GSA Certifies Cogent Systems Algorithms for FIPS 201 PIV for Federal Government Employees and ContractorsPublished on 11 July 2006  Cogent offers a comprehensive Biometric Solution for PIV Cogent Systems today announced it had received approval from the General Services Administration (GSA) for its fingerprint algorithmic technologies to be used in conjunction with the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart cards to be issued to U.S federal government employees and contractors beginning on October 27th, 2006. Cogent's leading fingerprint algorithmic technologies were the first to receive GSA approval for use in intimate combination with the PIV smart card issuance and operation infrastructures. In addition to its approved algorithms, Cogent has a comprehensive suite of PIV biometric solutions available and has submitted additional products for GSA approval to be used in this program. The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) calls for all federal government employees and contractors to be issued an interoperable PIV smart card from federal government agencies capable of granting secure access to designated buildings and information technology infrastructures. The GSA, in coordination with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), is responsible for testing the PIV components and infrastructure and approving vendors to supply the technology to support the federal PIV smart card program. Cogent's fingerprint template generator and fingerprint template matcher were the first fingerprint algorithms approved by the GSA Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201) Evaluation Program to be used for the PIV smart card issuance and identity validation processes. "We believe that the PIV program will grow steadily to scale as the PIV cards are rolled out to federal employees and government contractors at an increasing rate over the next several years," commented Ming Hsieh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogent. "With this in mind, we have developed a comprehensive suite of biometric products for the PIV program which can provide a complete end-to-end biometric solution for our partners and customers." More on Cogent Systems | 
