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GCN Home > 07/17/06 issue

Grants.gov gets set for E-Authentication

Initiative will put registration process under user control

By Mary Mosquera, GCN Staff

Grants.gov is expanding the choice of credential service providers for agencies and users that post their grant opportunities and apply for federal money online.

Agencies will have three federally approved credential providers from which to choose their authentication services beginning Aug. 30. Grants.gov will be the first major e-government initiative to adopt the federal E-Authentication model.

Now, under the federal E-Authentication initiative, the process to certify an individual’s identity will be more efficient, said Terry Nicolosi, deputy program manager for Grants.gov.

Individuals will manage their own authentication instead of Grants.gov handling the establishing of credentials.

The governmentwide grants management site has been preparing since early this year to phase in grant-making agencies to use additional providers available through the federal E-Authentication initiative.

“This will affect agency users, but not agency systems, and only enhances the functionality of the Grants.gov site,” Nicolosi said.

Starting in fiscal 2005, OMB said, all agencies must have at least one application using e-authentication services and one in this year. An OMB official said 13 agencies met the requirement by as of this month, and more are working on it. Overall, nine applications use e-authentication services.

E-Authentication is considered by many to be the main cog in the e-government machine: It gives users a single log-on password and can help Web sites conduct transactions. It eliminates the need for each program to develop a new or duplicative application for identity verification and electronic signatures.

After agencies have started using the approved credential providers, Grants.gov will prepare end users, or grantees, to choose from among credential providers in August 2007.

Until now, Grants.gov has used a single e-authentication provider, Operational Research Consultants Inc. of Fairfax, Va.

Grants.gov allows agencies to electronically post and manage grant applications from its site, and those seeking grants to apply through the portal. OMB has given agencies the goal this year of posting 75 percent of their grant application packages on Grants.gov, Nicolosi said.

More news on related topics: Authentication / Identity Management, Lines of Business, Management, IT Management, Web Strategies



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