Originally Appeared: Morning Consult on April 21, 2021
At the heart of the U.S. technology industry, the Department of Commerce plays a crucial role in the development of reliable technology through the team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is especially true for emerging technologies that lack recognized standards.
Facial recognition is just one example of such an emerging technology, but it is one that holds great promise and opportunity in the future of how we live and work with one another, enabling touchless experiences that promote public health and advancements in the field of computer vision used for self-driving cars.
The need for recognized standards that ensure the responsible use and implementation of the technology is where NIST plays a critical role. However, the labs under NIST’s umbrella are often left behind due to a lack of commercially available technology. Through the use of report language, congressional support for the Face Recognition Vendor Test lab would allow NIST to not only keep up with current advances, but also remain at the forefront of ensuring that technologies of the present and future are safe, ethical and bias-free.
