Cogent Systems (Nasdaq: COGT) today announced that it has been selected as the sole winner for all six components of the U.K. National MobileID service (formerly known as Mobile Identification at Scene or MIDAS).
This award followed a rigorous year long competitive process conducted by NPIA, involving multiple vendors to ensure that the best solution, the best devices, and the most qualified vendor would bring the best value to the UK police forces. The initial award is valued at approximately $25 million over a three year term through April 2013, with the option of two, one year extensions.
Cogent will provide an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) of the UK National Fingerprint Collection along with all services to provide a nationwide mobile biometric identification system available to all police forces in the UK. Cogent will provide a Framework Catalogue and an online ordering system for police forces to purchase a variety of biometric capture devices to suit a broad range of policing needs. The contract proposals were evaluated on the basis of 10,000 mobile devices being deployed throughout the period of the contract, but the actual number may be more or less. In addition to the Mobile Identification AFIS and catalogue of Cogent and third party mobile devices, Cogent will provide services for device accreditation, device and user authentication, integration with existing mobile communications gateways, a Cogent national gateway and a full suite of service management provisions. The contract also includes options to expand the service for additional agencies and other capabilities.
Cogent will provide the entire end-to-end Mobile Identification solution for the UK police forces to support officer safety and improve efficiency of operations while at the same time providing near real time identification in the field. Cogent’s latest matching technology will provide the latest state-of-the-art technology to meet the demanding response time and accuracy requirements. The use of mobile devices combined with the AFIS system will enable police to quickly scan an individual’s fingerprints in the field and perform an identification check against the national fingerprint database. Officers will save time by reducing the number of trips to the police station, enabling them to spend more time in the field and increasing the number of offenders brought to justice.
Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, said: “From hours to minutes, advances in fingerprinting technology are helping the police to identify one person from many.
Identification is crucial to police investigations and giving officers the ability to do this on-the-spot within minutes is giving them more time to spend working in their communities, helping to fight crime, bringing more offenders to justice and better protecting the public.
The NPIA looks forward to working with Cogent Systems to ensure this new technology is rolled out to all forces.”
“We are very pleased not only to be participating in the Mobile Identification Project, but also to be selected as the sole winner against several large competitors,” said Ming Hsieh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogent Systems. “This is a significant achievement for Cogent, confirming our strength as a prime contractor and the unique value proposition of our product offering. We look forward to working closely with the NPIA to improve public safety and enhance the productivity and safety of police officers.”
About the U.K. National Mobile Identification Project
The U.K. National Mobile Identification Project was developed by the NPIA to provide a national capability for law enforcement officers to use fingerprints to identify a person at a scene without having to return to a police station.
The program will be built on the results and lessons learned by police forces and the NPIA from the Lantern project, a pilot mobile ID trial started in 2006. The Project aims to improve the safety of the public, and the productivity and safety of police officers by giving officers in the field a quick and reliable way to identify an unknown subject, and take the appropriate action upon identification.
About the Lantern Pilot
The Lantern pilot, involving 330 devices being piloted in 28 forces, has confirmed the development of a national biometric identification solution for use by all forces by demonstrating how the devices perform in an operational environment. The pilot will end in the summer of 2010 when the new devices will be rolled out to forces.
About Cogent Systems
Cogent is a global biometric identification solutions provider to governments, law enforcement agencies, and commercial enterprises. Cogent provides the highest quality identification systems, products, and services with leading technology, accuracy, and speed. Cogent’s Automated Fingerprint/Palm Print Identification Systems, or CAFIS, enable customers to capture fingerprint and palm print images electronically, encode prints into searchable files, and accurately compare a set of fingerprints/palm prints to a database containing potentially millions of prints in seconds. For more information, please visit www.cogentsystems.com .