Representatives of Identix Incorporated, a leading multi-biometrics technology company, said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reaffirmed its decision to award a single Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to Identix for 10-print live scan fingerprint booking stations and desktop systems. Under the terms of the BPA, DHS' evaluated price for live scan systems and services is based on purchase volume of approximately $27 million over 60 months, with no minimum guaranty. Actual dollar amounts spent and live scan systems purchased may vary depending on DHS' future needs.

On October 3, 2003, Identix announced that following a competitive bid process that evaluated "best overall value," DHS had awarded Identix a five year BPA to provide its TouchPrint(TM) 3000 line fingerprint biometric live scan booking stations and desktop systems to the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), as well as to other select departments within DHS. On October 7, 2003, Identix announced that it had received an initial order from DHS valued in excess of $2.3 million for Identix TouchPrint 3500LC Live Scan Booking Stations. Following the award to Identix, and as previously announced by Identix, a protest was lodged against the award to Identix by a competitor who had been an unsuccessful participant in the DHS' BPA bidding process.

In response to the protest, DHS decided to re-evaluate all responsible technical and price proposals previously submitted in response to the Government's RFQ and Source Selection Plan for the BPA. DHS also sought and obtained dismissal of the protest by the U.S. General Accounting Office and issued a stop work order, meaning procurement of Identix technology under the BPA would be held in abeyance until the re-evaluation was completed.

Late in the day on March 10, 2004, DHS provided Identix with written notice that DHS had completed its re-evaluation of all responsible offers and, as a result of the re-valuation, DHS determined that Identix provides the best value to the Government for both desktop and booking stations systems. Pursuant to the notice, DHS released the stop work order and instructed Identix to immediately resume fulfillment of the initial DHS BPA purchase order previously placed on October 7, 2003.

The value of a degree in Information Assurance (IA) at the University of Dallas continues to increase. UD's Graduate School of Management (GSM) IA program is the second largest IA program in the nation, and it is the largest graduate level IA program in the U.S. Adding to the IA program's competitive edge, the National Security Agency (NSA) recently announced that the university has successfully mapped to the additional Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) Instructions 4014 and 4015, becoming one of only a handful of universities in the nation to have met all CNSS criteria (4011-4015).

The IA program is comprised of faculty and advisory board members from various backgrounds including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. Dr. John Nugent, Director of UD's Center for Information Assurance has been a leader in the telecommunications, IT, IA, and manufacturing industry for over 25 years. His experience has been instrumental in the development of a comprehensive IA program that meets the government's most stringent IA education criteria, resulting in the university's designation as a National Center for Information Assurance.