Thursday, January 10, 2008

Digimarc Gets Nevada Win

Digimarc Corp., a developer of digital-watermarking technology for use in the production of personal identification documents, announced yesterday that the Nevada Board of Examiners has approved its contract extension from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to enhance the security of Nevada's driver's license issuance system. The contract, which extends the existing deal from 2010 through 2017, is worth some $29.2 million, Digimarc said. As part of the deal, Digimarc said it will help transition Nevada's practice of issuing driver's licenses and ID cards from separate branch offices to a secure, centralized manufacturing facility. Digimarc noted that it will also implement its biometric identification solution, which uses facial recognition technology to defeat those trying to obtain multiple driver's licenses under different identities. Digimarc is based in Beaverton, Oregon.