NIJ FY 2026 Invited to Apply - Operation of the Secretariat of SC 37 under JTC 1 of ISO/IEC
The National Institute of Justice invites applications for fiscal year 2026 to operate the international biometrics standards secretariat, supporting U.S. leadership, standards development, and meetings.
Funder: National Institute of Justice
Due Dates: October 7, 2026 (Grants.gov SF-424) | October 13, 2026 (JustGrants full application)
Funding Amounts: One grant up to $60,000 for 12 months, starting January 1, 2027
Summary: Supports U.S. leadership, management, and administration of the ISO/IEC biometrics standards subcommittee and its Working Groups.
Key Information: Only the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), with an official NIJ invitation letter, may apply.
Description
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), supports operation of the Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 37 (Biometrics). This continuation opportunity funds reliable U.S. leadership, management, and administration for the subcommittee and its Working Groups, including meetings and standards development and maintenance under the ISO/IEC Directives.
SC 37 standardizes generic human biometric technologies to support interoperability and data interchange among applications and systems. The work supports NIJ’s responsibility to advance standards and conformity assessment benefiting law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, including minimum performance requirements and testing of technologies such as facial-recognition software. Funded activities include convening consensus-building meetings, tracking Working Group progress, circulating reports to member countries, and providing procedural guidance to the U.S. Technical Advisory Group.
