BusinessStrong growth in biometrics industry projected

Fueled by terrorism and other security concerns, the global biometrics industry is set to expand to $16.47 billion by 2017, according to a recent report by market research firm Global Industry Analysts (GIA).

In particular the iris/retinal scan market is expected to grow the fastest, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.9 percent.

In April the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the federal organization responsible for government IT standards, updated its specifications to include the use of iris scanning on biometric ID cards carried by federal employees and contractors. 

The United States remains the largest market for biometrics, though the Asia-Pacific region is growing fast, experiencing a 23.8 percent compound annual growth rate over the analysis period, and according to the report will be driven by an “increase in foreign investments, rise in business formation activities, presence of large relatively untapped private security markets and increase in crime rates.”

The industry experienced a small slump due to the global economic downturn of 2007-2009 due to the weakness in the construction industry and delays in government infrastructure projects. The 12.1 percent decline was relatively modest in comparison to other industries and increased crime rates drove new investments in biometric technology.

Government and law enforcement agencies under pressure to provide greater security for citizens will continue to drive demand for biometrics, like employee and national ID cards.

For instance the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology(US-VISIT) program, provides biometric identification services to a number of U.S. agencies including Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Defense Department, and the Department of Justice. Its main function is to collect biometric data from international travelers entering the United States.

Additional growth is expected to result from e-passport projects for U.S. Visa waiver countries, and various European programs such as EURODAC, the European fingerprint database for asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, and the Schengen Information System (SIS II), a European database which records information for national security, border control, and law enforcement purposes.