Impact of HSPD-12 will take time

It will be some time before the US government feels the full impact of implementing Homeland Security Presidential Directive- (HSPD) 12, says Government Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board chairman Mike Butler in a GCN article.

It will take at least two years before every agency employee is issued a new identification card, and Butler says it could take longer than that before everything comes together. "In the long term, we won`t understand the success until months and months from now," says Butler.

The General Services Administration brought on Butler, who also serves as the chief of the defence department`s smart card programmes, to help the civilian agencies grapple with HSPD-12, and their upcoming deadline to have the ability to issue new smart ID cards by 27 October.

With that deadline literally days away, he is cautiously optimistic - but optimistic nonetheless - that not only will most agencies comply, but the new ID cards will make the government safer and more secure, and bring about all kinds of innovations that have yet to be fathomed.

The US Department of Defense and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have chosen a smart card authentication product from ActivIdentity as the US government faces a deadline for using new identity cards.

The US Army and Air Force have chosen ActivIdentity`s desktop software package ActivClient 6.0 to authenticate holders of current and next-generation smart cards as they log into departmental computers and networks. The military branches will use ActivClient to comply with US president George Bush`s HSPD-12, which requires US agencies to begin issuing biometric-based smart cards by Friday.

ActivIdentity didn`t disclose the value of the contract, but company officials said the five-year agreement was awarded to ActivIdentity and systems integrator Electronic Data Systems, through the US Government Services Administration. The contract will provide smart card access to all of the department`s 3.5 million military members and contractors, ActivIdentity said.

Banks and credit card companies issued just over 35 million smart cards worldwide that comply with the international EMV standard during the first six months of 2006, a decrease from the previous six months. But banks and merchants are installing EMV-compliant point-of-sale terminals and ATMs at a growing rate.

The figures, released by EMVCo, the organisation that maintains the standard, show card issuance had slowed from last year, when banks and other financial institutions issued more than 75 million chip-based credit and debit cards alone during the second half of 2005. They issued another 65 million during the first six months of 2005.

But the figures showed installation of POS terminals and ATMs grew at a fast clip, with the roll-out of 1.8 million terminals during the first six months of 2006. That`s double the number of EMV-enabled terminals deployed during the last six months of 2005 and more than the 1.4 million terminals banks and merchants rolled out during all of 2005.