UIDAI and IIIT-H Launch Global Biometric SDK Challenge to Advance Fingerprint Tech

The initiative is designed to assess and improve the age invariance of fingerprint authentication algorithms, focusing on performance over time and across age groups, especially children.

In a major step toward advancing biometric authentication technologies, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in partnership with the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), has launched a large-scale Biometric SDK Benchmarking Challenge. The initiative is designed to assess and improve the age invariance of fingerprint authentication algorithms, focusing on performance over time and across age groups, especially children.

Focus on Long-Term Fingerprint Authentication

The first phase of the challenge zeroes in on 1:1 fingerprint matching algorithms for children aged 5 to 10 years, with a particular emphasis on re-authentication and accuracy after a span of 5 to 10 years. This age-invariance testing is critical because children’s biometric features undergo changes over time, making long-term reliability a major challenge in biometric authentication systems.

UIDAI’s extensive dataset, collected from real-world field conditions across India, offers a unique opportunity for developers and researchers to test and optimize their fingerprint matching systems in scenarios that closely resemble practical deployment conditions.

Global Participation Welcomed

The competition is open to participants from across the globe, including academic researchers, independent developers, biometric companies, and AI startups. It provides a secure, anonymized evaluation environment, ensuring that participant submissions are benchmarked against UIDAI's proprietary datasets without any data being shared externally.

Interested participants can register and find detailed information on the official UIDAI competition platform: 👉 https://biochallenge.uidai.gov.in/

The challenge runs from March 25, 2025, to May 25, 2025, and includes multiple rounds of evaluation.

Attractive Prizes and Strategic Collaborations

The challenge offers prize money totaling ₹ 7.7 lakhs (approximately USD 9,000), with top-performing teams also receiving an opportunity to collaborate directly with UIDAI on future advancements in biometric technologies.

This challenge is a strategic initiative to strengthen India's digital identity infrastructure and develop robust biometric tools that stand the test of time, age, and usage diversity.

Expanding to Iris and Face Authentication

Following the fingerprint phase, UIDAI plans to roll out additional benchmarking challenges focused on iris recognition and facial authentication. These competitions will similarly assess the long-term reliability and performance of biometric SDKs in real-world, age-spanning scenarios.

Aadhaar: Driving Digital Governance in India

UIDAI’s Aadhaar platform continues to be a cornerstone of India’s digital governance and public service delivery. Over 90 million biometric and demographic authentication transactions are carried out every single day, enabling citizens to access services ranging from banking and mobile connections to welfare benefits and government subsidies.

By spearheading this SDK benchmarking initiative, UIDAI is reinforcing its commitment to technological innovation, secure identity management, and inclusive digital empowerment.

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For researchers, developers, and biometric technology providers, this challenge offers a rare chance to benchmark and prove their systems against one of the world’s largest and most diverse biometric datasets—while contributing to a global cause of secure, scalable, and inclusive digital identification.