[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Lockheed Martin has opened its Biometric Experimentation and Advanced Concepts (BEACON) center in White Hall, W.V. The 6000-square-foot facility will be staffed by operational domain experts and highly trained specialists in service-oriented architecture and biometric technology. The company is actively soliciting vendors to bring solutions forward for integration into Lockheed Martin's service-oriented biometric framework and extensive testing.

The BEACON will leverage two key networks as part of this development effort: The Global Vision Network, (which connects Lockheed Martin engineering and laboratory locations), and the Multi-Sector Crisis Management Consortium (a collaboration of multiple government agencies, academic institutions, and private sector entities united in improving national and international crisis management and emergency response capabilities using advanced and emerging information technologies).

Lockheed Martin has played a role in several biometric technology-based programs in recent years. For example, the corporation designed, developed, deployed and maintains the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), the world's largest law enforcement and criminal history database.

For more information, visit www.lmco.com.