The task is proving more complex and time-consuming than many expected. For example, federal agencies are grappling with the interoperability standard that will determine which technologies are appropriate for the governmentwide smart-card program. The delay in establishing the standard has led many agencies to approach smart cards cautiously with pilot projects or to stand aside while the Defense Department and other agencies take the lead.
Smart cards look like credit cards, but they are embedded with microchips.
They can be used as sophisticated identification cards to enter buildings, personal computers and networks, but they also can be used for more elaborate applications involving sensitive information, such as health records, financial information, even digital signatures. Smart cards themselves are the least expensive component and simplest to replace. Because smart-card technology is relatively new among federal agencies, government officials are moving slowly as they try to measure its precise costs and benefits, said Steve Peterson, program manager of the Advanced Card Technology Center for Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Texas. EDS is one of five prime contractors winning a place on GSA's Smart Access Common ID Card contract, awarded in May 2000. The Defense Department is taking the lead in implementing smart-card solutions, with its plan to issue up to 4 million cards to military personnel, reserves, civilian employees and contractors at some 900 sites worldwide by the end of 2002.