Governmental biometric spend is expected to reach US$8.6 billion by 2020 according to ABI Research's Biometric Technologies and Applications Market Research.”While the enterprise and consumer electronics market segments are increasing sharply, governmental spending still forms the largest portion of biometric expenditures,” says Dimitrios Pavlakis, research analyst at the company. “Revenue growth is primarily driven by law enforcement and civil applications, namely border control, access control, work force management, and biometric national ID initiatives – each with their own unique pitfalls and opportunities.”According to the research firm major potential roadblocks are present for every application, for example, identification ID initiatives (such as ePassports, national IDs, and drivers' licenses) may come to a halt due to lack of proper large-scale planning and coordination among governmental agencies; while biometric registration might have various implications across different regions depending on the culture and governmental infrastructure. Market opportunities and enablers identified include the rapid adoption of cloud computing, increased use of security protocols against intellectual property theft, and emerging market growth.Morpho (Saffran), NEC, 3M-Cogent, Fujitsu, M2SYS, Crossmatch, AGNITiO, and Aware are among the companies playing a dynamic role in the market. The report also examines biometric modalities (fingerprint, iris, retina, face, voice, palm, and finger vein recognition) based on a number of variables including resistance, cost, collectability, and attitude.
Government spending on biometrics to reach US$8.6bn by 2020
