INPROFILE

CORRECTIONAL SERVICE CANADNS J. GEMENT

MONG CANADA'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE "Information sharing has been a key reached with the Yukon Territory, but it PARTNERS, EFFORTS TO RENEW CASE- priority for the OMS Renewal Project since di ffers in scope and application). Thanks to individual Memoranda A MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ARE FOCUSED ON the beginning," explains George Pinatel of (Manager, Information Sharing, and Understanding reached with the two MORE THAN JUST DEVELOPING NEW WAYS TO Communications, OMS Renewal Project). provinces, correctional authorities in SERVE THEIR EXISTING CLIENT BASE-IMPROVED "That's something we're pa rt icularly proud of, these jurisdictions are now benefiting from CONNECTIVITY AMONG EXTERNAL COUNTERPARTS since we are the only organization within the improved connectivity with the Correctional IS JUST AS IMPORTANT. IN THIS RESPECT, CON- Canada Public Safety Information Network Service Canada (CSC). Through these SIDER THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF CORRECTIONAL that has thus far achieved a level of informa- agreements, the provinces have round-the-

SERVICE CANADA'S OFFENDER MANAGEMENT tion exchange with outside organizations." clock access to a special OMS interface By 2005, over 2,000 new external users menu, designed specifically for their needs SYSTEM (OMS) RENEWAL TEAM. SINCE EARLY will have been connected to the renewed by the OMS Renewal Team. 2001, THIS TEAM HAS MADE IMPORTANT STRIDES system, providing data exchanges that are With respect to the agreements reached TO ENHANCE THE OMS, WHICH GATHERS, STORES controlled, secure and limited, according with Quebec and Saskatchewan, the result AND RETRIEVES INFORMATION ON OFFENDERS IN to access permitted by law. While police has been an all-new electronic exchange of CANADA'S FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM. services across Canada have benefited from information that provides a more fulsome OMS access since 2003 (profiled in IJI@Work array of facts on offenders in their care. Issue #3), connectivity has also been granted "These agreements give our counterparts to provincial and territorial-level corrections access in read-only mode to OMS files on agencies in Canada's correctional system. particular offenders on a need-to-know Agreements with Quebec and Saskatchewan basis," explains Pinatel. "That basis is deter- were among the first to be reached (a sepa- mined when they have an individual in their rate service agreement has also been custody who was formerly an offender in the

IJI@WORK 32\ Summer 2004 INPROFILE

federal system." It also provides for a reciprocity arrangement, in which CSC is given access to the provincial and territorial offender management system for offenders held in their custody in the past. The controls on information exchange are essential to adhere to privacy legislation and to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Still, the level of connectivity provided through these agreements is vital to public safety. Decisions in the correctional system can have a direct impact on the safety of citizens. Every additional bit of information on an offender that can be exchanged and added to a case file can make a difference. For example, Pinatel cites the findings of a 2002 Quebec inquiry into the death of a 13 year-old boy who was murdered in z000 by an offender who had been released on parole by provincial corrections authorities. The inquest recommendations included a call for improved information sharing between the Quebec Parole Board (la Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles) and their federal counterparts. In doing so, provincial authorities will be able to immediately determine whether an offender whose file they are reviewing has previously served time in a federal corrections facility for a federal offence. Thanks to the reciprocity arrangement, the same connectivity is given to federal authorities regarding provincial information. Implementation of OMS connectivity with Quebec and Saskatchewan (as well as the separate agreement with the Yukon Territory) was just the start to the information-exchange activities undertaken by the OMS Renewal Team. Additional agreements have since been negotiated with British Columbia, New Brunswick, as well as with Newfoundland and Labrador. The implementation phase of each of these agreements will conclude before the end of 2004. The OMS Renewal Team is also focusing on the next stage of its project, Pinatel explains. "Once we've finished our work on OMS migration," he says, "we will start looking at ways to transfer offender information from system to system among federal, provincial and territorial partners in Canada's correctional system to eliminate duplication between jurisdictions." That undertaking is expected to be completed within the next two years.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICE CANADA

Summer 2004 33 IJI@WORK INPROFILE Quebec and Saskatchewan perspectives on JM: connectivity

