The Interagency Advisory Board (IAB), made up of smart card leaders from major U.S. federal agencies, unanimously voted to approve SP800-73 – a key specification for the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) project. PIV refers to the implementation of smart card and biometric-enabled ID credentials for all government employees. It was mandated by the President in a document titled, Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD12).

View the full article at SecureIDNews.com

The Smart Card Alliance, has launched the Physical Access Council made up of government and industry leaders. The Council’s goal is to increase adoption of smart cards for physical access and address some of the key issues that organizations have in deploying physical access system technology.

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

Security access provider ActivCard Corp., has announced its planned support of HSPD-12 with FIPS 201 certified applets, card management and client software based on open standards. System integrators and government clients will be able to integrate the ActivCard products with other functional components to provide a complete HSPD 12 solution.

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

Imaging and biometrics software provider Aware, Inc. will be introducing its new software solution designed to aid developers in complying with the FIPS 201 personal identity verification standards for federal employee ID cards. A demonstration will be held during the Smart Card Alliance’s e-government conference March 9-11.

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

The Smart Card Alliance has released the agenda for it March Smart Cards in eGovernment conference. Highlighted presenters include Judith Spencer, chair of the federal credentialing committee of the GSA; Larry Jellen, general manager for the security and intelligent document unit of the GPO; Rob Atkinson, vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute; and John Moore of GSA.

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

Curious what to get your significant other for Valentine’s Day? How about a copy of your comments to the revised Personal Identity Verification spec (NIST 800-73) as the deadline is February 14. The highly-anticipated revised draft was released today. Addressing the controversy that engulfed the previous version, the revision is “compatible with both file system and virtual machine cards. It provides a streamlined, ISO compliant unified card edge independent of the underlying card platform technology.”

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

With the U.S. government turning into the biggest customer for smart card technology–thanks to a huge push from President Bush–the Smart Card Alliance’s fourth annual smart cards in government conference in Washington, D.C. is coming at an ideal time.

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

The influential Federal Smart Card Project Managers Group will meet again on Thursday January 13 at 9:30-Noon in Washington D.C. The group is key to cross-agency efforts related to identity management, smart cards, and credentialing. For anyone involved in these issues at the U.S. government level, these meetings are a “must.”

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com

The FIPS 201 Federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) draft and related documents have been posted by the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) for comment. Visit the NIST website for the latest draft and more information at http://csrc.nist.gov/piv-project/fips201-support-docs.html. The comment period closes on December 23, 2004.

As previously reported in SecureID News, FIPS 201 is being developed in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 and seeks to establish a identity verification framework for federal agencies and their employees.

Keeping tabs on the U.S. federal government’s smart card progress is tough. Memorize a list of acronyms today and they are likely to become old news as new agencies and initiatives take precedence. Though somewhat frustrating, this is a very positive indicator of the rapid progress being made as the U.S. federal government’s smart card approach matures. In recent weeks, this progress has been further expedited by a Presidential Directive (HSPD-12), a national standardization effort (FIPS 201), and progress toward a potential international standard (ISO 24727).

Read the full article at SecureIDNews.com