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Analyst Handicaps U.S. Government ID Race February 13, 2007 A close observer of the U.S. government ID card project is putting his money on BearingPoint to beat out Lockheed Martin for a five-year contract to help U.S. government agencies issue new smart card IDs carrying fingerprint biometric data. Jeremy Grant, an analyst with Stanford Equity Research, estimates the contract will be worth $60 million to $70 million. He expects BearingPoint will cut its prices to win the contract, now that Lockheed Martin has won a $70 million contract to issue another U.S. government smart card ID, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded that contract last month, and a rollout of the biometric smart cards to some 750,000 port workers is planned over a 15-month period beginning in March. Grant notes that BearingPoint had won an earlier contract from the General Services Administration offer smart card enrollment and issuing services, a deal that would have been worth $104 million if GSA had exercised all its extension options. But GSA announced last fall that it would not exercise its option to extend that contract, following protests from other vendors. Grant estimates 400,000 U.S. government workers will use the GSA facility to obtain their smart card IDs, part of a broader rollout of a standard smart card that every U.S. government agency should be able to read to verify an individual’s identity and access privileges. Several federal agencies will use the GSA system, while others, notably the huge Department of Defense have their own card-issuance and management systems. Grant says at least six companies in all are expected to compete for the GSA contract. Grant identifies several other companies as competing for portions of the GSA smart card program contract. For instance, he expects L-1 Identity Solutions will offer its fingerprint enrollment software and scanners, competing with Cross Match on the hardware side and Imageware Systems for the software component. Ultimately, several million U.S. government employees and contractors with access to government facilities are expected to carry the standard smart card ID that was mandated by a presidential order known as HSPD-12 signed by President George Bush in August 2004. The TWIC program has moved even more slowly. First proposed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, backers originally hoped that it would cover more than 10 million workers in ports, airports, rail and trucking facilities and other transportation centers. However operators of those facilities, most of which had existing access control systems, objected to the cost, and the program has been scaled back to cover workers who can move around U.S. ports without an escort. The program remains controversial, in part because workers who may be in the country illegally or who have run afoul of the law fear they will not pass the mandatory background check. The government seems to be preparing for a significant turnover in port workers covered by the program. Officials say they expect to issue 850,000 cards in the first phase of the program, 100,000 above the 750,000 individuals presumably covered by TWIC. Those extra cards would go to new employees, including those hired to replace those who fail background. The government has set a fee of $137.25 for the TWIC card, which will be valid for five years. For those who have already undergone background checks to obtain merchant marine, hazardous materials or other licenses the fee will be reduced to $105.25. (2007-02-08) |
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