T O OBTAIN A PERSPECTIVE FROM QUEBEC AND SASKATCHEWAN-THE TWO PROVINCES THAT plan for each offender, and sharing the details HAVE FULLY IMPLEMENTED OMS CONNECTIVITY-/f/@WORK SPOKE WITH PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS of that plan with appropriate case managers. RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THESE PROJECTS WITHIN THEIR This resulted in the implementation of online RESPECTIVE DOMAINS: PIERRE BÉRUBÉ (SYSTEMS ANALYST, CORRECTIONAL SERVICES QUEBEC, risk assessments, correctional plans and

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY), AND GEORGE CLARK (INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER, progress reports including special updates about an offender's participation in programs SASKATCHEWAN CORRECTIONS AND PUBLIC SAFETY-ADULT CORRECTIONS DIVISION). such as the Offender Substance Abuse Prevention Program. The ability to review IJI@Work: What were the key challenges of Understanding with CSC was challenging. the experience of offenders with our federal you encountered in implementing OMS con- It wasn't easy-it took us approximately six counterparts improved the decision making nectivity, stemming from the Memorandum months to complete this task-but in our both around risk-needs assessment and inter- of Understanding reached with Correctional view it was a good thing that this step was vention strategies appropriate to the case. Service Canada? required. It compelled us to look carefully at our business practices and at the steps IJI@Work: Are you pleased with the outcome For us, a key challenge was involved in exchanging information within our of the memorandum of understanding? to develop all the necessary information- offender case-file system. Bear in mind that exchange protocols within our organization. it's difficult to be specific about the benefits Blerub^ Yes. For us, it was a very To meet the requirements of the Memorandum of information exchange, due to the encouraging project. It demonstrated that we of Understanding, we had to implement com- nature of the correctional can work together to address concerns mon business practices to comply with system. White improved that matter to our citizens, such as security requirements at Correctional Service information sharing public safety. We're especially Canada. Once this step was addressed, we derived from our pleased with the learning opportu- were able to get to work on the technical agreement is some- nity that this exercise afforded: component, involving testing of our systems thing that we are we're a smarter organization to ensure compliance and secure connectivity. now using every day, thanks to this experience. the benefits ought to ri< E^ ç.at,c, evv : One of our primary be transparent. They Clark (Saskatchewan): The memo- tasks was to identify the conditions under should blend seam- randum is important for us. It which information may be shared. Once that lessly into the existing provides a basis and the broad was achieved, we had to define a way for staff systems that we already parameters under which information to request the information and establish struc- had in place in the Quebec is shared. As the project was rolled out, we tures to distribute and store the information. correctional system. In a manner of speaking, had to make sure that the Memorandum when it comes to information sharing about of Understanding and all relevant legislation IJI@Work: In practical terms, how does your offenders, no news is good news. was adequately explained to our users. This province benefit from this agreement on discussion continues to evolve as staff change information exchange? 4!!^,rlc ^Sas^+

IJI@WORK 34 Summer2004 MICHAEL BOUDREAU, DIRECTOR, PROGRAMS AND PLANNING, COMMUNITY AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, NEW BRUNSWICK AND ROBERT CYR, PINIITS PROGRAM DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, NEW BRUNSWICK

MM.\ 1\ New Brunswick is making strides in the realm of Ill

HERE ARE SEVERAL ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE SUCCESS OF INTEGRATED JUSTICE T INFORMATION (Iii). TECHNOLOGY, OBVIOUS- LY, IS ONE: HAVING THE RIGHT TOOLS TO MEET BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS. POLICY IS ANOTHER: BUILDING THE FRAMEWORKS WITHIN WHICH INFORMATION CAN BE SHARED EFFECTIVELY.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS A THIRD. AND IT'S A HARD-WON WISDOM that experience we learned some invaluable DIRECT RESULT OF SKILLFUL PROJECT MANAGEMENT Michael Boudreau is the Director of Programs lessons. Most importantly, that with these THAT CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES IN and Planning, Community and Correctional kinds of projects you can't expect to achieve NEW BRUNSWICK HAVE MANAGED TO MOVE Services, Department of Public Safety in New all your goals at once." Brunswick—and the operational CIS project Another key realization was that no matter FORWARD WITH TWO KEY INFORMATION-SHARING leader. He says that the province's interest in how important the technological component INITIATIVES IN RECENT YEARS: A POLICE integrating justice information systems goes may be, IJI projects can't be solely IT-led. For INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/INFORMATION back to the early 19905. a system to succeed, it needs to meet the TECHNOLOGY SHARING PROJECT KNOWN AS PIM- "There was a massive project undertaken on-the-ground business requirements of users. ITS; AND A CLIENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (CIS) at that time called NBIJ—New Brunswick "We took some of our best people off the Integrated Justice." Boudreau says it was floor, so to speak, and involved them in the FOR THE PROVINCE'S DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY extremely ambitious: a top-down, compre- design and development process," says AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES. hensive project to connect justice systems Boudreau. "For sure, there's a cost associated in the province electronically. "In the end, with that kind of decision—a human-resources it proved impossible to realize. It was too cost. But we certainly wouldn't do it any big, too expensive, and it failed. But out of di fferently."

