The General Services Administration is planning a big procurement of smart-card employee IDs. It will soon issue a request for proposals to systems integrators for turnkey solutions.

Officials made the announcement at last week's IMRCO conference in Virginia. It comes on the heels of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential project out of Homeland Security.

GCN.com reports, Federal Information Processing Standard 201, developed for a biometric smart card, will be used for the new cards. About 20 vendors have submitted products. They are now undergoing testing and validation to prove compliance to the standard.

David Temoshok is the director of identity policy and management for GSA. He says that under the upcoming solicitation, vendors will submit their qualifications to provide products and services. It all comes under the under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12.

Once is qualifies the vendors, GSA will attempt to aggregate orders to obtain economies of scale and lower prices for ID cards.

For more, visit Government Computer News online at GCN.com.

The Homeland Security Department is working with the State Department to develop a single biometric card and reader to handle multiple requirements for secure border crossings. That's from Secretary Michael Chertoff who spoke at a travel conference last week.

The goal is to harmonize three initiatives that each have their own separate cards. First is the upcoming People Access Security Service card, or PASS card. PASS cards are intended for use by frequent border crossers.

Second is the Free and Secure Trade commercial truck driver identification card. Third is a rapid inspection card for Canadians.

Travelers who are members of all three card programs will continue to receive the benefits, Chertoff said. But DHS needs to unify the three individual programs into a single comprehensive one. DHS officials hope to deploy card readers that would let a standard card respond in different ways, depending on the individual and his or her security requirements.

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The Homeland Security Department is seeking contractors for the fourth phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

Under this project, DHS will enroll 850,000 port, dock, transit and other transportation workers.

Before it picks a contractor, the department's Transportation Security Administration wants contractors to submit their qualifications. Those deemed qualified will receive the request for proposals for phase IV of TWIC. Department officials expect the RFPs to go out in early May, expected to be released by May 8. Proposals are due with a July 31st award.

GCN.com reports, the TWIC credentialing program will feature biometrics, public-key infrastructure and other technology for more secure physical and logical access. It also includes a centralized database known as the ID Management System.

The contractor must be able to verify the identity of each TWIC applicant, complete a background check, issue the credential and quickly revoke privileges to workers identified as threats.

For more, visit Government Computer News online at GCN.com.