Cogent Systems Announces Contract with the United Kingdom National Policing Improvement Agency

Cogent Systems (Nasdaq: COGT) today announced that it has been selected as the sole winner for all six components of the U.K. National MobileID service (formerly known as Mobile Identification at Scene or MIDAS).

This award followed a rigorous year long competitive process conducted by NPIA, involving multiple vendors to ensure that the best solution, the best devices, and the most qualified vendor would bring the best value to the UK police forces. The initial award is valued at approximately $25 million over a three year term through April 2013, with the option of two, one year extensions.

Cogent will provide an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) of the UK National Fingerprint Collection along with all services to provide a nationwide mobile biometric identification system available to all police forces in the UK. Cogent will provide a Framework Catalogue and an online ordering system for police forces to purchase a variety of biometric capture devices to suit a broad range of policing needs. The contract proposals were evaluated on the basis of 10,000 mobile devices being deployed throughout the period of the contract, but the actual number may be more or less. In addition to the Mobile Identification AFIS and catalogue of Cogent and third party mobile devices, Cogent will provide services for device accreditation, device and user authentication, integration with existing mobile communications gateways, a Cogent national gateway and a full suite of service management provisions. The contract also includes options to expand the service for additional agencies and other capabilities.

Cogent will provide the entire end-to-end Mobile Identification solution for the UK police forces to support officer safety and improve efficiency of operations while at the same time providing near real time identification in the field. Cogent's latest matching technology will provide the latest state-of-the-art technology to meet the demanding response time and accuracy requirements. The use of mobile devices combined with the AFIS system will enable police to quickly scan an individual’s fingerprints in the field and perform an identification check against the national fingerprint database. Officers will save time by reducing the number of trips to the police station, enabling them to spend more time in the field and increasing the number of offenders brought to justice.

Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, said: "From hours to minutes, advances in fingerprinting technology are helping the police to identify one person from many.

Identification is crucial to police investigations and giving officers the ability to do this on-the-spot within minutes is giving them more time to spend working in their communities, helping to fight crime, bringing more offenders to justice and better protecting the public.

The NPIA looks forward to working with Cogent Systems to ensure this new technology is rolled out to all forces."

“We are very pleased not only to be participating in the Mobile Identification Project, but also to be selected as the sole winner against several large competitors,” said Ming Hsieh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogent Systems. “This is a significant achievement for Cogent, confirming our strength as a prime contractor and the unique value proposition of our product offering. We look forward to working closely with the NPIA to improve public safety and enhance the productivity and safety of police officers.”

About the U.K. National Mobile Identification Project

The U.K. National Mobile Identification Project was developed by the NPIA to provide a national capability for law enforcement officers to use fingerprints to identify a person at a scene without having to return to a police station.

The program will be built on the results and lessons learned by police forces and the NPIA from the Lantern project, a pilot mobile ID trial started in 2006. The Project aims to improve the safety of the public, and the productivity and safety of police officers by giving officers in the field a quick and reliable way to identify an unknown subject, and take the appropriate action upon identification.

About the Lantern Pilot

The Lantern pilot, involving 330 devices being piloted in 28 forces, has confirmed the development of a national biometric identification solution for use by all forces by demonstrating how the devices perform in an operational environment. The pilot will end in the summer of 2010 when the new devices will be rolled out to forces.

About Cogent Systems

Cogent is a global biometric identification solutions provider to governments, law enforcement agencies, and commercial enterprises. Cogent provides the highest quality identification systems, products, and services with leading technology, accuracy, and speed. Cogent’s Automated Fingerprint/Palm Print Identification Systems, or CAFIS, enable customers to capture fingerprint and palm print images electronically, encode prints into searchable files, and accurately compare a set of fingerprints/palm prints to a database containing potentially millions of prints in seconds. For more information, please visit www.cogentsystems.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management’s current estimates and expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Cogent is providing this information as of the date of this press release, and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this press release.

Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, express and implied statements regarding anticipated revenues that may be realized under the NPIA award. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied here. Readers are referred to Cogent’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 filed by Cogent with the Securities and Exchange Commission which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: changes in government policies; uncertain political conditions in international markets; deriving a significant portion of revenues from a limited number of customers; deriving a significant portion of revenues from the sale of solutions pursuant to government contracts; failure to successfully compete; failure to comply with government regulations; negative publicity and/or loss of clients due to security breaches resulting in the disclosure of confidential information; loss of export licenses or changes in export laws; failure to manage projects; rapid technology change in the biometrics market; loss of a key member of management team; termination of backlog orders; loss of limited source suppliers; negative audits by government agencies; failure to protect intellectual property; and exposure to intellectual property and product liability claims. The information contained in this press release is a statement of Cogent’s present intention, belief or expectation and is based upon, among other things, existing industry conditions, market conditions, the economy in general and Cogent’s assumptions. Cogent may change its intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon any changes in such factors, in its assumptions or otherwise. Cogent undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.