US-VISIT sticks with Cogent

Cogent Systems officials announced today that the company has won a five-year, $20 million contract to continue as a subcontractor on the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology system.

Cogent will provide project management services, software development and fingerprint matching with the Cogent Automated Fingerprint Identification System tool. Cogent has assisted with fingerprint matching for the US-VISIT program and its predecessors since 1994.

Border security personnel use digital fingerprint scans and photographs to determine if a person applying for entry to the United States has a State Department-issued visa. The biometric and biographic data is also checked against terrorist watch lists.

Between Jan. 5 and Oct. 22, biometric technology helped border officials detain 1,300 people sought for various illegal activities.

Accenture, US-VISIT's prime contractor, hired Raytheon to perform work related to systems engineering and biometrics. Raytheon subcontracted with Cogent to assist in implementing the fingerprint-matching portion of US-VISIT.

Cogent has the only system that provides accurate, real-time identification using two fingerprints, said James Jasinski, Cogent's executive vice president for federal and state systems. Cogent's system is designed to provide matches within 8 seconds, although "operationally the matching is actually being accomplished faster," he said.