U.S. government biometrics spend to reach US$8.6 B by 2020: ABI Research

ABI Research has published a new report in which it forecasts that U.S. governmental biometric expenditures will reach US$8.6 billion by 2020.

“While the enterprise and consumer electronics market segments are increasing sharply, governmental spending still forms the largest portion of biometric expenditures,” said ABI Research analyst Dimitrios Pavlakis. “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.”

The report highlights potential challenges for every application, such as identification IDs initiatives (for example, e-passports, national IDs, and drivers’ licenses) coming to a halt due to a lack of proper large-scale planning and coordination among governmental agencies.

Another considerable challenge facing the adoption of biometrics is that biometric registration might have various implications in different regions depending on the culture and governmental infrastructure.

The report identifies the various market opportunities and enablers including the rapid adoption of cloud computing, increased use of security protocols against intellectual property theft, and emerging market growth.

The report lists Morpho (Saffran), NEC, 3M-Cogent, Fujitsu, M2SYS, Crossmatch, AGNITiO, and Aware Inc. as among the companies playing a dynamic role in the market.

A wide range of biometric modalities, including fingerprint, iris, retina, face, voice, palm, and finger vein recognition, are examined based on different factors, such as resistance, cost, collectability, and attitude.

Previously reported, ABI Research forecasted that global revenues in 2015 for biometrics in the consumer and enterprise will reach $3.1 billion, driven by smartphone solutions.

Article Topics

ABI Research  |  biometrics  |  market research  |  national ID