Letter of Interest (LOI) Abstract: Credential and Authentication Services

	The Government of Canada is now providing funding so that potential suppliers can access electronic documentation relating to federal opportunities on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) free of charge. GETS supports the federal government’s sustainable development practices as it encourages moving procurement from a paper-based to an expanded electronic service.
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Credential and Authentication Services

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Header

	Reference Number	PW-$$XK-102-18053
	Solicitation Number	EN869-090305/A
	Organization Name	Public Works and Government Services Canada Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada
	Source ID	FD.DP.QC.10077.C2
	Associated Components	Yes

Dates

	Published	2008-07-23
	Revised	2008-08-08
	Closing	2008-09-15 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight Saving Time EDT

Details

	Category	Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
	GSINS	R019BF: HUMAN RESOURCE, ORGANIZATIONAL & PROJECT MANAGEMENT (SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT ISS)
	Region of Delivery	Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, National Capital Region, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Foreign
	Region of Opportunity
	Agreement Type	WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT
	Tender Type	Letter of Interest (LOI)
	Estimated Value
	Solicitation Method

Notice Description

	Credential and Authentication Services Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid Attachment: None Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Nature of Requirements: Credential and Authentication Services EN869-09-1202 McAninch, Dave Telephone: (819) 956-1071 Facsimile (819) 956-8303 1. Objective of this Request for Information THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP). This request for information (RFI) is designed: · To assess the maturity of the market for these services and the impact of competition on current and future pricing trends; · To solicit information about current and future commercial and/or non-commercial credential and authentication products and/or services; · To assess the feasibility and/or level of interest from commercial and non-commercial providers of web-based services such as banks, on-line retailers and others for entering into an authentication federation and/or partnering arrangement with the Government of Canada (GC); · To assess the extent to by which Canadian privacy protection requirements can be supported by commercial services and products; · To solicit information on the most effective use of technology standards to facilitate service adoption and achieve widespread interoperability; · To solicit information from all IT industry sectors on their assessment of the evolving threat environment and the direction in which they are evolving their credential and authentication services to counter these increasing threats; and · To assess the level of vendor interest in responding to one or more formal RFPs for commercial and/or non-commercial credential and authentication products and/or services. The RFI process includes both an invitation to a briefing session and a request for written responses related to the materials to be presented at the briefing session. Further consultation sessions may be held. 2. Background The GC currently operates a number of credential and authentication services: · The current External Credential Management (ECM) service, or the epass service offered through the Secure Channel, issues public-key infrastructure (PKI) certificates to individuals and businesses. Clients use this service to conduct a wide range of business activities online such as paying for federal government services, applying for passports and accessing personal income tax information; · The Internal Credential Management (ICM) service, previously known as Secure Application and Key Management Service, is a service that provides PKI certificates to government staff for use with internal government applications and other services requiring authentication; and · As well, there are numerous credentials issued and maintained by individual departments for use with their own applications and services. Since implementing these services, technology solutions have advanced and security threats have increased such that the services must now evolve. The Information Technology Services Branch of PWGSC is developing a roadmap and strategic plan to implement a next-generation portfolio of credential, authentication, identity and access management services. Key aspects of this roadmap will include: · Eliminating policy, contractual and technology barriers that separate externally-facing credential and authentication services used by citizens and businesses and internally-facing services used by government staff, contractors and agents of the GC; · Implementing the infrastructure to support a federated approach to identity and access management with support over time for multiple credential, authentication and identity providers; · Normalizing and evolving the existing collection of both internally-facing and externally-facing GC credential services to reduce duplication, leverage new technologies, and support multiple assurance levels; and · Adopting industry standard protocols and interfaces between providers and relying party applications in order to provide services that are as easy to integrate with as possible. In 2007-08, Treasury Board Secretariat completed the Cyber-Authentication Renewal Project, a federal interdepartmental initiative that defines a new approach to authentication for the GC. This project is an initial step towards achieving a desired state for the GC that gives departments and agencies flexibility to determine appropriate authentication solutions for their programs and services while ensuring the privacy and security of Canadians. The GC is seeking information from industry in order to help determine the best approach to implementing a new generation of credential and authentication services to enable secure online transactions with, and within, the Federal Government. The desire is to implement and integrate these services within an overall federation framework. In order to meet its objectives, the GC is considering several options such as: 1. Using the contracts and other capabilities now in place to extend or evolve the existing set of services toward the new vision; 2. Establishing a federation layer on top of the various departmental solutions in place or under development, to enable government-wide use; 3. Pursuit of authentication federation partnering arrangements with industry; or 4. Subscribing to one or more commercial credential and authentication services that will evolve with technology and the security threat landscape. 3. Possible Business Relationships The GC is interested in exploring both traditional and non-traditional approaches for leveraging Industry capabilities to best meet our business needs. Some of the possible options for doing so might be: · The GC could enter into one or more supply arrangements with multiple commercial service providers for the acquisition of services on an as-needed basis; · The GC could enter into a contract with a prime contractor, single consortium or system integrator who would serve as a strategic partner for a specified number of years; · The GC could enter into one or more partnering arrangements or joint ventures with industry groups or consortia who share similar business requirements related to authentication and/or credential management; and · The GC could enter into multiple contracts with different suppliers for implementing specific projects to implement or evolve components, and/or for the ongoing management, operation and support of specific services. This is not an exclusive list of those options under consideration and RFI respondents are encouraged to suggest other possibilities. 4. Enquiries This RFI is not a bid solicitation, Canada will not necessarily respond to enquiries in writing or by circulating answers to all potential suppliers. However, respondents with questions regarding this RFI may direct their enquiries to the contact identified below. Attention: Dave McAninch e-mail: dave.mcaninch@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca Telephone: (819) 956-1071 Facsimile (819) 956-8303 Public Works and Government Services Canada Acquisitions Branch Services and Technology Acquisitions Directorate Place du Portage, Phase III, 12C1 11 Laurier Street Gatineau, QC K1A 0S5 Delivery Date: Above-mentioned The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement. Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada. Albahrani, Mo 12C1, Place du Portage Phase III 11 Laurier St./11, rue Laurier Gatineau Québec K1A 0S5 (819) 934-0961 ( )

Contact(s)

Contracting Authority

	Name	Mo Albahrani
	Address	12C1, Place du Portage Phase III 11 Laurier St./11, rue Laurier
	City	Gatineau
	State / Province	Québec
	Country	Canada
	Postal Code	K1A 0S5
	Phone	(819) 934-0961 ( )
	Fax	(819) 956-8303
	Email
	Website URL

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