January 21, 2014 – by The findBIOMETRICS Team
Last week, as part of the 11th annual findBIOMETRICS Year in Review, we took a look at what our 64 surveyed industry experts votes as the most significant and memorable news stories of 2013. This week we continue to grill our experts, examining what they have identified as the biggest opportunities to come in 2014.
As the second part of our year-end poll we asked the experts:
Which three potential 2014 opportunities most excite you?
Here are the results:
Looking forward at the opportunities that 2014 will hold, it looks like mobility still rules: 42 of the experts surveyed, placed the proliferation of biometrics-capable technology on mobile devices as a major opportunity for the year to come. Over half of these experts put it as their number one most exciting future opportunity. Already, the year is promising a wide variety of biometric modalities on smartphones and tablets: good reason to be optimistic!
Tied in total number of votes received for second place, we have the promise of innovations in functionality. Strong authentication enables a wide range of applications for customers, and as a result of this allowance there is a lot of excitement about what the year will hold in these potential areas of improvement.
Making it into official second place on our year in review survey by a single first-place vote, innovations in finance technology (payment protection and real life transaction methods) are exciting experts just a bit more than advances in the range of applications themselves (such as BYOD and mCommerce platforms). Mobile money solutions and payment protection in the form of digital wallets are expected to hit store shelves before September, and pay-with-your-phone apps are already being developed by financial networks like MasterCard and PayPal.
On the other hand, strong authentication is also making innovation possible on the relying party side of the equations too: adding a much needed high level of security to the infrastructures businesses can leverage to prevent fraud and the compromise of critical data. These two areas of opportunity in 2014 are inextricably connected and both are exciting. Once again, we see clear optimism in a mobile future.
There is also excitement about what the year holds for developing markets. All throughout 2013, research analysts and vendors alike have been stating just how much potential these places hold for biometrics. There has been lots of focus and aggressive posturing on an international level by many key players. In 2014, experts are excited to see how this global powder keg reacts to the spark of 2013’s preparations.
Filling out the middle of the results, we find anticipation as end-users start moving away from passwords. In 2013, high-profile cyber-crime attacks combined with a growing interest in stronger than-password consumer solutions had the mainstream media asking the questions our industry has known the answer to all along: that passwords are not enough.
Meanwhile, continued innovations in border control have been seeing deployment on a global scale, making nations more secured to external threats and in turn streamlining the travel experience for citizens in transit.
What it all comes down to is a stronger security solution that is being welcomed by a population who find themselves exhausted by the futile work involved in complying with the current best practices in staying safe. Looking at the year to come there is an optimism being stoked by the very real consumer demand we have seen develop in 2013.
—
Stay posted as we continue our Year in Review 2013 coverage, including interviews with some of our experts on how 2013 was for their organizations.
Follow Us