Australian developed face recognition technology which can identify people using low resolution CCTV images has taken out a major international R&D award. The NICTA developed technology has already been installed in one Asia Pacific country to manage border control and is also the foundation for a free iPhone app launched quietly this year that allows people to use their phones to photo and identify up to 50 people (or their pets).

The Commonwealth Bank has floated the idea of consumer biometrics – using the camera in an iPhone to authenticate the identity of an individual.

NEC has brought in a 20 year ICT industry veteran and expert in biometrics to consult to the company’s biometrics and identity management group in Australia and to develop business in the ANZ region.

I was totally flabbergasted at today's news that Monash City Council was receiving resistance to a simple biometric application for time-and-attendance monitoring.  Wake up people, this stuff has been around for well over ten years.

The number of global smartphone shipments are expected to reach one billion a year in 2016, increasing from 302 million in 2010, as competition intensifies amongst vendors offering premium smartphones.

Retail giant Woolworths is mid-way through a massive overhaul of its contact centres – consolidating from eight to two, has introduced interactive voice response (IVR) systems in three key areas, and now has biometric voice identification on its radar.

The Federal Government has announced it will begin collecting biometric identification from people applying for visas.

Facial recognition biometrics are increasingly being used by law enforcement agencies for lead generation – and the iFace system is about to be launched in Victoria for just that reason - but they are still some distance from being used as evidence in court according to leading experts speaking at the Biometrics Institute’s 11th Australian conference.

Concerns about Internet security in Australia are growing rapidly, to the point that the majority of Australians now say they are happy for a wider deployment of biometric technology and to use their fingerprint to prove their identity.

Unisys Australia has been awarded two contract extensions valued at around $52.7 million by the Federal Government’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to continue to deliver outsourced desktop services and biometric and identity management solutions.