Summer 2004 ( 35 Ill@WORK IxPROFILE THE RIGHT SOLUTION of hard work. The important thing is to take The CIS was launched in 1999 and WARMLY RECEIVED one step at a time. As much as a shared completed in 2002. Installed at 70 sites Boudreau says there was great enthusiasm nationwide system may be desirable, it's not across New Brunswick, it encompasses for an electronic system like CIS within going to happen in the immediate future. the dispositional phase of the judicial Community and Correctional Services- But there's lots you can do if you have the process-the phase in which sentences despite the fact that very few front-line will and the commitment. And with small, are calculated and carried out. Fully secure, employees of the department had previous incremental steps, people see the benefits the CIS contains information on both adult computer experience. quickly, and that inspires them to join in." and youth offenders in institutions and "Until CIS, we had been entirely paper- community-based correctional environ- based," says Boudreau. "When we surveyed ALL FOR ONE ments. It also keeps a record of staff, we found there wasn't a high The vision of PIMITS is to electronically victim information. level of comfort or aptitude with connect all police forces throughout New The CIS was designed technology. But virtually every- Brunswick - enhancing their capacity to to interface with the one recognized that we could develop and share intelligence in ways province's Department of make our systems better." that reduce the threats of organized crime, justice and Department of To facilitate adoption of serious crime and terrorism. It's part of the Family and Community the CIS, the department strategic plan of the province's Department Services systems, as provided extensive technol- of Public Safety, and its genesis goes back well as with the federal ogy training in everything at least as far as that of the CIS. government's Offender from basic keyboarding Robert Cyr is PIMITS Program Director at Management System skills to full-fledged com- the New Brunswick Department of Public (OMS). (In fact, the CIS puting boot camps. "I really Safety. He says the lessons learned develop- team had an IT representa- think this has been another ing the CIS have been extremely helpful in tive from the Correctional major key to our success," says propelling PIMITS forward. "We're doing this Service of Canada to help ensure Boudreau. "People appreciate that we project in a very lean, very focused way," he that the CIS system would interface with took time to help them reach a place of says. "Our program office is made up of two the federal OMS.) comfort with the new system. It showed in people-including me. We're drawing on the Developed in accordance with federal data their eagerness to learn. Overwhelmingly, technical expertise of municipal police forces standards, the CIS is currently being outfit- people wanted the training." and the New Brunswick Department of Public ted to share information with the Canadian Safety. As was done with CIS, we're taking Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS). MEASURES OF SUCCESS an incremental approach, setting realistic Accessed via a secure web browser, the The New Brunswick CIS has received milestones and working toward them." CIS is a completely integrated system with no small share of attention from other That approach was clearly defined by capabilities that include the provision of criminal-justice organizations in Canada. Its the PIMITS Steering Committee, on which real-time offender information, a complete data-encryption model is being promoted by sit senior members of every police force case-management module and-a feature Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in New Brunswick. Cyr cites as an example that has generated significant interest among Canada's IJI Secretariat as the foundation the establishment of a technological other correctional services organizations-an for a national standard. Correctional Service infrastructure that will support PIMITS automated sentence calculator. Canada has surveyed some 120 similar sys- information-sharing. A private, secure, "What we've done," explains Boudreau, tems around the world and ranked the CIS closed-loop network, this infrastructure "is develop something that can talk to other among the top three. And in 2002 it received has already benefited agencies even while systems while respecting their autonomy. both a Canadian Information Productivity other elements of the system are still We know from past experience that trying Award and a Knowledge Industry Recognition under development. to build everything from the ground up is Award-as well as a special acknowledgment "Before we built the infrastructure, some just too complicated. So we developed the from the Premier of the province. police forces had to gather motor vehicle system we needed, and a mechanism for "We're very proud of all our achievements," information from the provincial mainframe interfacing with others." says Boudreau. "They're the result of a lot via a low-bandwidth dial-up connection,"

