SINGAPORE, Sept. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- More Singapore firms are expected to use biometrics for security purposes, Channel NewsAsia said on Wednesday.

    As more and more companies and organizations in the city state are using biometrics to control access to offices or facilities, analysts believe that the application of this technology in data and network security will be on the rise.

    They hold that the price drop on older biometric applications triggered by higher-end technologies and the adoption of biometrics for cross-border controls by an increasing number of countries will push the trend forward in Singapore.

    The global market in biometrics, which refers to the technology of using measurements of human features such as fingerprint for identification, grew by 67 percent to reach 1.2 billion US dollarslast year.

    Analysts expect that the figure will more than double by 2007. Enditem