BIO-key International Inc., a leader in wireless public safety solutions and finger based biometric identification, today announced that Erie County, New York will implement FireRMS Enterprise Edition from BIO-key. Erie County will install this leading Fire/EMS records management system in twenty-five fire/EMS stations and in 60 mobile units within the Buffalo Fire Department. This is the second major contract awarded to BIO-key in the past six months by New York state fire agencies and was preceded by a contract recently issued to BIO-key by Onondaga County, NY. The total award value to BIO-key of these two contracts is $800,000. BIO-key’s FireRMS application provides accurate data and reporting to first responders and EMS personnel on the front line.

“The FireRMS Mobile application will give EMS personnel and fire inspectors the capability to collect information, capture signatures, and send this information wirelessly and securely back to headquarters,” said Mark Winters, Director of Information Systems of Erie County, NY.” NFIRS and HIPAA compliant reports can be printed on-site in real-time and with this software, we are now prepared to meet future NEMSIS reporting requirements. We look forward to this enhancement to the largest fire Department in Erie County.”

“Fire departments are continually stretching their resources by responding to a steadily increasing number of EMS calls. Additionally, most departments use some combination of company inspections and/or fire inspectors to check occupancies for compliance with fire prevention guidelines,” said Anthony Barone, Vice President and General Manager of BIO-key’s Fire and EMS Division. “Any delays in getting this information processed presents safety concerns. With FireRMS(TM) Mobile, agencies can access their FireRMS records remotely and perform patient care reporting and inspections in the field with real-time updates. This contract demonstrates BIO-key’s continued and growing success in deploying our applications across North America.”

identiMetrics, a recognized leader in the development and marketing of biometric finger scanning identification solutions, has been selected by Focal Tech to incorporate their proprietary software, identiFi™, into Focal Tech’s School Lunch Software System, LunchTime®.

Focal Tech, Inc., School Lunch Software experts, headquartered in State College, PA, has been a leading provider of IT and e-Business software solutions since 2001. Their LunchTime® School Lunch Software System is marketed successfully in schools nationwide. LunchTime® allows for an automatic import of existing student information, is used for Federal and State Reimbursement Tracking reports, allows parents to view all purchases and fund accounts online in real time, and improves lunch line efficiency.

Harry Arseniu, Director of Sales and Marketing for Focal Tech comments, “We were looking for a way to incorporate finger scanning biometrics into our cafeteria point-of-sale package. identiMetrics gave us the best biometric fit with their easy to use product, identiFi™. We look forward to moving ahead as a successful team in this dynamic marketplace.”

“We’re equally delighted to have a working relationship with a fine company like Focal Tech,” adds Jay Fry, identiMetrics’ CEO. “And since identiFi is a biometric finger scanning platform, schools using finger scanning with LunchTime can then use finger scanning for identification anywhere in their school, such as the library and for attendance, since the students are only enrolled once,” he finishes.

AuthenTec, the world leader in biometric fingerprint sensor security, innovation and sales, has been named the High Growth Company of the Year by ITFlorida. This prestigious award recognizes the company that has successfully seized the opportunity to capture a greater share of its product or service market.

AuthenTec, based in Melbourne, Florida, was nominated for the award by The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. The company received this designation at the annual, statewide ITFlorida Awards Gala, held on December 8, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. The ITFlorida Awards Program, now in its fourth year, is a highly successful program featuring the innovation and leadership taking place in the state’s IT and IT-enabled industry sectors.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by ITFlorida as the High Growth Company of the Year as it represents AuthenTec’s success in delivering industry leading solutions and driving the adoption of fingerprint biometrics in the consumer, commercial and government marketplaces,” said Peter Sherlock, Vice President of Product Development at AuthenTec, who accepted the award for the company. “2006 was a record year for AuthenTec, and this recognition represents yet another important milestone for the company, as well as our team’s commitment to continuing our strongly focused approach of introducing even more secure, smaller and lower cost products for use by people at home and at work.”

AuthenTec was selected among a group of four distinguished award finalists. The nominees were judged for the award based on the demonstration of a strategic and successful market focus, for driving or responding to the market, and for developing its production, delivery and servicing capabilities to fully leverage its market position and achieve exceptional growth.

Since its launch in 1998, AuthenTec has directly contributed to Florida’s thriving IT industry – adding 50 new, high paying jobs to the area in the past two years alone. AuthenTec supports a wide range of local educational, business and civic organizations, and recently received the prestigious 2006 Governor’s Business Diversification Award for Innovation from Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

With more than 10 million sensors in use worldwide, AuthenTec is the recognized volume supplier leader of biometric fingerprint sensors – shipping nearly two thirds of all sensors sold in the PC, wireless and access control markets during the past five years.

SENSE Holdings, Inc., a developer of next generation biometric and explosive detection security technologies for government and commercial security applications, has retained China Direct, Inc., a diversified management and consulting organization servicing Chinese entities. Sense management desires to increase shareholder value while pursuing its long term business objectives. In coordination with China Direct, Sense Holdings will seek to formulate a comprehensive acquisition plan to secure an accretive acquisition partner.

Sense Holdings, Inc. will continue to pursue a joint project with Oakridge Laboratories to develop innovative explosive detection applications. The company’s financial commitments related to the Oakridge project have decreased as Oakridge will assume current financial obligations associated with the project. Sense Holdings, which retains commercialization rights to the project, remains an active partner in the goal of producing MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) based explosive detection applications. Sense Holdings will seek to acquire a profitable Chinese entity while it continues its partnership with Oakridge to commercialize various explosive detection applications. The company plans to explore opportunities in which current shareholders will retain ownership of the intellectual property as well as a majority of the commercialization rights for its MEMS based explosive detection applications.

Dore Perler, CEO and President of Sense Holdings, explained, “Our Company has invested substantial resources to commercialize various explosive detection technologies. While we remain committed to the future potential of MEMS based applications, our current situation dictates that management develop a plan for a profitable future for Sense in 2007 and beyond. We believe a well crafted acquisition plan could enable our shareholders to benefit from the ownership of the intellectual property as well as a new, profitable business acquisition.”

Mr. Perler concluded, “We believe, in coordination with China Direct, Sense can identify an acquisition with a Chinese entity at a valuation which will be favorable to our current shareholders. All in all, we believe that this strategy will enhance the success of the company in the years to come and bring value to our shareholders.”

DAON, the biometrics company backed by the financier Dermot Desmond, has teamed up with a consortium led by the weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin to bid for a $1.4 billion (€1 billion) US government security contract.The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is handling tenders for the contract, which is for the Transport Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), a biometric system involving fingerprint and iris-scanning techniques that will provide 10m American transport workers with security cards. It is expected to make a decision early next month.

Daon is pitching for the key role of compiling and managing the database of security information for TWIC, which was designed to improve security at American ports and airports in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. Lockheed Martin is proposing to manage the roll-out of the system, while four other companies including Deloitte are playing smaller parts in the group bid.

Read more at TimesOnline.