Nominations Are Open for the 2018 Women in Biometrics Awards

“From face scanning at the airport to iris authentication on your smartphone, biometrics technology is an increasingly prominent part of everyday life. And yet half the population – women – are still underrepresented in the biometrics industry. This imbalance has real consequences, with an MIT Media Lab study having shown prominent facial recognition systems are more accurate for male subjects than for women, to take one example.” – Peter O’Neill, President & Founder, FindBiometrics

The 2018 Women in Biometrics Awards are now open to nominations, organizers have announced.

Founded by the Security Industry Association together with SecureIDNews, the event is now in its fourth year. It’s aimed at bringing recognition to a group of professionals who have too often been overlooked, with judges looking for nominations across a range of criteria, from leadership in raising public awareness to drafting legislation to innovative product development.

The awards program is sponsored by one of the biggest global organizations in the field, IDEMIA, as well as the SIA Women in Security Forum and FindBiometrics. Commenting in a statement announcing the call for nominations, FindBiometrics President Peter O’Neill framed the program’s importance within the larger biometrics industry context:

“From face scanning at the airport to iris authentication on your smartphone, biometrics technology is an increasingly prominent part of everyday life,” he said, “And yet half the population – women – are still underrepresented in the biometrics industry. This imbalance has real consequences, with an MIT Media Lab study having shown prominent facial recognition systems are more accurate for male subjects than for women, to take one example.”

The 2018 Women in Biometrics Awards will be bestowed during SIA Honors Night on November 14th, held concurrently with ISC East in New York City. Nominations are open until Friday, September 28th. Visit the event’s official website to submit your nomination.

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(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)