The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in partnership with IIIT-Hyderabad, has launched a global biometric challenge aimed at evaluating fingerprint authentication algorithms for children aged 5-10 years. The competition will assess the age invariance of biometric systems by testing their accuracy over a period of 5 to 10 years.
In its first phase, the Biometric SDK Benchmarking Challenge will focus on 1:1 fingerprint matching, helping researchers refine algorithms to improve long-term biometric authentication performance. To ensure data security, UIDAI will use anonymized datasets and will not share any biometric data with participants.
Researchers and developers worldwide are invited to participate, leveraging UIDAI’s extensive field-collected dataset to enhance their models. The challenge runs from March 25, 2025, to May 25, 2025, with registration details available on the UIDAI website and competition portal at https://biochallenge.uidai.gov.in/.
The competition offers a total prize pool of ₹7.7 lakh (approximately USD 9,000) and provides participants with an opportunity to collaborate with UIDAI in advancing biometric technology.
Following the fingerprint authentication challenge, UIDAI will expand its benchmarking efforts to include iris and facial recognition technology.
With Aadhaar facilitating nearly 90 million authentication transactions daily, this initiative reinforces UIDAI’s commitment to strengthening digital identity verification and biometric authentication systems across India.
