A Japanese consortium is considering teaming up with its European counterpart to develop a unified standard for security products based on biometric technologies using face and fingerprint recognition, a source at the consortium said Thursday.
The Biometrics Security Consortium, which groups about 30 companies, is in talks with the Dublin-based European Biometrics Forum on the tieup, but no final agreement has been reached yet, the source said.
The Japanese consortium was established in 2003 and promotes standardized biometric equipment. Members include Hitachi Ltd., Sony Corp., NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp.
The European Biometrics Forum was founded last July as a network for public- and private-sector experts and biometric industries in European Union countries, including Siemens AG of Germany.
Demand for biometric recognition systems is high in public facilities such as airports due to the increasing concerns over terrorism around the world.
The U.S. government has spearheaded the development of security systems based on biometric technologies for national security purposes.
Washington has supported U.S. venture companies that have led the movement toward forming a globally unified standard for such products.