Just returned from Card/Tech. Am surprised to see that this major news has not hit the wire. Vendors at the show say HA-API and BAPI have had some wind sucked out of their sails. The BIG guys have joined forces..... No need to panic, but we need to have a NRID official response on this. Jaffo, Are you up to the task?
Industry Leaders Join Forces to
Bring Exciting Biometrics Technologies
to the Mainstream PC Marketplace
Compaq, IBM, Microsoft, Novell and Others Form Consortium
to Develop Standards for Fingerprint, Voice and Face
Recognition
HOUSTON, April 27, 1998 - Compaq Computer Corp., IBM Corp., Identicator
Technology, Microsoft Corp., Miros Inc. and Novell Inc. (representing the SVAPI
Committee) today announced the formation of a consortium dedicated to working with the
industry to develop standards that will dramatically improve the identification and
authentication of PC users.
The BioAPI Consortium is committed to making biometrics technologies - initially
fingerprint, voice and face recognition - more readily available to the mainstream commercial
marketplace, helping to establish broad cross-industry endorsement and support. The
Consortium plans to provide standardized Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that
can be incorporated into operating systems and application software. These standard APIs
will provide customers access to a wide variety of biometric hardware and software
products, as well as allow them to readily utilize products from different vendors.
"The U.S. Government has been developing and sponsoring fingerprint, voice and facial
biometric technology over the past 10 years," said Mark Krawczewicz, a representative of
the Biometrics Consortium. "Biometrics have been recognized as a key technology for
reducing national security risks to strategic, tactical and network applications. We are
encouraged by this announcement of the commercial sector merging biometrics with network
products for robust user authentications."
"MasterCard has completed extensive testing of biometric customer authentication
technologies and has concluded that biometrics holds the ultimate security key to future
payment systems," said Joel Lisker, Senior Vice President, MasterCard International. "We
therefore applaud the efforts by the BioAPI Consortium in developing compatibility
standards for biometrics."
"As commercial organizations move to distributed computing environments, it is becoming
ever more important to control access to classified corporate information," said Bill Perry,
Senior Project Manager for Barclays Bank PLC. "These biometric technologies go beyond
passwords and raise the bar for identifying computer users. I need the flexibility to swap out
biometric products from different vendors as easily as I am able to exchange my office or
banking applications."
The founding Consortium companies, referred to as "Promoters," will develop a draft
BioAPI specification, as well as incorporate comments received from other contributing
participants ("Contributors"). In addition to providing input on the draft APIs,
"Contributors" will help the Consortium develop the final specification. The Consortium will
also be comprised of "Adopters," who will lend their support to the final standard by
incorporating the APIs into their products. The Consortium will make available a high-level
API description and a statement of scope in the third quarter of 1998. For more information,
potential "Contributors" and "Adopters" can contact the Consortium's secretary, Tom
Koenig, at tom.koenig@compaq.com.
Company Backgrounds
Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a global
information technology company. Compaq is the fifth largest computer company in the
world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. With worldwide sales of $24.6
billion in 1997, Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions and services,
including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical
solutions, networking and communication products, commercial desktop and portable
products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly
programs and business practices. Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100
countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support
and information about Compaq and its products can be found at www.compaq.com or by
calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ in North America. Product information and North America
reseller locations can be obtained by calling 1-800-345-1518. Compaq North America is
headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its products and services are sold and supported through a
network of more than 25,000 commercial and consumer marketing partners across the
United States and Canada.
IBM's Advanced Identification Solutions organization provides solutions that assist
government and commercial organizations find new ways of serving their citizens and
customers through the use of biometrics and identification technology. IBM is a worldwide
supplier of the world's most advanced information technology, including computer systems,
software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. We translate these
advanced technologies into value for our customers through a worldwide services
organization in which skilled IBM professionals provide expertise through consulting
services, systems integration, security, solution development and technical support. IBM's
subsidiary, Tivoli, provides you powerful, centralized, secure systems management
solutions for managing these systems, applications, and networks across the enterprise.
Information on IBM's Advanced Identifications Solution's offerings may be found at
www.government.ibm.com.
Identicator, founded in 1971, is considered the world leader in finger imaging technology.
