Gemalto strikes again with HSPD-12 deal

Published 28 November 2006

Company teams up with Intercede to provide card management services to an unnamed but important executive branch agency; deal another notch in the belt for this high-flying firm not satisfied with mastering the ePassport market

Gemalto’s ID & Security unit is running strong these days, having recently reported a a 19 percent increase in sales to €42 million — the direct result of the company’s efforts to corner the European market in electronic passports. As we have reported frequently — yes, we like this company — Gemalto has signed deals with France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Singapore, Denmark, and Holland. Now we hear the globetrotting company has got its fingers in the HSPD-12 pie with a card management contract for a mysteriously characterized “highest ranking agency within the U.S. Executive Branch of Government.” The deal was easily won, perhaps because U.S. officials are aware of the company’s reputation. More than twelve million of the company’s microprocessor-based smart cards are in use today by several agencies, including the Department of Defense, which has deployed eleven million Common Access Cards (CAC) supplied by Gemalto.

Under the contract, Gemalto will deploy its FIPS 201 compliant

SafesITe Government Platform, including: FIPS 201 72K Dual Interface Smart ID badges and applet for physical and IT access, SafesITe FIPS 201 client API middleware, FIPS 201 Card Management System (CMS), consulting, design and implementation services, and customer support. Leicestershire, United Kingdom-based Intercede will install the system within Gemalto’s SafesITe Government solution.

-read more in this company news release