Government Smart Card Initiative Behind Schedule

An initiative to unify physical access to government facilities is -- not surprisingly -- behind schedule. And it's not just because, as you might expect, due to the usual bureaucracy and red tape in government.

This is an interesting account of how different government agencies are handling their HSPD-12 initiative, whose deadline passed Oct. 27. They mention how the Department of Defense, which recently installed another system, will basically have to tear it out and replace it to be HSPD-12 compliant.

But, again, it's not just about bureaucratic snafus. This is also a fascinating story about a gradual approach to merging physical and logical security and the use of smart cards to simplify access to facilities. It's something worth following for all you identity junkies. There's something in there for everyone: smart cards with a touch of biometrics and more.

I first wrote about this in one of my Ask The Expert columns for TechTarget a year ago. I'm their resident identity and access management ATE.