Identicator, a technology based company, designs and develops proprietary, cost effective
finger imaging products and solutions for personal identification and verification. Identicator
Technology installations include: Spanish Social Services involving 7 million smart-cards
and 650 ATM machines, State of Georgia drivers license bureaus with over 4 million
licenses, the US treasury Electronic payment systems and numerous U.S Department of
Defense and Justice facilities including the FBI. Identicator Technology provides these and
other solutions for a wide range of applications and markets that includes Corporate
Enterprise Security, Intranet and Internet Access and Security, e-Commerce, Government
and Law Enforcement Agencies.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for
personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business
and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for
people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Miros Inc., located in Wellesley, MA, is the world leader in personal identification systems
based on face recognition. The company develops and markets software for logical and
physical security, as well as time and attendance. Miros' products include TrueFace PC,
TrueFace Network and TrueFace Web for computer and data security, and TrueFace Access,
a complete security solution for physical access control. All TrueFace products incorporate
TrueFace Engine, Miros' patent-pending neural network face recognition technology, plus
TrueFace Isolator, the first automated neural network face locator. The TrueFace Engine is
the first and only biometric product currently used in check-cashing ATMs worldwide.
Miros has strategic alliances with Microsoft, IBM, Novell, Compaq, Sun Microsystems,
Eastman Kodak, Cash America, and Connectix to provide cost effective, non-intrusive and
secure biometrics authentication technology. For more information about Miros, visit its web
site at www.miros.com, or call 781-235-0330.
Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network
software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network,
Internet/intranet and small- business markets, as well as the network computing industry's
most comprehensive education and technical support programs. Information about Novell
and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at
www.novell.com.
Compaq, Registered U.S.Patent and Trademark Office. Product names mentioned herein
may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
For further editorial information, contact:
Compaq Computer Corporation Hedy Baker 281-514-4619 hedy.baker@compaq.com
Miller/Shandwick Technologies Kerry Kelly 617-536-0470 kkelly@miller.shandwick.com
IBM Corporation Mark Nelson 301-803-2753 marknels@us.ibm.com
Identicator Technology Grant Evans 650-742-8307 gevans@identicator.com
Miros, Inc. Joseph C. Burke 781-235-0330x228 jburke@miros.com
Novell, Inc. Gordon Evans 408-577-6371 gmevans@novell.com
BioAPI Consortium Members' Quote Sheet
Compaq:
"Compaq's participation in the BioAPI Consortium extends our long history of working
with industry partners to bring customers the latest in advanced technologies," said Bob
Stearns, Senior Vice President, Technology and Corporate Development, Compaq Computer
Corporation. "Biometrics promises to bring unprecedented ease of use and security to
enterprise computing and Compaq is excited to contribute to its emergence in commercial
applications."
IBM:
"The BioAPI initiative is an exciting step forward for customers and the biometric industry,"
said Caroline Kovac, IBM Research Vice President for Services, Applications and
Solutions. "The introduction and widespread adoption of a biometric API standard will
protect customers' application investments and accelerate the biometric industry's growth.
IBM is pleased to be playing a leadership role in the Consortium's efforts, given our
long-standing commitment to research and development in the area of biometrics and security
and our ongoing projects with key customers in this exciting new field."
Identicator Technology:
"The ability for technology and application interoperability is vital to establishing biometrics
as a mainstream technology," said Grant Evans, Vice President of Marketing for Identicator.
"The BioAPI effort is the driving vehicle for developing a standardized API. This API
standard will enable the introduction of biometrics technology as a solution to customers for
user authentication and security. Identicator is pleased to be playing a key role in the
initiative."
Miros:
"It is vital to the health of our industry that an independent group like the BioAPI
Consortium has undertaken the establishment of a new, open standard that customers can
depend on for biometric technology, " said Michael Kuperstein, President and CEO of
Miros. Inc. "Customers need access to security and identification products and technology
that is powerful, dependable and useful immediately in existing computing environments.
The BioAPI Consortium will help make that a widely accepted reality."
Novell:
"Novell is pleased to continue its leadership in network security by participating in the
formation of the BioAPI Consortium," said Dr. Glenn Ricart, Chief Technology Officer,
Novell, Inc. "Delivering an industry standard BioAPI for developers and customers alike
will expand and accelerate the market for biometric solutions. As the leading provider of
network software we realize that biometric authentication is an important technology that
plays a vital role in developing secure, network-based services and solutions sought by our
customers."
SVAPI:
"To date, the only successful biometric standards effort has been the Speaker Verification
API, (SVAPI) which was created by a consortium of industry developers and consultants, as
well as outside researchers and application developers interested in voiceprint/speaker
recognition technology," said Bruce Armstrong, Chair of the SVAPI Committee. "Even with
our early success, the SVAPI Committee quickly identified the need for a cross-biometric
API. We look forward to ensuring the BioAPI effort has broad industry support and helping
realize the goal of making biometric technologies widely available." |
