Daon, a global provider of identity assurance software,
announced today that it is supplying biometric software and services
to the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
(DIMA) under a subcontract to Unisys as part of a $50 million program
designed to enhance border security.
Australia joins a rapidly growing list of governments who have
selected Daon software as part of their identity assurance programs.
Already in use in numerous programs in the US, Europe, the UK, Asia
and Middle East, Daon has proven its ability to provide a robust,
scalable, future-proof platform for establishing identity, which is
critical in preventing the use of falsified documents by terrorists or
others seeking to enter a country illegally.
The state-of-the-art biometrics system in Australia is being
funded as part of the Biometrics at the Border program announced in
the government's 2004-05 budgets. Personal identifiers such as
photographs and fingerprints will be collected from non-citizens at
key points in the immigration process and securely stored for future
identity verification. Biometric systems are expected to be rolled out
to detention facilities later this year and deployed in Australian
on-shore and off-shore Immigration offices over the next few years.
As part of the Unisys team, Daon is providing strategic
consulting, expertise in biometric testing & evaluation, software
products and services. A key Daon component is their core biometric
infrastructure product, DaonEngine, along with Finger, Face and Iris
Biometric Snap-In interfaces to leading biometric matching algorithms.
"Over the past year, Daon has been privileged to serve DIMA in
biometric trials in various locations, including their offices in
Canberra and Sydney, Australia; Nairobi and Kakuma in Kenya; Cairo,
Egypt and at the Sydney Airport," commented Tom Grissen, CEO of Daon.
"We are delighted to bring our experience to the Unisys team and
participate with them in developing better ways to manage the identity
of persons seeking entry to and residence in Australia."
"Daon is a core part of the delivery team with responsibility for
strategic consulting, subject-matter expertise, support for research
and innovation as well as provision of biometric data management
software. In our due diligence for this important project, we
determined that Daon is an industry leader in delivering integrated
biometric platforms for enterprise systems, making them the ideal
partner for this program," said Terry Hartmann, Director and Global
Services Lead for Secure Identification and Biometrics at Unisys.
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide technology services and solutions company.
Unisys consultants apply Unisys expertise in consulting, systems
integration, outsourcing, infrastructure, and server technology to
help clients achieve secure business operations. Unisys builds more
secure organizations by creating visibility into clients' business
operations. Unisys' 3D Visible Enterprise makes visible the impact of
business decisions - ahead of investments, opportunities and risks.
For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
About Daon
Daon is a leading provider of identity assurance software products
focused on meeting the needs of governments and commercial
organizations worldwide. Daon supports customers and system
integrators in building enterprise solutions requiring the highest
level of security, performance, scalability, reliability and privacy.
Daon's multi-modal authentication infrastructure, DaonEngine,
integrates seamlessly with IT platforms and applications and manages
the identity life-cycle of small and large populations. Privately
held, Daon's offices are located in Washington DC, Sydney, London and
Dublin. For further information please visit www.daon.com.
