New Report Suggests North America as Growth Leader in Biometric Technology Market
Over the weekend, access to a new report entitled, “Next Generation Biometric Technologies Market: Global Forecast & Analysis 2012-2017” was released that details, among many things, the forecast for growth of the global biometric technology and applications market.
In addition to breaking down the various biometric authentications such as face recognition, fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, palm recognition, vein recognition, signature recognition, and DNA recognition, the report also covers:
- Segregation of the overall biometric technology market into various application areas such as government, defense, banking and finance, travel and immigration, healthcare, consumer electronics, commercial security and home security
- All the driving factors, restraints, and opportunities for the biometric technology market, which are helpful in identifying trends and key success factors for the industry
- The forecasted revenue from 2012 to 2017 and future applications of biometric technology
- The various activities that are being conducted by different institutes and universities & describes the deployments of biometric technology in various regions
- The applications mapping the biometric technology market with respect to the growth potential and adoption by the users
The report suggests that, “the global biometric technology, types, and applications market is expected to reach $13.89 billion by 2017 at an estimated CAGR of 18.7%,” and that, “North America is a market leader in the biometric technology market.”
What’s interesting about the prediction that North America is positioned as a market leader in biometric technology is that it is arguably the region with the most opposition and resistance to it.
With the exception of Europe, there is no other place on the globe more opposed to the wide scale use of biometric technology especially in commercial applications like biometrics for employee time and attendance in workforce management, patient identification in healthcare, retail point of sale payments, identification for membership management, and access control particularly to protect corporate data or entry into authorized areas.
Reasons for opposition to biometric technology vary from privacy and civil liberties to management of biometric data to the irrevocability of a biometric trait that may be compromised by a criminal or hacker. All are valid arguments, and the message on how to address these issues continues to be debated in many circles to seek solutions and compromises to help foster more acceptance for biometric technology to help replace antiquated PINs, passwords, and barcode ID cards, among other antiquated security mechanisms.
The report costs £3,084.27 to access (which converts to $4,655.03 as of this writing).
What are your opinions on North America as the prime growth opportunity for biometric technology? Will it live up to its potential or will the specter of privacy, civil liberties, database management, and other issues inhibit the potential for growth?
