Digimarc expands African presence with win in Ghana
02 August, 2006
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Digimarc has been awarded a $3.5 million contract to provide Ghana with its first digital driver’s license system that will replace the African country’s current paper-based license.
Beaverton, Ore.–Digimarc Corporation announced a new $3.5 million contract award under which it will deliver market-leading products enabling Ghana to provide to its citizens a convenient, durable and secure credit card-sized digital driver license via a modern secure enrollment system.
Over the coming months, Digimarc will work with its local partner in the country and the Ghana Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to implement the country’s first digital driver license system. The new license will replace Ghana’s current paper-based, passport-sized license.
Ghana’s new system will be based on a number of Digimarc secure ID products, including:
–The Digimarc Camera Tower and Digimarc Capture Software, providing the industry’s most durable and easy-to-use hardware and highest quality portrait images for card production, renewals and fraud investigation at the lowest cost of ownership.
–Digimarc’s proprietary centralized card production and driver license enrollment solution, which will allow for gathering enrollment data around the country to feed centralized production in the capitol city of Accra.
–Advanced driver license design and security features, including Digimarcr IDMarcT digital watermarking – making Ghana the first African driver license issuer to adopt machine-readable digital watermarks for post-issuance ID authentication.
“The Ghana DVLA is embracing industry-leading solutions in upgrading its driver license system. We are pleased to be working with the DVLA to bring proven products and expert secure ID solution skills to Ghana and the African continent,” said J. Scott Carr, executive vice president, Digimarc. “By partnering with impressive local technical resources in country and expanding our services to the government, we are able to build from our successful collaboration on the Ghana voter ID program, to help ensure Ghana’s smooth transition to a very advanced, high quality digital driver license system.”
Digimarc believes that Africa will continue to provide new opportunities to bid on identity document programs, and that Digimarc, which was a supplier for Ghana’s voter ID program, as well as for other voter IDs, national IDs and driver license systems in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Egypt and Namibia, is well positioned to support such opportunities across the continent.
About Digimarc
Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC), based in Beaverton, Oregon, is a leading supplier of secure identity and media management solutions. Digimarc provides products and services that enable the annual production of more than 60 million personal identification documents, including two-thirds of U.S. driver licenses and IDs for more than 20 countries. Digimarc’s digital watermarking technology provides a persistent digital identity for various media content and is used to enhance the security of financial documents, identity documents and digital images, and support other media rights management applications.
Digimarc has an extensive intellectual property portfolio, with more than 260 issued U.S. patents with more than 5,000 claims, and more than 500 pending patent applications in digital watermarking, personal identification and related technologies. The Company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, with other U.S. offices in Burlington, Massachusetts; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and the Washington DC area; and international offices in London and Mexico. Please go to www.digimarc.com for more company information.