I I I cni W fl R K 3A C iimmpr 9nna INPROFILE

says Cyr. "It was time-consuming and awkward. This is important from a usability perspec- "where's the budget going to come from to Now they can use the PIMITS infrastructure and tive, as it means front-line officers gain the support the system over time?" gain direct, high-bandwidth access." benefit of new functionality without having The answer in the case of both the CIS Because the PIMITS infrastructure is private to learn their way around a brand-new and and PIMITS is public-private partnerships, and secure, it has the potential to fulfil the unfamiliar system. at least in part. Working closely with security requirements of the CPIC renewal To achieve this functional transparency, it private-sector technology partners, the team. By way of background: two types of is a design objective of PIMITS to translate CIS and P1MITS teams hope to commodify connection to CPIC are possible—one via native RMS data to the CPSIN data standard the systems they're building. CPIC for Windows, and the other via what's via a 'black-box' solution. Through the clear- "Other jurisdictions face the same chal- known as a message-oriented middleware inghouse, members will be able to conduct lenges we do," says Michael Boudreau. (MOM) interface. CPIC for Windows applies searches and queries beyond boundaries of "They're going to need solutions. We've to standalone PCs; the MOM interface model their local RMS. made an arrangement whereby our CIS IT applies to networked PCs, for which security To govern PIMITS information sharing, partner, xwave, can go re-market the intel- is a key concern. If PIMITS were able to estab- the PIMITS project team is developing a lectual property they've developed for our lish an interface with CPIC, the advantages Memorandum of Understanding in collab- system in other jurisdictions. And we'll get a would be great for law enforcement agencies oration with the 1)1 Secretariat. This MOU, royalty from any sales, which would provide throughout New Brunswick—because the when finalized, will capture the vision of us with a stream of funding." interface would be shared by all of them. PIMITS and articulate the mechanics of To date, all of Canada's provinces have This would be enormously helpful for smaller how information will be shared. looked at the CIS; so has the State of detachments, as it would otherwise be Virginia and the State of Maine—where a prohibitively expensive for them to acquire EYE ON THE FUTURE purchase has been made. It's even been the MOM-interface technology to connect While it's taking an incremental approach, demonstrated as far afield as Singapore. to CPIC independently. the PIMITS project team's view is decidedly This enterprising model is just another in Now that the network infrastructure has long term. "You have to keep the future in a long list of innovations New Brunswick's been built, the next step laid out by the mind, even while you focus on what you can IJI community has made—innovations that multidisciplinary Steering Committee is and need to get done right now," says Cyr. Michael Boudreau and Robert Cyr believe to establish an information-sharing "For example, we've had lots of conversa- will apply elsewhere. "clearinghouse." tions with the CPIC renewal team; we know "We talk about New Brunswick as a micro- we're going to want to link to that system, cosm," says Boudreau. "It's a great place to MAINTAINING AUTONOMY, that our interface should interoperate with learn lessons that may be applicable at other SHARING INFORMATION that system. That's why we built the archi- levels. And we're absolutely ready and willing The PIMITS clearinghouse might be better tecture we did—one that's secure and that to share what we know." understood as a portal. It will allow local will meet our bandwidth requirements down records-management systems (RMS) to connect the road." to the shared PIMITS infrastructure, while As with any IJI project, the long-term view giving individual police organizations the begs certain financial questions, such as freedom to maintain their own databases.

The vision of PIMITS is to electronically connect all police forces throughout New Brunswick—enhancing their capacity to develop and share intelligence in ways that reduce the threats of organized crime, serious crime and terrorism.

