A summary of this interview establishes that law enforcement executives must take the leadership role to solve the policy issues surrounding interstate access and interoperability; however, the fingerprint specialists at the local level will play a key role in demanding automated fingerprint information systems (AFIS) interoperability from the vendor community. Manufacturers and vendors of AFIS systems are seen as more open today to a national structure for interoperable standards, thereby allowing for efficient interoperability between local, State, and national identification systems. In this interview with John S. Morgan, Deputy Director for Science and Technology under the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), many of the interoperability problems identified are potentially solved through the adoption of a data standard. To accomplish this, NIJ is establishing an AFIS Working Group. The hope is to bring everyone together, such as researchers, the user community, system vendors, and leading criminal justice associations to develop a roadmap for AFIS interoperability.