E-authentication gets a new focus

Agency sources confirmed that OMB’s budget guidance passed back to agencies detailed how much each department would contribute for every e-government project, and E-Authentication is taking one of the biggest hits.

Last year, the General Services Administration, which runs E-Authentication, collected about $10.5 million to run the program office, according to an OMB report to Congress on e-government in March. Every agency except GSA kicked in $450,000; GSA paid $631,000.

For 2007, OMB told agencies to contribute less for two main reasons: Because of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, the administration no longer considers E-Authentication as necessary for internal agency applications as it once did, and officials want to move it to a fee-for-service model by 2008.

HSPD-12 requires agencies to issue smart identification cards to employees and contractors. Each card includes a digital certificate, which could be used for physical and logical access. Agencies are spending millions of dollars setting up the infrastructure to handle HSPD-12 cards.

"This is not a static world. … We look at all requirements and all the planned activities, and we map that against the planned priorities."
Karen Evans, OMB

“Internally, HSPD-12 has replaced E-Authentication,” said a government official who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the budget guidance. “Agencies are not demanding e-authentication for applications.”

This is the second refocusing of E-Authentication. In 2003, OMB abandoned the idea of a centralized gateway and went with a federated approach.

While White House officials would not comment on the program’s budget, Carol Bales, OMB’s E-Authentication portfolio manger, said there is overlap between the two initiatives.

“We are in the process of establishing a business model team that is going to look at both of those initiatives to see what changes are necessary with respect to the E-Authentication processes,” Bales said. “Now that agencies have experience in implementing e-authentication, we are turning our attention to the kinds of services that are really in high demand by the public. Building e-authentication into high-volume, high-visibility online services that the public depends on is really where e-authentication will prove its value.”

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