Summer 2004 31 IJI@WORK INPRO FILE Information sharing:

Highlights from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police forum on information sharing and interoperability

CHIEF VINCE BEVAN, CHIEF EDGAR MACLEOD,

OTTAWA POLICE SERVICE * PRESIDENT, CACP

GIULIANO ZACCARDELLI, RCMP COMMISSIONER

Ill@WORK Summer 2004 PHOTOS COURTESY OF CACF' PARTNEIIS PROFILE MAKING IT HAPPEN

"KICK-START YOUR THINKING FROM CAN'T DO IT, TO JUST DO IT." THAT WAS A KEY MESSAGE TO EMERGE

AT A NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION SHARING AND INTEROPERABILITY, ORGANIZED BY THE

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE (CACP), HELD NOVEMBER 24-26, 2003, IN MONTREAL,

QUEBEC. THIS THREE-DAY GATHERING, ENTITLED POLICE AND ENFORCEMENT PARTNERSHIPS: MAKING

INFORMATION-SHARING HAPPEN, WAS DESIGNED TO SERVE AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR CHIEFS AND HEADS

OF LAW ENFORCEMENT TO TAKE IMMEDIATE STEPS TO IMPROVE INTEROPERABILITY AND INFORMATION-

SHARING CAPABILITIES AMONG CANADA'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE PARTNERS.

This forum was well attended—comprised Quebec Public Security Minister Jacques of i6o senior-level delegates representing Chagnon, who both emphasized the need police, governments and law-enforcement to overcome traditional obstacles to infor- agencies across Canada. Participants heard mation sharing. a thoughtful keynote speech by renowned Overarching the discussions at the round- jurist, Justice Archie Campbell, who shared table and plenary sessions was a commonly his perspective on information sharing, based voiced concern among participants that on his widely quoted 1996 report on the Paul police need to take immediate action to Bernardo investigation. Citing criminal cases ensure greater information sharing and where information sharing was a hindrance interoperability in their work. to the efforts of police, he contended that a Police culture vvas often cited as an fundamental shift in attitude is necessary impediment to achieving this goal. among police and law-enforcement agencies. Participants contended this was far from "If people don't want to share information, being an excuse to not take action, but they won't...It's as simple as that," he said. rather that this represented an important The leadership challenge, he added, is to part of the future of Canada's criminal find incentives to motivate and educate justice system. As Toronto Police Chief people to take action. Julian Fantino summarized: "We (the police) Participants also heard from a host of are under a microscope...(and) there will be guest speakers, including Chief Edgar no forgiveness for not connecting the dots." MacLeod (President of the CACP), and

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAC P CHIEF JULIAN FANTINO, TORONTO POLICE SERVICE

Summer 2004 39 Ill@WORK INPRO FILE

Overarching the discussions at the roundtable and plenary sessions was a commonly voiced concern among participants that police need to take immediate action to ensure greater information sharing and interoperability in their work.

But recognizing the need for improved information sharing is only part of the challenge—implementing this kind of undertaking is a formidable task on its own. As Nicole Jauvin (former Deputy he forum also sought direct feed- • identify the operational needs for infor- Solicitor General of Canada) noted: "The back from participants. A survey mation available from other agencies; concept may be simple, (but) what we're T was distributed asking respondents • engage in discussions with other organ- doing is revolutionizing the way that we to identify the steps that the CACP needs izations to work out interoperability track individuals and the way day-to-day to take to ensure better information sharing issues; and decisions are made across the criminal jus- and interoperability among police and other • determine a migration plan for imple- tice system." Roundtable participants often criminal justice partners in Canada. These menting CPSIN data standards. cited privacy, technology, standards, the survey questionnaires were completed need for harmonization of policies and the by participants and were collected and B) For the CACP: development of seamless systems as areas reviewed during the conference so that • develop a survey to determine the where additional work will be required an action agenda could be prepared status of implementing CPSIN data before improved information sharing and before the conclusion of the forum. The standards by police services and law interoperability can be achieved. survey results were consistent with the enforcement agencies; Current information-sharing efforts underway messages that surfaced in keynote and • establish an index of connectivity by police across Canada were also showcased panel discussions—most expressed a facilities and systems; and in the panel discussions. These efforts were sense of urgency to address information • develop a CACP policy statement on highlighted in remarks by a host of panel- sharing. interoperability and information sharing, lists, including Assistant Commissioner Rod The following list of action items and distribute it to all police services, Smith (RCMP), Denis Méthé (Correctional were adopted: governing authorities and conference Service of Canada), Chief Brian Collins participants. (London Police), Chief Vince Bevan (Ottawa A) For participants and their respective Police), David Douglas (British Columbia organizations: Organized Crime Agency, and Superintendent • brief the executive committee on Dick Grattan (Integrated Border Enforcement the conference; Team). Each panellist provided delegates • conduct an inventory of information with a unique perspective on the challenges holdings as well as systems and poli- of implementing a tailor-made interoperability cies on information sharing; or information-sharing solution in their respective domain.

