January 2013 Biometric Technology Today

EVENTS CALENDAR

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NEWS

Biometrics to play wider role in e-health

Remote health monitoring solu-tions are increasingly combining

biometric health measurements with biometric identification of patients. At the same time the advance of low cost and cloud-based platforms are mak-ing e-health devices more affordable and accessible. The US has recently implemented the Medicare 30-Day Readmission Rule, penalising hospitals that readmit patients within 30 days of discharge, further driving e-health initiatives.

Microsoft Research Labs (MSR) India has collaborated with Operation Asha to provide a biometric fingerprint device to test and treat tuberculosis in India. The biometric system has been deployed in more than 40 centres, with more than 60,000 medication doses adminis-tered to 3,000 patients.

Patients who come to the clinic are identified by fingerprint scans using software built on the Microsoft .NET platform, reports Pharmabiz. A record of patients visiting each clinic is sent to Operation Asha’s central office using the GSM modem, allowing workers to track which patients came to each clinic.

Microsoft is showing interest in biometric technology across a range of applications. The US Patent Office recently published a Microsoft invention that reveals a new method of executing real-time biometrics, reports Patentbolt. The focus is on real-time biometrics in multiplayer gaming. The inven-tion’s method includes capturing a temporal sequence of images of the face of a user at different locations within a three-dimensional interaction space, extracting one or more face descriptors from the images and generating a biometric template.

In another e-health development, Cooking Hacks, the open hardware division of Libelium, a wireless sensor networks platform provider for Smart Cities solutions, has released a new e-health sensor platform to help researchers and developers measure biometric sensor data for ‘experimentation, fun and test purposes’.

The tools use Arduino and Raspberry Pi open source hardware platforms to monitor patients’ conditions and have sensing capability for nine different biometric parameters, such as pulse, blood pressure, oxygen in blood (SPO2), electrocardiogram (EKG), airflow, glucometer, galvanic skin response (GSR), patient position and body temperature.

India authorities look to biometrics beyond its borders

According to local reports India is to start creating a biometric database

of visiting foreigners, beginning with Pakistani spectators crossing the border for the Indo-Pakistan cricket series in 2013. The home ministry will make it mandatory for visa applicants from the US and UK to provide their 10 fingerprints.

TechNavio’s analysts forecast the biometrics market in India to grow at a CAGR of 46% over the period 2011–15.

The Aadhaar programme has driven the fingerprint biometrics market in India. Indian authorities have now asked banks to feed in the Aadhaar number of beneficiaries to bank accounts for smooth implementation of direct payments of benefits according to the Hundustan Times. In many states of India over 50% households do not have bank accounts.

Biometric voting systems hit snags in Africa

Problems with biometric voter identifi-cation systems meant that some vot-

ers in Ghana’s elections had to cast their ballots again, according to local reports.

Ghana’s Electoral Commission was forced to allow another day of voting at some polling sta-tions when the biometric ID system appeared to break down. Incomplete ballot boxes were stored at local police stations overnight.

Snags have also been reported with Kenya’s nationwide, one-month biometric voter registra-tion (BVR) exercise targeting over 18m voters.

PIPA Solutions seeks crowdfunding for fingerprint solution

PIPA Solutions has launched PIPA Touch, a crowdfunding project to

fund fingerprint security developments for smartphones. Backers who support the project on Indiegogo will be the first to receive PIPA’s wireless biometric scan-ners and smartphone cases when they are produced and delivered by May 2013.

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e-health

11–14 February 2013Barcelona, SpainBIOSTEC 2013BIOSTEC brings together researchers and prac-titioners, including engineers, biologists, health professionals and informatics/computer scientists, interested in theoretical advances and applications of information systems, artificial intelligence, signal processing, electronics and other engineering tools in knowledge areas related to biology and medicine. BIOSTEC comprises four co-located conferences.More information: www.biostec.org

17–21 February 2013 Abu Dhabi, UAEIDEX 2013 The International Defence Exhibition and ConferenceIDEX is an international defence exhibition and conference in the MENA region demonstrating the latest technology across land, sea and air sectors of defence. It is a platform to establish and strengthen relationships with government departments, busi-nesses and armed forces throughout the region.More information: http://www.idexuae.ae

4–7 March 2013Miami, USThe 2013 Winter Biometrics SummitThis event will provide practical deployment strategies, market trends and best practices in government and business.More information: http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/biometrics_summit_winter13/index.htm

29–31 March 2013Poly World Trade Centre, Guangzhou, ChinaBiometric ChinaThe exhibition will gather more than 200 brands from China, Germany, US, UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Israel, Japan and other countries and regions. Experts and buyers worldwide will attend to guide the new direction of the biometric identification industry. More information: http://www.biometricchina.net/en/

23–25 April 2013London, UKInfosecurity EuropeInfosecurity Europe features over 350 exhibitors, a diverse range of new products and services, an edu-cation programme and 12,450 unique visitors from every segment of the industry.More information: www.infosec.co.uk

24–25 April 2013London, UKCounter Terror ExpoCounter Terror Expo 2013 is an international event for those interested in mitigating threats, protecting against terrorist attacks and understanding cur-rent modern day risks, in a secure environment. It will feature solutions to protect against threats for: police, emergency services, government, military, intelligence and security services, private sector, large scale sites, oil and gas, cyber, maritime/anti-piracy and critical national Infrastructure.More information: http://www.counterterrorexpo.com

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