The Dominion Post

West Virginia attracts many leading companies in the biometrics field

August 11, 2003
By Jenni Vincent

FAIRMONT, WV -- Biometrics -- the use of an individual's unique physical characteristics, such as retinal scanning or voice patterns for identification purposes -- is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

It's an emerging national industry that has found a market in both the private and public sector, especially with the continuing threats against homeland security and the need to protect sensitive data.

Although the state's biometrics industry is only about 3 or 4 years old, several local high-tech companies are already involved in those types of projects, said Jim Estep, West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation president and CEO. "We have companies in the consortium who want to build actual biometrics products. But there are also companies who want to take a product built by another biometrics company and then integrate it into an existing system," Estep said. He and other business leaders are predicting that this month's accreditation of the Criterian Independent Labs will help the biometrics sector grow into an even larger part of the area economy.

That's because the new laboratory facility -- a nonprofit spinoff from the foundation and one of only eight like it nationally -- will focus on providing verification for biometrics software. "We'll be working on all different types of products, but of those eight labs I want us to be known as the one with expertise with biometrics products," Estep said.

That kind of lab scrutiny and approval is necessary before federal agencies can purchase products that "enter, process, store, display or transmit national security information," Estep said.

Other countries also have similar safeguards in effect, which may help generate international business. Estep said that the new facility may also contract with area high-tech companies to do part of the work involved in the product evaluations.

Roger Duckworth, foundation vice president of research and development, agrees that the biometrics field is growing stronger locally, in large part because of the work that is going into providing a nurturing environment for it.

Duckworth said one goal is to establish a Biometrics Center of Excellence that will link "facilities and organizations with a common strategy together" and "provide the synergy to keep this going."

Both collectively and individually, local high-tech companies are already entering the biometrics field, he said.

For example, several local companies are already subcontractors with the U.S. Army's Biometric Fusion Center in Bridgeport. This center is the research arm of the federal Department of Defense's Biometric Management Office.

Those area companies include: Information System Support Inc., Azimuth Inc., Galaxy Global Corp., TMC Technologies, New-Bold Enterprises, Sytex, SAIC, West Virginia Institute of Technology and the WVHTC Foundation. Although the center's interim location is at the Harrison-Marion Regional Airport in Bridgeport, it will eventually be located on the FBI complex (also in Harrison County). "DN American has been doing retinal scanning research, while Anser has been working with facial recognition, so many of our companies are already in this field," Duckworth said. He also credited work being done by WVU in the biometrics field as "groundbreaking."

"We're all working very hard nationally to make sure that our region in north-central West Virginia is the place for biometrics," he said. "We've already grabbed the lead and we want that to continue. "WVHTC executive vice president Ray Oliverio said the list of biometrics companies is continuing to grow." Authentica, a California-based firm, is trying to get the money to expand their operations in West Virginia, Oliverio said.

"They have indicated that they are interested in this move primarily because of the emerging biometrics operations here," he said.

TMC Technologies President Wade Linger said his high-tech company has been involved in the biometrics field since 1997 when it began working on a National Institute of Justice program aimed at locating missing children. His firm was also a part of the successful bid to be involved at the Biometric Fusion Center, Linger said.

"We actually helped the West Virginia team be qualified to win this contract because we had actually been doing this kind of (biometrics) work before and they were looking for that kind of experience," he said. Eight of the approximately 40 Fusion Center staff are TMC Technologies' employees, Linger said. They are involved in work that includes program management, software development and network support.

He believes in the future of biometrics so strongly that he recently endowed a $50,000 WVU scholarship aimed at helping state residents complete their degree in biometrics, Linger said. Linger agrees that biometrics is a field where West Virginia can lead the nation and perhaps, world.

"Since this is such a relatively new industry, West Virginia companies are already right up there on the power curve," he said. "We don't have to catch up. We can jump right out and take the lead, which is something that I think you're going to see happen more often when it comes to biometrics."

Foundation leaders have also taken action at the national level to showcase, and ultimately increase, the biometrics work being done here and future possibilities. Earlier this year, the foundation entered into a "strategic alliance" with the International Biometric Group, a New York City-based consulting firm.

The goal is for the two organizations to help the biometrics industry understand and comply with the newly imposed federal security standards.

"Since this organization is well known in the biometrics field, this type of collaboration will help us be a player nationally as well as internationally," Estep said. Trevor Prout, International Biometric Group marketing director, said his company is impressed with the foundation's initiative in biometrics, especially their recent lab accreditation.

"To have accomplished something of this magnitude really says a lot about West Virginia and the High Tech Consortium," Prout said. Software venders who wish to have their products purchased by the federal government face a "pretty complicated process," he said. While his company will help them with requirements such as proper documentation, they will also be sending clients to the foundation's Criterian Labs for the necessary verification, Prout said.

Meeting the demand in the private sector is also becoming increasingly important, he said. "One of the biggest growth areas is in using finger scans for protecting personal computers and networks because there is a great need to protect sensitive information," Prout said.