1.11@WORK 40 Summer 2004 Pwowos cQaterE?^ of pEea*T +Comils{rwKamu$

Highlights from the annual international corference on technology and counter-terrorism

,um INPROFILE

ENIOR REPRESENTATIVES FROM GOVERNMENT, POLICE, SECURITY AND THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR MET IN OTTAWA ON APRIL 26-27, 2004, FOR THE THIRD ANNUAL CON-

FERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND COUNTER-TERRORISM, ENTITLED STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY TRANSFORMATION 2004. PRESENTED BY REBOOT COMMUNICATIONS S AND HOSTED BY THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CANADA (PSEPC), THIS TWO-DAY GATHERING SERVED AS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES FROM CANADA, THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD TO NETWORK AND COLLABORATE ON PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES.

PHOTO COURTESY OF REBOOT COMMUNICATIONS

FRON1 LEFT TO RIGHT: JOHN PISTOLE, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION; MARGARET BLOODWORTH, DEPUTY MINISTER, PSEPC; GIULIANO ZACCARDELLI, COMMISSIONER, RCMP; BOB MORINE, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, IBM CANADA; AND PHILLIP WEBB, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, POLICE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, UNITED KINGDOM.

Leaders from police and national security in Canada and from around the world were also well represented in panel discussions, and included the participation of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, Chief Edgar MacLeod (President, CACP), Chief Vince Bevan (Ottawa Police Service), John Pistole (Executive Assistant Director, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation), and Phillip Webb (Chief Executive Officer of the United Kingdom's Police Information Technology Organization). Presentations by these leaders provided delegates with vital perspectives and insight on how police can better share information on a domestic and international scale. "We were pleased to bring this conference to Ottawa for the very Specific approaches to overcoming barriers to information sharing first time," explained Greg Spievak, president of Reboot Communications. were also discussed during panel deliberations. "Timely panel discussions and keynote speakers are hallmarks of In keeping with the international scope of this yearly conference, this exclusive annual conference, and this year's gathering was no delegates were treated to two special keynote addresses. The first exception." was by Richard Clarke, the author of Against All Enemies: Inside Delegates heard over 3 0 unique presentations by distinguished America's War on Terror, and former U.S. Presidential advisor on international authorities. Among the speakers representing the counter-terrorism. Among the key points in his speech, Clarke empha- Government of Canada, delegates heard from PSEPC Deputy Minister sized that technology today affords governments unparalleled abilities Margaret Bloodworth, who provided an overview of her department and potential access, and contended that this matter should be and its near-term public safety priorities, including interoperability, further explored through an expanded civic dialogue. the National Security Policy, Lawful Access, as welt as measures to The second guest keynote was delivered by Kevin Mitnick, an inter- improve critical infrastructure and ensure cyber security. Additional nationally known former computer hacker, who was once considered in-depth information on the department's recently-launched the most wanted computer criminal in U.S. history. Through a series Interoperability Project was shared with delegates in a separate of case studies, Mitnick provided a compelling case for why organiza- presentation by Project Director Mark Bornais (PSEPC Integrated tions need to double-up their safeguards of personal information Justice Information Secretariat). against hackers and other intruders who seek to use that information The vital importance of fostering improved interoperability surfaced to their advantage. at several points during keynotes and panel discussions. Speakers By all accounts, Strategies for Public Safety Transformation 2004 was noted that governments in Canada, the United States and abroad a great success. Based on the success of this gathering and its prede- must embrace the challenge of getting various agencies to inter- cessors (held in Whistler, B.C., in 2002, and Bal Harbour, Florida, in connect information without compromising privacy or the security 2003), the fourth Annual Conference is being planned for 2005 in of their individual systems. A range of solutions in this regard San Francisco, California. were demonstrated in presentations and by numerous vendors at Details on the 2005 Conference will be available soon at the the conference exposition hall, including soEutions such as user- Reboot Communications website at: www.rebootcanada.com . authentication systems, data encryption and wireless connectivity.

