GSA details how HSPD-12 interoperability labs will work
- By Jason Miller
- Feb 21, 2006
The General Services Administration outlined the final step vendors must take to get products and services on an approved list for
Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12.
GSA is setting up a
lab to ensure vendors' products and services that meet the National Institute of Standards and Technology's
Federal Information Processing Standard-201 can operate with each other.
In the FIPS-201 Evaluation Program Development-Laboratory
Concept of Operations, GSA describes how the test labs will work and provides an overview of the product and services evaluation process.
'The purpose of this ConOps document is to define the roles, responsibilities, processes and procedures necessary to operate the lab'' the document said. 'In addition, the ConOps discusses the principles and practices underlying lab operations such as privacy, confidentiality, security, and scheduling.'
GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy will authorize the labs, which will be run by the private sector, to evaluate the products and services and retain final approval for what is listed on the approved catalog, the document said.
Vendors should submit their products or services through the Evaluation Program Development Program Management Office Web site once it is online. The labs will evaluate the products and services based on a first-in, first-out basis.