By Dr Risco Mutelo
Biometrics is taking the Military by storm, both as a tool to fight war on the battlefield and as a way for efficient business practices. Biometrics is now becoming an integral part of a soldier’s mission, allowing troops to identify potential threats and confirm the link between name and face.
Biometrics can enable the Military to achieve the followings:
To identify an individual and associate that individual with certain actions.
To identify individuals’ associates and their activities or what they have been involved in.
To link events such as an improvised explosive device at one place and another and to assist build a picture of what has happened.
The modern warfare takes place in urban environments, unlike conventional warfare where the two sides face each other on the battlefield using weapons against each other. The Military needs to re-think how to approach warfare.
In the event that improvised explosive devices would be discovered by the Military at various locations, the Military could take the following actions:
Enrol the Fingerprints found on the improved explosive devices into the database. Record vital information such as location, number of prints etc.
Search for a match against available criminal database. If a match is found, then they know the perpetrators.
If a match is not found, the Military can set up operations within the area where live biometric samples are obtained from individuals and compared against the stored fingerprints found on the improvised explosive devices.
Biometrics can be used in an effort to combat insurgent forces interspersed within an indigenous population. Therefore biometric identification and tracking of individuals becomes a core mission in such a war.
In addition to the above, the Military can use biometrics in its own facilities as a type of universal access: every member of the Military, their families and civilian employees have a common access identification card that is embedded with their fingerprints.
For example:
Use biometric technology to clear veterans who are receiving treatment at the veteran’s clinic for access to the base hospital. Use biometric technology to provide keyless entry to sensitive areas.
Use biometric technology to confirm identities as they board foreign ships. More information on the implementation of biometrics based solutions can be requested from HYPERLINK “mailto:Risco.Mutelo@namibiabiometricsystems.com” risco. mutelo@namibiabiometricsystems.com
Dr Risco Mutelo is a Namibian who is currently stationed in London where he studied Biometrics Engineering at New Castle University in the United Kingdom.
Picture: Dr Risco Mutelo