1,11@WORK 7 42 \ Summer 2004 TO CONNECT UPDATE ON NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND ON PUBLIC-SAFETY COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

ORKING TOGETHER AS PARTNERS, FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL AND TERRITORIAL

DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE W AND PUBLIC SAFETY IN CANADA ARE, IN EFFECT, THE REPRESENTATION OF A COMMON WILL TO CONNECT AND SHARE INFORMATION IN AN EFFICIENT, RELIABLE

AND SECURE MANNER.

From Nova Scotia's Justice Enterprise Information Network (JEIN) to Manitoba's Integrated Legislative Response Team (ILRT), from B.C.'s Justice Information System (JUSTIN) to Quebec's Integrated Justice Information (IJIS) Project—to name but a few initiatives—the push to achieve integrated justice information and interoperability is evident across the country.

Summer 2004 43 Ill@WORK IxPROFILE Not only is this undertaking serving to Together, the achievements of partners at all with federal, provincial and territorial reinforce well-run security that manages levels of government demonstrate that impor- (FPT) representatives-with a view for the the Canada-U.S. border, it is also helping to tant strides are being made to the benefit of FPT Ministers of justice to formally sign a address gaps in that system. For example: public safety in Canada. joint national statement on a national • the Canada Border Services Agency's CPSIN partners, including Public Safety and accord on information sharing; NEXUS program for pre-approved move- Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) • conducting consultations with provincial ment of travellers is now operational at have learned much from each other, thanks partners in Saskatchewan and Nova ten border crossings, and will soon be to IJI-related efforts to date. Dialogue is Scotia, to obtain their views and sugges- expanded to include three additional sites; key to ensuring that this thriving learning tions on a departmental policy document, and • the Canada Border Services Agency's Free environment remains sustainable. Framework for Managing Information; and Secure Trade Program (FAST) is now To support and promote partnerships • arranging for the participation of PSEPC functional at 12 of the highest volume among organizations that comprise CPSIN, Deputy Minister, Margaret Bloodworth, at commercial crossings, representing 8o per- the Integrated Justice Information Secretariat's an April 2004 forum on public safety and cent of commercial traffic between Canada Partnerships Division continues to pursue counter-terrorism, entitled Strategies for and the United States; and many avenues of dialogue in 2004, including: Public Safety Transformation- Terrorism • Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness ongoing meetings (both ad-hoc and annual) and Technology: Prevention, Protection • Canada will continue to explore ways to of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial and Pursuit (hosted by the Canadian build on the successes to date, collaborat- Leadership (FPT) Network, consisting of Association of Chiefs of Police). ing closely with the United States in a regular face-to-face and teleconference Collaboration with the United States is manner that is consistent with privacy discussions since 2001 to review the equally important-a matter that is under- concerns, human rights and Canadian law. status of interoperability and information scored by the Smart Border Declaration and sharing. The next annual meeting of this the annual Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Crime group is scheduled to take place in Forum. Both countries are eager to explore Ottawa in June 2004; interoperability issues among law enforce- • the development of a National Approach ment departments along our shared border. to Sharing Information-in partnership

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 THE HUMAN FACTOR "This is an advantage, for us, over something like fingerprint Of course, everyone's appearance changes slightly between the time technologies," says Franca-ur. "If you think you have a false positive-or have to verify a genuine positive match-with a fingerprint, of one picture-taking and another. And that means that the alphanu- meric sequence generated for the same individual will be different you'd require very specialized skills. It's much easier to train people on each occasion. But Francoeur says the differences are so slight that to compare and evaluate pictures." the system can calculate reasonably when it is looking at the same WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE person. Through its study, the Passport office confirmed that FR technology "Through our study, we identified the impacts of nearly 20 photo characteristics on FR accuracy," he explains, "everything from lumi- is mature, efficient, and advanced enough to be considered for nosity to aging and facial hair. I even volunteered a picture of myself deployment. Francoeur and his project team have deposited a positive clean-shaven and one with me sporting a full beard. But the system business case with the Privacy Commission for consideration. can be configured to process those variations intelligently." "I'm very interested to see how the business case is received," says Importantly, Francoeur notes that no FR system would make strictly Francoeur. "We're convinced FR will work for our requirements-will automated decisions. If a person's image seems to match someone help us address real threats to Canadian security. And that is the core on a watch list in a database, a human screener is alerted to examine significant value that is being sought by all Canadian passport appli- cants: to hold a secure document that is internationally recognized." the matter further.

I1I@WORK 44 Summer2004