Drexler Technology Corp.'s LaserCard optical memory cards have been selected for evaluation and field testing by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
as a candidate for the upcoming TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification Credential) program.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has sold 13 read/write drives and 1,900 LaserCard optical memory cards for the evaluation and field testing phase now under way and scheduled for completion in September.
Following the field tests, those digital card technologies that are deemed appropriate would then be eligible to enter into the prototype phase of the program, which begins in September, October or November 2003. According to industry publications, the prototype phase is expected to involve about 10,000 transportation workers employed at airport, railway, port and trucking facilities in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Delaware (Wilmington), and California (Long Beach and Los Angeles).
Industry publications also have indicated that under the TWIC program, as many as 12 million digitized biometric identification cards eventually could be issued by the TSA to airport and railway personnel, port workers and truckers.
The biometrics-based TWIC cards would be utilized by workers who require unescorted access to secure areas at their facilities.
Companies that will utilize Drexler's LaserCard products in the TWIC field test program include: MAXIMUS Inc.; Information Spectrum Inc., a unit of Anteon International Corp.; Datatrac Information Services Inc.; and SEI Technology Inc.
Because of its high data capacity and secure data permanence, the LaserCard optical memory card can simultaneously store all or any combination of biometric identifiers currently being used commercially throughout the world. These include all 10 fingerprints, hand geometry, iris and retina scans, facial image recognition, digitized signature and face photograph. Drexler's standard LaserCard stores 2,800 kilobytes of data, compared to an IC chip-based card with 32 kilobytes of data storage capacity.