Frost: Tech Innovations, Gov't Regs Drive Border Control Biometrics Use

August 18, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

According to Frost & Sullivan, the convenience and user-friendliness of biometric solutions such as e-passports have made biometrics the security solution of choice to monitor cross-border activities.

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Recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan of North American market for biometrics in border control applications found earned revenues of $130.4 million in 2007, with estimates to reach $729.5 million in 2014.

Although the government initially was reluctant to lend support to biometrics, a few major successful deployments at the air, land and seaports won market vendors support of the federal government, analysts said.

"Regulatory standards like the Visa Waver program mandated by the U.S. has opened up significant revenue that generates opportunities for biometric vendors," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Neelima Sagar.

"Collaborating and marketing the right technology for a specific application and educating people regarding privacy concerns through more trade shows and conferences will help vendors achieve significant profit margins," Sagar said.

Vendors will exploit any opportunity they can gain, analysts said, since the competition continues to escalate. Vendors could strategically position products early in their life cycle or focus to provide higher, accurate and more cost-effective solutions.

"Historically, fingerprint recognition technology has been the most economical and well-suited technology for documents issuance and physical access control," said Sagar. "However, a shift in dynamics is expected as the price of face recognition and iris recognition systems declines."

Analysts said market participants increasingly invest in R&D to gain an edge in technological competence and to provide enhanced, non-invasive security solutions. Analysts said iris recognition technology has taken a great leap with the development of a solution that can measure from more than 20 meters. Iris recognition can identify stationary, as well as mobile objects, and will witness remarkable growth as a result.

In the face recognition segment, the invention of 3-D face recognition eliminates a number of problems such as feature localization, pose and illumination. Market participants can leverage these product benefits to establish a strong foothold in the market once they sort out the issues of standardization and the sales cycle.

Source: Frost & Sullivan.