According to Frost & Sullivan, NEC has made the most of the demand for strong and user-friendly methods for user authentication to introduce facial recognition biometrics in mainstream commercial applications. NEC’s Neoface product offering includes NEC’s core facial recognition capabilities, such as image processing, face detection, quality assessment, template encoding, and matching. It is available as either a "SDK" or "Appliance" for integration in facial recognition solutions.

The proliferation of mobile devices with front-facing cameras and powerful processors, along with organisations’ open standards approach, has given a boost to the adoption of NEC’s facial recognition authentication solutions. NEC has leveraged its 40 years of accrued expertise and proven facial recognition core technology to develop solutions for a number of investigation, mobility, and surveillance applications.

"NEC's Neoface suite of products offers a high degree of irrefutability and the flexibility to be applied to a number of compelling use cases, making it ideal to address the need for strong authentication, as well as identification," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Principal Frank Dickson. "Demonstrated by Neoface Reveal’s success in identification, NEC’s face-matching algorithms ensure accuracy and selectivity, regardless of database size and image quality. Additionally, the use of facial recognition biometrics removes the need for one-time password (OTP) devices that are often required for strong authentication."

Neoface has been validated by comprehensive testing conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with tests ranging from one-to-one verification to large-scale, high-volume identification matching. NEC's facial recognition technology was ranked number one in the Biometric Grand Challenge's (MBGC) "Still Face Challenge," carried out by NIST and commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2009.

Apart from providing a high degree of irrefutability, authentication also needs to be flexible, cost-effective and convenient. As facial recognition biometrics can be offered on almost all of the mobile devices in the market today, it saves companies the cost of supplying specialty devices such as OTP tokens. Not only does it do away with multiple steps for authentications, facial recognition is easy for administrators to implement and has high adoption rates among the users.

"Overall, with a pragmatic product roadmap, Frost & Sullivan expects NEC to make facial recognition biometrics a market reality in mainstream commercial applications for authentication and in government applications for identification," noted Dickson.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The Customer Value Leadership Award recognises the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and, ultimately, customer base expansion.