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GCN Home > 08/28/06 issue

HSPD-12: It's not all in the cards

While agencies focus on deadline for cards, access control systems are lacking

By Rob Thormeyer, GCN Staff

With the deadline less than two months away, the heavy lifting on Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 is only just beginning.

Though the General Services Administration has awarded a highly anticipated contract for turnkey solutions to help agencies meet the Oct. 27 deadline to begin issuing smart identification cards, federal officials are cautioning agencies not to lose sight of HSPD-12’s broader mandate of better securing the government.

“The goal of [HSPD-12] is not the card, the goal is to improve the protection of the physical and IT assets of the government,” said Michel Kareis, director of GSA’s HSPD-12 program and of its new Managed Services Office. “The card is an enabler to do that."

Under HSPD-12, issued nearly two years ago, agencies must begin issuing interoperable Personal Identity Verification cards for new employees and contractors by Oct. 27. Last year, the mandate required agencies to ensure their processes for issuing credentials and registering employees met the criteria laid out in Federal Information Processing Standard 201 [GCN.com, Quickfind 672].

Struggling to start up

But the operative word is “begin,” as all but a few agencies are struggling to set up the infrastructure needed for card production and issuance. GSA awarded BearingPoint Inc. of McLean, Va., a five-year, $104 million contract to help agencies make the transition. The award was announced Aug. 18.

The Office of Management and Budget has not and will not offer any additional funds to meet the mandate, so several agencies banded together and created an informal working group to share best practices as the deadline neared [GCN.com, Quickfind 671].

OMB has since established an HSPD-12 Executive Steering Committee—a multiagency group formed to oversee agency compliance with the directive—and has worked with GSA to determine how agencies should work together to meet this deadline.

Essentially, agencies participating in GSA’s new Managed Services Office are given something like a free pass—GSA and BearingPoint are responsible for establishing the infrastructure for issuing the smart cards by Oct. 27, and participating agencies are responsible for helping foot the bill.

More news on related topics: IT Security, Authentication / Identity Management, Homeland Security, IT Management



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