If you don't need a full-blown, FIPS 201-compliant PIV card like those being tested in Summer Breeze-like trials, the recently established Tiers of Trust Consortium may have an alternative solution. It was created to provide a lower cost smart ID card without all the bells and whistles that FIPS 201 requires.

"While this regulation (FIPS 201) serves a number of worthwhile goals, the implementations to date have created difficulties with the budgets within first responder groups, making compliance a lengthy and costly process," said Howard A. Schmidt, former U.S. cybersecurity advisor who now heads up the consortium. "Our goal is to enable first responders to meet the federal requirements at a fraction of the cost..."