Latent interoperability–the ability to search a latent print against another state or local database–has been limited by an inability to communicate among disparate Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS). This lack of interoperability has been of great national interest and is specifically addressed in the National Academy of Sciences report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.

In Evidence Technology Magazine's article Share Alike: Three major initiatives aim to make latent print AFIS interoperability a reality, author Kristi Mayo, discusses three ongoing efforts to establish interoperability between automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) in the United States. The article examines the efforts by the Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group, Noblis, and  the AFIS Interoperability Task Force toward achieving meaningful, nationwide AFIS interoperability.

The article highlights the Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group's progress in determining "what interoperability looks like" and identifying barriers to creating AFIS interoperability. It shows the work that Noblis is doing with NIST and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) on the Latent AFIS Interoperability Project in order to develop specifications that will enable vendor-neutral latent AFIS interoperability. The project is focused on creating open standards to enable seamless, efficient hierarchical and peer-peer searches; simplifying acquisitions with a standardized latent AFIS interface, and propagating latent examiner notations by establishing uniform best practices and standards for data interchange. It also discusses the AFIS Interoperability Task Force's work to establish both short-term and long-term goals that can solve the interoperability issue.