FEDERAL SMART CARD IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ...

From Electronic Processes Initiatives Committee ...

... "To facilitate the implementation of the NPR/GITSB recommendations, the President's Management Council and its Electronic Processing Initiatives Committee (EPIC) have prepared this strategic plan, which presents a framework for the governmentwide implementation of smart card technology to achieve widespread electronic commerce; provide federal employees and public customers responsive, reliable, and secure electronic access to government information and services; and bolster federal agency reengineering efforts. To accomplish these goals, this plan describes the critical governmentwide actions that will lead to a smart card supported electronic government, and it presents a framework within which federal agencies and private industry can together begin to build a smart card foundation for the future." ...

Summary: The smart card generated digital signature offers the government an entrance ramp for the efficient use of the National Information Infrastructure as a federal electronic business highway. It will establish the basis by which federal business systems can be converted from inefficient, stovepipe, and paperbound processes into efficient, interoperable and electronic processes. It presents the opportunity for re-engineering the way we do business, so that the government will be able to substantially reduce its operating costs while improving the delivery of services to its citizens.