Company in the spotlightIdentica Holdings Corporation

Until a decade ago biometric technology was used mostly in forensics (finger-printing criminals), and in exceedingly narrow niche applications (such as in controlling access to nuclear missiles command centers). Two developments - the more recent one is post-9/11 anxiety about terrorism, the earlier one having to do with the growing global mobility of people from their country of birth to other countries in search of better life — have led to an increased demand for security. Within the diverse security market there has been an especially steep growth in the interest in and demand for secure and reliable solutions for identity authentication. It is this demand for reliable identity authentication solutions which has driven the dramatic growth on the biometric technology market.

Biometric market size and direction
The assess the size and direction of the biometric technology market, we rely on reports by two research firms — Louisville, Colorado-based Acutiy Market Intelligence and New York-based International Biometric Group (IBG). Acuity offers a plotted graph of the demand curve for security. Note that the demand curves below indicate the relative intensity of market demand for a given class of solutions within a specific market sector over a given period of time. They are not specifically correlated to actual revenue for a given market and do not indicate relative scale of one market sector to another. The research firm says that a confluence of factors including the emerging central role of the digital identity in IT, population mobility, and workforce decentralization, demand for eGovernment services, near ubiquitous reliance on digital transactions, and the inevitability of broadband access everywhere will require a level of authentication which only biometrics can offer.

Public Sector
The most significant worldwide public sector opportunities for security and ID authentication companies are offered in three markets. Each of these three areas offers lucrative opportunities for the design, development, implementation, maintenance, and support of large-scale, integrated identification solutions:

• Integrated eBorders — which includes electronic and automated border control management as well as travel documents, transportation, border control, and immigration worker IDs, and expedited passenger systems
• eID — which includes national and other identity cards, benefits distribution, voter registration, drivers licenses
• eGovernment — fully transactional interactive service delivery for citizens and commercial enterprises

Fears of terrorism, tightening of immigration control, and program such as US-VISIT will increase demand for integrated eBorders solutions worldwide over the next few years. This will be followed by