More Federal Government Domination???
We keep hearing about the Federal Government everyday in the news, given the current financial turmoil in Europe (personally, I say let Greece and Italy default, and get it out of the way so that our own financial markets can breathe a bit easier).
Well, today we hear about them in the Biometrics Industry, so here we go with the details: “MorphoTrak announced today the opening of its new facility in Federal Way, Washington. MorphoTrak’s international parent, Morpho, is the world’s market leader in Identification and Biometric Technology. The new facility will serve as one of MorphoTrak’s Design Centers and support its US Federal Business . . . “Our new corporate campus in Federal Way is an ideal location for a technology group of companies preparing for steady growth. We are very pleased and look forward to integrating with the energetic business community in Federal Way” said Daniel Vassy, President and CEO of MorphoTrak . . . Over the last ten years, identification systems for law enforcement and civil government applications have expanded rapidly. With this market growth, MorphoTrak needed a larger facility to accommodate workforce expansion and build for the future.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9267/).
My Take
As many of you know out there, I am often very critical of the Federal Government. True, one good argue that we have the best one in the world, but certainly, it very much has its flaws. I have written about the Federal Government being the dominant player in the Biometrics Industry, both from a buyer and seller standpoint (especially with the awarding of lucrative contracts). In the last couple of years, it has been the Federal Government being the major supplier of cash inflow into our industry. And really, nobody can put the blame on anybody else, because it is primarily the current economic situation that we are in which has driven us to this point. You hardly see any spending by the private sector into the Biometrics Industry except for the sporadic and random ones.
I mean can you blame the private sector??? Spending on a Biometrics infrastructure can be deemed by many SME’s to be more of a luxury item than a necessity. And I do have to admit, and in fact, I am happy for the fact that this Biometrics Vendor is enjoying good success with having the Federal Government as a huge customer. For sure, opening a brand new facility just for this signifies major growth and revenue expansion for them. And of course, with the opening of a new center, it means more jobs will be available (according to the Press Release, it is about 140 new positions already filled).
Hey, I am all for jobs, believe me. But my concern is that of the long term. There are many dire predictions out there that the United States, and Europe, will see very anemic growth at best in the next five to six years. So, this translates into much less spending by the private sector into the Biometrics Industry, and the balance scale will weigh much more heavily towards the Federal Government for being the prime source of revenue. I am simply afraid that our own Federal Government will have, over the years, too much of an upper hand in our industry as a result of all of this. The Biometrics Industry has a lot of potential to offer in terms of Security and social needs, and I am afraid all of this will be mired down into massive amounts of red tape and buracracy if the Feds keep becoming our biggest customer.
And my fears will only resonate greater once there is an upturn in the macro economy. For example, once this happens, the Feds will probably more than likely reduce their spending on Biometrics as they would like to see free enterprise reign in yet once again. But, there will probably be a fairly long lag time until the private sector picks up spending on a huge scale with Biometrics. And if the Biometrics Industry becomes too dependent on the Feds, this lag time could spell a micro recession within our own industry until private sector spending picks up. What the Biometrics Industry needs is a balance of both worlds.
But right now, this task will be very difficult to achieve. Really, in the end, it comes to providing to good ‘ole fashion customer service if the Biometrics Industry is going to win the hearts and minds of the private sector, especially the SME’s out there.
About you opinion，I can’t agree any more.
Posted by: Replica Chanel Bags | September 24, 2011 at 01:56 AM