The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has said it is looking beyond traditional polygraph testing of job applicants and current employees for security screening purposes, announcing a prize challenge aimed at developing “novel procedures to evaluate the accuracy, reliability, and utility of current and future credibility assessment techniques and technologies, such as the polygraph.”

“The intelligence community uses in-person credibility assessment techniques every day to screen new employees before hire, conduct periodic investigations with existing employees, and interview potential sources and witnesses,” an announcement said. “The polygraph is one tool used for credibility assessments, but there are newer techniques and technologies on the market and in development that may prove more useful.

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“However, we need standardized, rigorous procedures to evaluate these newer approaches and the current methods have limitations. We hope that challenge participants will have new, unique, and creative ideas to address these limitations,” it said.

The challenge will begin with a briefing to potential participants July 31, with a formal launch in September and winners being announced in the spring.