ROC brings on DoD, FBI biometrics veteran to strengthen US federal market position

ROC is positioning itself to make inroads in the U.S. government biometrics market with the appointment of Sam Cava as an advisor. In his new role, Cava will be tasked with expanding the delivery of ROC biometrics at the federal, state and local government levels, but with a focus on national security.

The company’s new principal strategist is the architect of the U.S. Department of Defenses (DoDs) automated biometric identification system (ABIS) and the FBI’s National Security biometrics systems, according to the company announcement.

ROC CEO B. Scott Swan led the development of the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) capability, so the appointment of Cava adds to an extensive base of experience working with U.S. government biometrics.

Cava brings more than 30 years of experience in developing enterprise biometrics for the FBI, DoD and intelligence community. That includes a stint as director of the DoD Biometrics Fusion Center, where he led the ABIS project. Cava was also responsible for the rapid prototyping and deployment of the DoD BISA (Biometric Identification System for Access) to protect U.S. military facilities and personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has worked on mission-critical biometrics tools for special agents, soldiers and intelligence operatives and negotiating exchanges of biometric data from terrorist suspects with allies.

In his most recent role as FBI Multimedia Exploitation Unit chief, Cava provided direct support for numerous high-profile investigations. His work has involved multimodal biometrics, facial recognition, iris and fingerprint biometrics.

Cava is also a former U.S. Air Force officer, and like Swann, a native of West Virginia.

Swann calls his experience “unparalleled.”

“He has an exceptional ability to assemble and lead some of the most talented people who then turn around and deliver innovations that actually work in tactical environments,” Swann says. “I’m excited that Sam will be a key player as we begin rolling out ROC ABIS with disruptive capabilities such as the world’s fastest latent fingerprint matcher. ROC ABIS delivers innovation that our law enforcement partners have been demanding. Watch this space.”

The company also recently appointed a special advisor for India and the Southeast Asia region.

ROC recently emerged as the American developer with the best performance by mean absolute error in NIST’s evaluation of Age Estimation and Verification based on face biometrics.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  ROC  |  U.S. Government