Lockheed Martin scores Florida biometric work

Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., won an $8 million contract from the Florida Department of Education to provide a fingerprint identification-based processing system for people applying for state educational positions, the company announced April 8. The system will process applicants for the insurance industry as well.

Work on the five-year contract, which has an option for an additional five years, will be done by Lockheed Martin Information Systems. The company, in conjunction with Integrated Biometric Technology LLC, Vandalia, Ohio, will build a system that is expected to process 250,000 applicants per year.

"The response time for applicant background checks for education and insurance industry workers will be greatly expedited by the use of our proven digital fingerprint acquisition and communication technologies," said John Hallal, president of Lockheed Martin Information Systems.

Lockheed Martin has also developed fingerprint identification systems for agencies such as the FBI and the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command.