VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Imagis Technologies Inc. ("Imagis") (OTCBB:IGSTF) (TSX Venture Exchange:NAB) (Germany:NABT), a leading provider of information sharing and biometric identification technologies, announced today that it has sold a multi-agency license of Briyante Software Corporation's (TSX Venture Exchange:BSC) Justice Integration Server (JIS) technology to Contra Costa County, California.
This purchase, as facilitated through a licensing relationship with Briyante, represents Imagis' first commercial sale of this breakthrough development environment. A successful pilot installation within the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department has been in place for the past three months and this purchase represents an expansion to 25 agencies with a total sale of over USD$320,000 (CDN$450,000).
Functioning within the Microsoft(r) .NET framework, the JIS technology provides rapid application development and database integration at a fraction of the cost and time over competing technologies. For Contra Costa County, this involves connecting the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department, the District Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, the Superior Court, the Probation Department, and 20 law enforcement agencies. Specifically, JIS will integrate an Oracle-based Jail Management System with the County's mug shot system. With this infrastructure in place, the county can add many other sharing projects and will be able to search each other's databases within security parameters. The County's first application (the sharing of jail data and mug shots) has already been prototyped with live, "real-time" data and user groups are now helping refine and shape it for full deployment. Users across the county will soon be able to query by name, sex, age, arresting agency, mug shot, and more to retrieve arrest and booking information along with a corresponding mug shot for those currently in custody and those booked and released since 1981.
As decreed in the U.S.-issued National Strategy for Homeland Security (June 2002), President Bush stated, "Databases used for law enforcement, immigration, intelligence, and public health surveillance have not been connected in ways that allow us to recognize information gaps or redundancies ... It is crucial to link the vast amounts of knowledge resident within each agency at all levels of government."
"Within the current state of heightened security, there is a significant and immediate need for every agency involved in law enforcement and public safety to be able to access all available and permissible imagery and textual information on a person wherever that information happens to be stored. Agencies cannot afford to delay deployment-the risks are just too great," said Roy Trivett, President and CEO of Imagis Technologies Inc. "With the acquisition of Briyante and their justice integration technology, Imagis can contribute to local, regional, state, and national policing and homeland security efforts with a solution that can be deployed in weeks, rather than years-and at a price point that fits easily within existing operational budgets."
KENDA Systems Inc., a global IT staff augmentation company, through its Integrated Justice division in Roseville, California, completed phase I of the county's justice integration contract. They will be involved in installing and configuring the Justice Integration Server technology with the county for phase II of the project which started May 7, 2003.
About the JIS Information Integration Technology
The Justice Integration Server (JIS), as licensed from Briyante Software Corporation, provides a rapid information integration environment that enables system integrators to deploy a highly secure Information Sharing System easily and affordably. Built on the Microsoft .NET framework and utilizing Web Services and UDDI, JIS uses patent-pending "Visual Metaphors" to allow agencies with disparate information silos to publish or access relevant data without the need for programming. This includes the secure sharing of both text and imagery between national, state, county, tribal and regional agencies, particularly as it relates to the justice, public safety and homeland defense markets (e.g. connecting information stored in different Record Management Systems, Computer Aided Dispatch, Jail Management Systems and Case Management databases). To discuss a pilot deployment of JIS, please contact Imagis or one of Imagis' qualified business partners today.
About Contra Costa County
The County of Contra Costa was incorporated in 1850 as one of the original 27 counties of the State of California. The city of Martinez is the County Seat. It is one of nine counties in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay area. The County has a population of approximately 920,000.
For more information about Contra Costa County, please visit http://www.contra-costa.ca.us.
About Imagis Technologies Inc.
Imagis Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:IGSTF; TSX.V:NAB; Germany:NABT) develops and markets breakthrough technology that allows for the rapid development and deployment of information sharing and biometric identification applications that are used in law enforcement, transportation security, immigration and customs, gaming, and other security and homeland defense initiatives.
The Company, whose Chairman is Oliver ("Buck") Revell, the former associate deputy director of the FBI, has over 140 installations of its software located across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. This includes one of the UK's national police agencies; RCMP, police, and sheriff departments across the United States and Canada; New Zealand Customs; and Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
For more information about Imagis Technologies, please visit http://www.imagistechnologies.com.
About Briyante Software Corp.
Briyante Software Corp. (TSX-VEN:BSC) is the developer and marketer of the Justice Integration Server (JIS). The JIS allows all agencies within the Justice and Public Safety arena to share information with one another in a safe and controlled manner. Through the JIS' patent-pending visual metaphors, agencies with disparate systems (RMS, CAD, JMS, CMS, etc.) can publish or access relevant data without the need for programming. Agencies are free to share as much or as little data with their partners in a highly-secure manner without having to give up ownership of the data. Built on Microsoft.NET, the JIS is a completely standards-based product utilizing WEB Services and UDDI to create complex Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) networks easily and quickly. The JIS client software can currently be used as both a standard desktop application and as a Web-based service. Mobile versions of the client software can be used on a number of systems, including any Microsoft Pocket PC-based computing software. Briyante is a Microsoft Certified Partner and is authorized for Microsoft's Windows XP logo identification program.
To learn more about Briyante, please visit http://www.briyante.com.
Forward Looking Statement
Forward Looking Statements: This press release may contain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include the risks and uncertainties described in Imagis Technologies Inc.'s Form 10-KSB filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Imagis Technologies Inc. "Roy Trivett" President and CEO Media and Investor Inquiries: John Lyotier Manager, Marketing & Communications Imagis Technologies Inc. Phone: +1-604-684-2449 Ext. 226 E-mail: info@imagistechnologies.com The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
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