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The President’s Goal: The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 1998, "The Administration wants to adopt ‘smartcard’ technology so that, ultimately, every employee will be able to use one card for a wide range of purposes, including travel, small purchases, and building access."

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GSA’s Goals (General Services Administration)

It is the Administration’s goal to use smartcard-based systems to improve a wide range of the Government’s business processes and advance electronic commerce on a government wide basis. In planning to meet this broad goal, the Administration has set the goal for all employees to be empowered to use a single access smartcard for a wide range of purposes by the year 2001. To meet this goal, the following strategic milestones will be accomplished:

By June 1997: Treasury and GSA will initiate pilots to provide for intragovernmental transactions using the Government’s purchase card and the Treasury USA card. The pilots will determine the optimal business practices for a standard service to be part of the new purchase card contracts effective November 1998.

By July 1997: The Government will partner with private industry to advance the development and implementation of multi-application card services by creating a Government and industry representative forum (e.g., the Government/Industry Consortium of the Smartcard Forum, the National Automated Clearinghouse Association) to: 1) share information and technology; 2) build a common, interoperable multi-application card platform ; 3) develop standard applications for Government business needs; 4) disseminate information to Government on the Government and industry card and technology initiatives; 5) create an ongoing Government/industry education program on card services and new technologies.

By October 1997: GSA will implement a pilot program to test using smartcards to maintain and generate digital signatures to support electronic commerce and a wide range of the Government’s business processes using the Internet and other electronic networks to gain system access.

By January 1998: GSA will make contract awards for the new card service programs -- travel, fleet, and purchase card services -- offering integrated multi-application card services, using hybrid and smartcards. Those card services will offer the capability to acquire smartcard systems, the capability for card-based digital signatures certificate maintenance, and perform intragovernmental transactions. A consolidated business line that integrates each of the three business lines will be pilot tested and evaluated to determine efficiencies in costs and agency business processes.

By January 1998: The Government will be operating smartcard pilot projects to prototype smartcard applications for a wide range of the Government’s business processes and electronic commerce: building access, card-based digital signature generation, inventory management and controls, stored value and e-purse applications, Internet purchasing, secure electronic mail messaging, and electronic document processing. These pilot applications will be available to Federal agencies as standard applications to coincide with the new card service programs effective November 1998.