Security specialist Core Systems sees U.S. prisons as opportunity

industry and making them aware of what we do, and often that would end with a site visit because they can really see the value of what we have achieved,” she says.

Core Systems is unlike a normal software supply business in other respects too. “You can’t really get in to service the product the way you would in a leisure center or a hospital. We physically can’t go into the area. So we have designed systems that have as little downtime as possible, but can also be easily reset by someone with little training,” says O’Hagan. She adds that the nearest parallels are with the space industry. Indeed, Core Systems in collaboration with the University of Ulster’s school of autonomics, which studies autonomous systems — “self-aware” systems that can take remedial action if something goes wrong — has presented papers at NASA. “In space they need systems that are as close to 100 per cent reliable as possible, because they can’t get anyone to fix them for them. That’s similar to a prison,” says O’Hagan.

Core Systems’ main product is control access software that uses fingerprint, iris, and facial matching to allow prison authorities to identify individual inmates and control their movements. “Biometrics is a much stronger identification method than a token or swipe card, which is transferable — one person drops it and another can pick it up and assume the identity assigned to the card. Biometrics utilize physical attributes or behaviors that are unique to a person and are not so easily transferred or copied,” says O’Hagan.

The company supplies prison services in the United Kingdom and in the Irish Republic. This year it expects sales of £1.6-£1.8 million, but expects its push into the United States to help it expand revenue to £5 million within a couple of years. It believes potential growth could reach tens of millions of dollars. The number of people in the company has grown to 23, up from 18 a year ago, mostly working on technology development and support.

O’Hagan says the company is going to the United States initially with a lower-risk product — “something that is not related to the security of the prison, an administrative tool. But we hope to sell on the back of that.” The product is an electronic kiosk, which uses a simple hand sensor to allow inmates to access personalized information about visitor times, release dates and personal health information, as well as how much credit they have to spend at the prison shop. “Requesting information from a prison officer can sometimes be a frustrating interaction for the inmate. But this system frees up the prison officers’ time. It also empowers the inmates to seek out information and make decisions for themselves,” says O’Hagan. It has been designed to be accessible to inmates with low literacy skills and little IT experience.

O’Hagan admits this might not be a great time to enter any market, particularly the United States. “But, because we are at pilot stage, the current financial crisis is not adversely affecting us. We would like to have established a reputation by the time we move out of the current recession.”