WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that it will further advance the department’s Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12) goals by awarding contracts to BearingPoint of McLean, Va.; EDS of Herndon, Va.; and XTec, Incorporated of Reston, Va. The three five-year contracts have a total potential value of approximately $180 million.

“Award of these three contracts, in the form of blanket purchase agreements, is the next major step toward meeting our goal in deploying an HSPD-12 compliant credentialing system,” said Elaine Duke, Deputy Under Secretary for Management. “We are doing more than issuing ID cards; we are establishing a common identification credential, in one infrastructure, for technological and physical access across the department.”

The three contracts will support the execution of core services for HSPD-12 implementation and support the issuance of compliant cards for DHS employees and contractors across the department. Each vendor will be required to provide services and equipment to issue Personal Identity Verification cards that meet performance, security, and operational standards.

HSPD-12 calls for a mandatory, government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the federal government to its employees and employees of federal contractors for access to federally-controlled facilities and networks.