GSA Smart Cards: GSA : More Than 18000 Smart Cards to be Issued as Part of Federal ...

From PR Newswire (press release) ... 18,000 Smart Cards will be issued to GSA associates and contractors in GSA owned and leased facilities as part of the federal Smart Card initiative, according ...

GSA is a centralized federal procurement and property management agency created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help federal agencies better serve the public. It acquires, on behalf of federal agencies, office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. GSA, comprised of 13,000 associates, provides services and solutions for the office operations of over 1 million federal workers located in more than 8,000 government-owned and leased buildings in 2,000 U.S. communities. GSA provides federal, civilian and military agencies with interoperable smart card solutions through its Smart Access Common ID contract. The contract provides a full range of services to customer agencies seeking to implement smart card programs. Smart cards contain integrated circuit chips that perform computer functions with the added features of portability and enhanced security. Smart cards can have multiple applications on a single card. Major uses include: Employee identification and authentication, Physical security, Building security, Storage of biometric information, Secure access to the Internet, and Secure transactions over the Internet...

GSA’s Center for Smart Card Solutions, provides assistance to federal agencies in implementing smart card projects. The Center has a group of smart card technical and program experts that can provide full service and assistance to federal civilian and military organizations.