Thruvision Grp Regulatory News (THRU)

RNS REACH

11 April 2017

Digital Barriers plc

("Digital Barriers" or the "Group")

Facial recognition contract with Careem

Digital Barriers (AIM: DGB), the specialist provider of visually intelligent solutions to the global surveillance, security and safety markets, is pleased to announce that it has secured a contract for its facial recognition technology with Careem: the leading ride-hailing provider in the Middle East and North Africa.

The contract award follows a competitive benchmarking process and is one of a number of framework contracts that were in the final stages of contract negotiation at the time of the Group's trading update on 24 March. Once the software has been deployed, the contract will deliver recurring software revenue to the Group up and until the end of calendar year 2018, with an option thereafter to extend. This contract represents the first integration of the Group's facial recognition software into a mainstream commercial application on a recurring revenue basis.

Careem's ride-hailing operations span more than fifty cities, across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and Kuwait. Careem will integrate Digital Barriers' facial recognition technology into its driver smartphone application, with the aim of providing enhanced passenger safety and security by ensuring that the actual driver of a given vehicle can be matched in real-time to the authorised and accredited driver of that vehicle. Careem will also use the Group's facial recognition technology to secure the driver enrolment process.

In combination, these applications will ensure that Careem can provide an unprecedented level of passenger security and safety across the ride hailing sector.

Magnus Olsson, Co-founder and Chief Xperience Officer at Careem, said: 

"When customers rely on a ride-hailing service or any other mode of transportation to go from point A to point B, they are also placing their trust on the service provider for their safety and security. In our efforts to simplify people's lives in the region, safety plays an unprecedented role and the integration of Digital Barriers' facial recognition technology will further bolster the confidence and faith our users have in the Careem brand. The biometric technology helps us strengthen our relationship with our users further by providing them with the reassurance that every Captain's credentials are being monitored at all times through a sophisticated network. It also adds another important layer to our Captain screening process by ensuring that only those individuals with a clean track record are invited to become part of the Careem family."

Zak Doffman, CEO of Digital Barriers, said:

"This contract demonstrates that our solution delivers a better level of performance than other providers of facial recognition solutions, whilst maintaining a competitive price point. As service providers across many industries now look to camera-embedded and smartphone application identity assurance as a key component of their business processes, the Group believes that the market for such solutions is set for very material growth over the coming years. The Group's facial recognition software has been designed to meet the requirements of military, intelligence and law enforcement customers around the world, with more stringent requirements than more mainstream offerings. This was illustrated by the Group's securing of a €3.5m multi-year framework contract in the prior financial year with one of Europe's largest ministries of defence."

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About Digital Barriers

Digital Barriers provides visually intelligent solutions to the global surveillance, security and safety markets. We deliver zero-latency streaming and analysis of secure video and related intelligence over wireless networks, including cellular, satellite, IP mesh and cloud, utilising significantly less bandwidth than standard technologies. Our rapidly-installed fixed and mobile solutions for covert, remote and wide-area deployments, as well as vehicle and body-worn applications, have been sold into more than fifty countries, and have been proven in some of the world's most demanding operational environments. We also provide advanced video content analysis and body scanning to identify safety concerns and threats in real-time.

www.digitalbarriers.com