Interior moving ahead with HSPD-12 offerings
Connecting state and local government leaders
The Interior Department's National Business Center will name a winner within the next week to support the agency's Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 shared-services offerings.
The Interior Department's National Business Center will name a winner within the next week to support the agency's Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 shared-services offerings, two key officials said.
Once a winner is named, the agency will plot out a 10-month strategy for issuing Personal Identity Verification cards for itself and its estimated 10 agency customers, although the officials said that they will meet the upcoming Oct. 27 deadline for agencies to begin issuing the cards.
'We will be complying with [the Office of Management and Budget's] Oct. 27 mandate,' said John Nyce, assistant director of administrative operations at NBC, after a presentation today at the Interagency Smart Card Advisory Board meeting in Washington.
NBC issued a solicitation for an HSPD-12 integrator in July and is expected to make an award over the next several days, Nyce said.
Nyce said NBC envisions providing a holistic approach to HSPD-12 services, meaning that the agency will not stop at just issuing the cards but rather help integrate card management systems within its customer agencies. Because the agency already serves as a shared-services provider under the Human Resources Line of Business consolidation initiative, Nyce said, NBC is uniquely positioned to help agencies meet the mandate.
Under this approach, NBC will issue a proof of concept for its plan four months after a winner is named. Over the following six months, the agency will run a pilot production program before fully rolling out its solution.
NBC officials acknowledged the tight time frame, but said they expect to begin issuing PIV cards by the Oct. 27 date. 'We will do everything in our power with the [winning] contractor to make sure' NBC complies with the mandate, said Myra Freilich, NBC's HRLOB deputy program manager.
Meanwhile, Nyce said talks with the General Services Administration over combining GSA's HSPD-12 Managed Service Office with the NBC solution were continuing.
Although no formal agreements have been reached, Nyce said that at this point, discussions were focusing on having NBC use GSA's enrollment stations as a means of cutting costs and streamlining the card enrollment process.
Nyce would not expand on the discussions when approached after the meeting.
NEXT STORY: DHS taps Garcia to fill cybersecurity post