Biometrics technology company Identix Incorporated has announced that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of State (DoS) to supply and integrate its biometric knowledge discovery engines (ABIS(TM)) for large scale facial recognition systems for DoS visa processing. The award to Identix is part of DoS's mandate to augment its automated fraud-detection assistance capabilities through the use of facial recognition to screen for duplicates, aliases and for faces on a watch list prior to issuance of a visa. Identix was selected after a competitive bidding process and detailed technical evaluation as the sole recipient of the DoS's Facial Recognition System and Integration Support contract.
The facial recognition system Identix is integrating into the DoS's visa application processes will be the largest deployment of facial recognition technology to-date in the world.
The award to Identix consists of a one-year base contract with four one-year options to renew in favor of DoS. The contract contains multiple program specifications and project deployment options. The initial scope of work under the contract involves immediate supply, integration and deployment of facial recognition systems for visa and e-Diversity Visa applicant processing. If authorized and funded by DoS, potential additional project deployments under the contract could include the design and implementation of a facial recognition system for the passport application processing environment. Identix expects to recognize more than $2.2 million over the next 12 months from the initial options that have been exercised to-date under this contract.
