Lockheed Martin’s solution receives GSA approval for HSPD-12 compliance

Bethesda, Maryland-based defense contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) received approval from the General Services Administration (GSA) to help federal agencies comply with HSPD-12, a homeland security mandate to create a standard biometric identification card for all federal workers. Specifically, the GSA approved the company’s BioUnique Identity framework after the solution was shown to government agencies as part of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

GSA approval allows Lockheed Martin to supply government agencies with its identification and access management technology, although agencies are not obligated to use Lockheed Martin’s systems. Federal agencies can select individual products or services or the entire Lockheed Martin system. Smaller agencies can use a managed service agreement with multiple agencies.

Lockheed Martin brings considerable experience to task of HSPD-12 compliance: The company designed, developed, deployed, and maintains the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which is the world’s largest law enforcement and criminal history database (it contains more than 500 million fingerprints). The company is also the lead systems integrator on Verified Identity Pass’s Registered Traveler program, currently in operation at Orlando International Airport. Lockheed Martin is responsible for the enrollment, biometrics capture, and access control systems that give credentialed individuals expedited access through airport security checkpoints.

Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.