The adoption of smart cards throughout federal agencies is
steadily increasing according to a new report from the Government
Accountability Office.
It said the integrated circuit chip technology — used to store
a range of data and authenticate users for buildings and
computer systems — has been advanced by agencies such as Office
of Management and Budget, the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, and the General Services Administration.
As of June 2004, 15 federal agencies reported 34 ongoing smart
card projects, and agencies are steadily moving away from
small-scale projects to agency-wide initiatives involving
sometimes millions of users, according to GAO-05-84T.
It said agencies are steadily moving away from small-scale projects
to agency-wide initiatives involving sometimes millions of users.
There are lesser management and technical challenges to
implementing smart card projects, said GAO, “because of increased
management concerns about securing federal facilities and because
technical advances have improved the capabilities and cost
effectiveness of smart card systems.”
It cited “One-VA Identification” smart card as one of the larger
scale projects, which the Department of Veterans Affairs is rolling
out agency-wide to “authenticate users with certainty and grant
them access to information systems essential to accomplishing the
agency
