North American headquarters to relocate in Reston

Published December 19, 2018 by Robert Powell, III

IDEMIA, a French identification and authentication technology company, will relocate its North American Identity & Security headquarters to Reston from Billerica, Mass.

Virginia competed with Washington, D.C., and Maryland for the project, which is expected to create more than 90 jobs.

Courbevoie, France-based IDEMIA is the result of a 2017 merger combining Oberthur Technologies and Safran Identity and Security.

The company develops, manufactures and markets security technology products and services for the telecommunications, payments and identity markets.

The firm has developed “augmented identity”  technology designed to ensure privacy and authenticate transactions.

IDEMIA’s biometric technology is used by states and many federal agencies, including the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security.

The company provides 80 percent of U.S. driver’s licenses.

IDEMIA’s existing Virginia offices are in Alexandria and Chantilly.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Fairfax County on the project and will support IDEMIA’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP).

IDEMIA has a global workforce of 14,000 employees. The company serves customers in 180 countries working in five customer segments: financial institutions, mobile operators, connected objects, citizen identity and public security.