BIO-key Adds Industry Veteran To Board Of Directors.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2003

Charles P. Romeo, Former HP Executive Appointed To The Board

BIO-key International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BKYI - News); the leader in one-to-many fingerprint-based biometric identification technology for a wide variety of commercial and governmental applications in information security and access control, announced today that Charles P. Romeo, President and CEO of FreedomBridge Technologies and former HP marketing executive has been appointed to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Romeo founded FreedomBridge, a consulting and services company specializing in providing sales and marketing services to technology companies in the Homeland security industry. Through its network of relationships with large multi-national technology companies, FreedomBridge assists companies with their marketing and sales distribution channels by forming teaming agreements, strategic alliances and partnerships in the law enforcement market.

Mr. Romeo's career includes senior executive level sales and marketing positions with Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation. As Vice President at Compaq, he was responsibilities included managing a $500 million sales division.

Commenting on his appointment, BIO-key Chairman, Thomas J. Colatosti, said, " We are building a world class management team at Bio-key and Charles brings a new level of sales and marketing expertise to the company as well network of important professional relationships with major Fortune 500 companies."

Michael W. DePasquale, Bio-key Chief Executive Officer, added, "I look forward to working with Charles because his knowledge of the law enforcement market and his expertise in distribution and channels sales are important skills for the company as we ramp our selling efforts to the security industry.

"Bio-key has unmatched, powerful, one-to-many biometric technology as a result we are poised for significant growth", concluded Mr. Colatosti. "With this additional leadership we believe we will be able to more quickly and effectively execute our growth strategy and become the industry's leading biometric company."

About BIO-key

BIO-key develops and licenses advanced biometric finger identification technologies that are cost effective, scalable and easy to deploy. BIO-key products provide "True User Identification(TM)" for the prevention of data and identity theft while preventing false aliases. BIO-key pioneered the only finger identification algorithm that has been certified by the ICSA, and today continues that innovation by offering cost effective, high-performance one-to-many finger and one-to-one identification solutions that provide security and positive identification for both government and enterprise applications. (http://www.bio-key.com)

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected on the basis of such forward-looking statements. The words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "believes" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results, events or financial position to differ materially from those included within the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully develop its technology to meet or exceed user specifications, obtaining necessary financing, market acceptance of biometric technology generally and the Company's biometric technology specifically, as well as those factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made and the Company undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.