South Pasadena, CA, September 18, 2006 - Cogent Systems (Nasdaq: COGT) announced today that it has been awarded a contract from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) for its next generation Automated Palmprint and Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). After extensive system benchmarking, the DPSCS awarded the new 5 year contract to Cogent based on its proven technology, merit and value proposition. The initial contract award is valued at over $4 million.
Cogent's new AFIS will replace a legacy system from the incumbent provider and will include significant enhancements and added functionality. Under this contract, Cogent will digitalize five (5) million fingerprint, palm print, and latent hard copy records. The new AFIS will include customized workflows to support law enforcement identification, including the ability to search both flat and rolled fingerprints, palm prints, as well as civil background checks. The AFIS will include a NIST-based archive system and the ability to store 1,000 pixels per inch (ppi) image resolution records. The system will also support inked fingerprint and palmprint card digitalization (conversion), mugshot, and a Fast Identification system with Cogent's newly released BlueCheck, a Bluetooth-enabled mobile fingerprint capture device. Any applications or peripheral devices that adhere to NIST standards will be able to communicate with the new Maryland AFIS.
"The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Division of Information Technology is excited to implement this cutting-edge technology to improve and enhance our fingerprinting systems" said Ken Holloway, DPSCS Chief Technology Officer. "The contract with Cogent Systems will allow DPCSC to implement upgrades to our system to track and maintain fingerprint, palm print and background check files."
"We are pleased to have received this new AFIS contract award in Maryland," commented Ming Hsieh, President and CEO of Cogent Systems. "The bidding process for this contract included benchmark testing of all potential vendors' matching technology. The strength of Cogent's fast, accurate, and reliable AFIS technology during the testing process was a key factor in winning the contract award."
