NIST Schedules Virtual Biometric Facial Recognition Conference for October

The NIST is moving forward with plans for the 2020 International Face Performance Conference (IFPC). The conference is now scheduled to run from October 27-29, although it will be an entirely virtual event due to the ongoing public safety concerns associated with COVID-19.

The NIST is hosting IFPC in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the European Association for Biometrics (EAB), and the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T). The organizers have not yet announced any speakers, but indicated that they are looking to put together an international lineup with expertise in the development, deployment, and use of facial recognition technologies.

In that regard, the programming at the conference will cover every aspect of facial recognition, including technical issues like accuracy measurement and liveness detection, in addition to more human concerns like data sets, demographics, standards, and non-cooperative use cases. The NIST is hoping that the conversation will improve the performance of facial recognition technologies, and that greater transparency will help build trust with the public.

To accomplish those goals, IFPC will likely need to touch on recent events, including the effects of masks on facial recognition algorithms and the growing backlash to the police use of the technology.

The NIST is currently accepting proposals for technical and policy presentations. Registration for the free event closes on October 21.

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September 1, 2020 – by Eric Weiss