Federal smart ID cards come with disruptions.

An effort to strengthen and standardize identification cards will bring headaches to federal agencies, but those in charge of steering the process vow to make it as smooth as possible.

The creation of the ID cards, mandated in August by President George W. Bush via Homeland Security Executive Directive-12, has adhered thus far to its abbreviated timeline, according to Curt Barker, who manages the creation of common requirements for the cards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

A process that normally takes two years has been accomplished in six months, he added. The cards will be used by all federal employees and selected contractors. Designed to possess common standards, the IDs will work at the doorways of all federal facilities.

Agencies will be called on to adopt new cards by October. They will be based on standards released in late February. The credentials will feature a microprocessor with identifying data on it, and will employ biometrics to validate that the holders are who they claim to be.

By consolidating purchasing, the government hopes to keep costs down. Each agency must foot the bill for its portion of the work.

Some agencies will be building smart card access control systems from scratch, while others have robust systems in place. It is not clear which organization will have an easier time meeting the standards: agencies building new systems or those asked to reconfigure their existing ones.

The Defense Department built its smart card program years ago, and officials acknowledge this early work paved the way for the government-wide program. "Most of the lessons were learned by the Defense Department," Spencer said. "There will be pain, but the goal is to manage that pain."

Mary Dixon, deputy director of the defense manpower data center at the Pentagon, said four million employees in defense agencies, including all services, have cards that nearly match the NIST standards.

"We can't federate until we trust," she noted. Still, Dixon said the directive was worth the disruption and cost. "We support the goals of HSPD-12," she said. "We understand we'll have to make changes and we're prepared to do so."