Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council Focuses on Government Implementations in its Second Year

Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council Focuses on Government Implementations in its Second Year

Council announces second year successes, new officers, upcoming initiatives

Princeton Junction, NJ, June 22, 2007–The U.S. government’s migration to new physical access control systems (PACS) to be used with federally mandated FIPS 201 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart cards was the top priority for the Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council last year. The Council today announced second year successes, new officers and upcoming projects. The Physical Access Council brings together government and industry leaders within the Alliance to provide guidance to organizations on how to implement smart card-based physical access control systems.

The Council once again achieved excellent participation, with members representing a broad cross-section of the industry, including government agencies, chip, card and software manufacturers, reader manufacturers, physical access control system manufacturers, systems integrators and biometrics solutions providers.

“The success of the Physical Access Council is a result of Smart Card Alliance members’ willingness to jump in and address all of the latest issues surrounding physical access control in the government and enterprise,” said Dwayne Pfeiffer, Northrop Grumman and exiting chair of the Council. “Their enthusiasm, along with collaboration with other industry groups and work groups, was key in making this past year so productive.”

Some of the groups the Physical Access Council collaborated with in its second year were the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA) and the Security Industry Association (SIA). Also, the Council provided input to the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) work group and the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) Physical Security Migration Integrated Project Team.

The Council was highly active in providing educational resources to assist in implementing FIPS 201 PIV cards for physical access, all available at /activities-councils-physical-access. This includes two publications: “FIPS 201 PIV II Card Use with Physical Access Control Systems: Recommendations to Optimize Transaction Time and User Experience” and “Considerations for the Migration of Existing Physical Access Control Systems to Achieve FIPS 201 Compatibility.”

The Council also participated in the ISC West conference in March, leading the panel Migration of PACS Based on the Impact of Government HSPD-12, and demonstrating a dual-interface FIPS 201 PIV card, showing its use for both physical and IT access.

“The upcoming year is going to be important in terms of government agencies’ beginning major installations of smart card-based physical access systems, as well as integrating them with IT access systems,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “The Council’s educational resources provide recommendations and guidance to help users achieve a smooth transition from existing systems.”

The Physical Access Council also provides guidance to government organizations on technologies used for physical access. This included responses to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on fingerprint match-on-card implementation evaluation, the NMSAC on TWIC biometric reader recommendation and to the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) for its HSPD-12 Physical Security Migration Strategy Report.

“In the upcoming year, the Council will continue to work with NIST, ISC, government agencies and other industry associations to resolve issues with FIPS 201 implementation, as well as to develop best practices for using FIPS 201 PIV cards for physical access,” said new Physical Access Council Chair Roger Roehr, Tyco.

The Council elected new officers and steering committee representatives in May. New Physical Access Council officers are:

  • Chair: Roger Roehr, Tyco
  • Vice chair: Bob Merkert, SCM Microsystems
  • Secretary: Lolie Kull, EDS

New steering committee representatives are:

  • Tim Baldridge, NASA
  • Sal D’Agostino, CoreStreet
  • Bob Gilson, Department of Defense/ Defense Manpower Data Center
  • Walter Hamilton, Identification Technology Partners
  • Don Malloy, Innovative Card Technologies
  • Dwayne Pfeiffer, Northrop Grumman
  • Steve Rogers, Integrated Engineering
  • Lars Suneborn, Hirsch Electronics

The Physical Access Council is open to participation from any organization that joins the Alliance and the Council. For more information, please visit https://www.securetechalliance.org.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the United States and Latin America. For more information, please visit https://www.securetechalliance.org.