During a hearing earlier this week in front of the U.S. House of Representative Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement a representative of the physical access control industry told Congress that more money is needed to take full advantage of the interoperable federal identification card.
Rob Zivney, vice president of marketing for Santa Ana, Calif.-based Hirsch Electronics and chair of the Security Industry Association’s Personal Identification Verification Working Group, testified before the subcommittee on some of the challenges his industry faces when creating products for the new credential.
One of the major problems was not having working PIV II credentials to test with, Zivney said. “Manufacturers need PIV cards to develop products that will use the cards,” he said. “Operational card stock for R&D and testing remains a key priority.”
Zivney also offered the subcommittee some recommendations to help expedite the deployment of cards and physical security systems. He suggested that the White House Office of Management and Budget create a physical security team to coordinate efforts with the private sector on HSPD-12. OMB should also come up with a timeline for implementing physical security system associated with HSPD-12, he said.
“We have progressed to date with an ‘unfunded mandate’ for PIV-1 and PIV II,” he says “However, physical access control systems are outside of that scope, and as such have neither funding nor a mandate. The requested policy must recognize that the PIV card is not compatible with most installed PACS currently in use and that the PACS will have to be, at a minimum, upgraded or, most likely, need to be replaced.”
For more from the hearing click here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/archive-4.gif)
