ABI Research Investigates an Expanding Market for RFID and Biometric-based Homeland Security Solutions.

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. -- Electronic methods of personal identification - e-passports, visas, driver's licenses, national ID cards, and government access badges - which exist today only in limited numbers if at all, will become a huge global phenomenon (and market) by the end of the decade.

Prompted largely by the current wave of terrorism, countries around the world - not just large, high-tech nations such as the US, but even poor, obscure countries such as Myanmar - are putting electronic identification security systems in place.

According to a new study from ABI Research, the push to issue electronic identification and its backing infrastructure will result in a rapid expansion of the global markets for RFID and biometric technologies. "RFID Border Security Markets" evaluates these homeland security initiatives and forecasts market performance by region and by application for the period 2003-2009.

Concerns over privacy have hogged the headlines about such ID systems, and the study does address them, concluding that the safeguards slated for inclusion should be sufficient to prevent their abuse.

"The companies involved in this market are mainly the major smart card vendors," says ABI Research analyst Sara Shah, "companies such as Gemplus, Axalto, Infineon and Philips. They're used to high-volume, lower margin products. National security systems present an opportunity for smart card vendors to enter a completely new, lower-volume, higher-margin market."

In 1998, Malaysia was the first country in the world to issue e-passports, supplied by IRIS Corporation. Much of the impetus today comes from the US Visa Waiver program: all countries wishing to continue their participation must switch to e-passports containing biometric information by October, 2006. That also means that an interoperable worldwide infrastructure to encode and access document data must be established by then. But it is in 2007 and 2008, says Shah, that higher-volume implementations -- ID cards in France and the UK, driver's licenses in the US, and many more - will have a major impact.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in automotive, wireless, semiconductors, broadband, and energy. For information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.