US Government Contract Win

Intercede Group PLC
9 October 2006


 

9 OCTOBER 2006

                              INTERCEDE GROUP plc                               

                         ('Intercede' or 'the Company')                         

 
   Intercede announces first contract win in the US Federal Government Market   
 

Intercede is delighted to inform the market that RSA, the Security Division of
EMC, has announced that RSA Card Manager has been selected by the US Environment
Protection Agency ('US EPA') to provide the smart card management component for
the implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12). A
copy of RSA's announcement is attached below. RSA Card Manager is powered by
Intercede's MyID technology under an OEM licence agreement announced in 2005.

HSPD-12 is one of the most important and high profile security directives of
recent years. It was issued by President Bush himself in August 2004 and
required, firstly, the creation of an official federal standard (FIPS-201) for
Personal Identity Verification (PIV), which would prescribe technologies and
processes for the effective vetting and access control of all federal employees
and contractors. The second requirement of HSPD-12 was for every US Federal
Agency to have implemented a PIV solution by the end of October 2006, with all
employees and contractors required to have a personal-201 compliant, smart card
based identity card one year later. Each of these cards will be issued and
managed using a management system such as MyID.

All HSPD-12 solutions must by mandate only incorporate products that have been
exhaustively tested against by the US General Services Administration (GSA), and
included in the GSA's Approved Product List for PIV products. Intercede
announced on 4 October 2006 that it had become the first product in its category
to achieve this coveted status.

The selection of RSA Card Manager by the US EPA represents a major step forward
for the Company. It endorses Intercede's strategy, as previously stated, of
seeking opportunities arising from HSPD-12. Although it is too early in the
process to ascertain the financial implications of this project, this first win
provides grounds for optimism that Intercede will achieve further successes via
RSA and other partners with bids to provide technology for smart cards to be
issued to other US Federal Agencies. It is estimated that almost 8 million
identity cards will be issued under HSPD-12. Industry analysts Stanford Group
estimate the total value of the programme to be worth approximately US$1.3
billion.
 

Richard Parris, Chairman & Chief Executive of Intercede, commented:

'The US EPA is one of the first Federal Agencies to select its HSPD-12 solution
for agency-wide deployment and we are delighted that a MyID powered solution has
been deemed the best of breed. We have been preparing our entry into the Federal
Government market for some time and it is very pleasing that we are now moving
into the exploitation phase of our business plan with a strong technical and
commercial lead ahead of our competitors. Our partner, RSA, has performed an
excellent job of representing and supporting our technology into this demanding
customer and validates our indirect software licencing model. We look forward to
further wins in the coming weeks.'


ENQUIRIES

Intercede Group plc                                 Tel.    [phone]
Richard Parris, Chairman & Chief Executive
Andrew Walker, Finance Director

Pelham Public Relations                             Tel.    [phone]
Archie Berens                                       Tel.    [phone]
Kate Catchpole                                      Tel:    + 44 (0)7803 033 431

About Intercede

Intercede Group plc is a leading developer and supplier of smart card and
identity management software listed on the London Stock Exchange (IGP LN)
(IGP.L). The Group's MyID software manages the secure registration, issuance and
lifecycle of digital identities for a wide range of uses. This requires the
integration of multiple technologies and products from many different vendors,
including smart cards, USB authenticators, biometrics, digital certificates and
Open Platform applets.

Intercede works with a number of market leading OEM, re-seller and technology
partners that supply MyID technology including: Athena Smartcard Solutions,
Gemalto, RSA Security, SafeNet, Thales, VeriSign and a variety of systems
integrators and other security product and service providers.

Intercede and MyID are registered trademarks or trademarks in the UK, US and/or
other countries.

About the US EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency works to develop and enforce regulations
that implement environmental laws enacted by Congress in the United States of
America. The EPA is responsible for researching and setting national standards
for a variety of environmental programs, and delegates to states and tribes the
responsibility for issuing permits and for monitoring and enforcing compliance.
The EPA employs 18,000 people across the country, including their headquarters
in Washington DC, 10 regional offices, and more than a dozen laboratories.

RSA and Widepoint's ORC Subsidiary Awarded HSPD-12 Contract by Environmental
Protection Agency

ORC Shared Services Provider and RSA(R) Card Manager to Provide HSPD-12
Solutions

Fairfax, VA and Bedford, Mass., Thursday, October 05, 2006 - Fairfax, VA and
Bedford, Mass. - October 4, 2006 - Operational Research Consultants, Inc. (ORC)
a wholly owned subsidiary of WidePoint Corporation (AMEX: WYY) and RSA, the
Security Division of EMC (NYSE:EMC), today announced that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), selected solutions from the two organizations to
support Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) compliance.
Specifically, ORC will provide Shared Services Provider (SSP) Authentication
certificates, and RSA will supply the RSA(R) Card Manager software to enable PIV
card issuance and lifecycle management for all agency employees.

Under ORC's Information Technology Federal Supply Schedule (GS-35F-0164J)
Special Item Number 132.62, ORC will deploy the SSP Authentication certificates.
This complements RSA Card Manager, a card management system that will help
enable the EPA to manage the lifecycle of credentials stored on any smart
chip-enabled device (e.g., smart cards). An interoperable system, RSA Card
Manager software provides key infrastructure designed to allow federal agencies
to meet the HSPD-12 requirements that mandates federal employees and contractors
to use a new standard, Federal Information Processing (FIPS) 201, for physical
and logical access by October 27, 2006.

'The ORC team has become the only SSP that has been certified and accredited,
holding a current Authorization To Operate (ATO),'said Daniel E. Turissini, CEO
of ORC. 'ORC is also the only SSP that has achieved approval under the GSA SSP
Program, Special Item Number 132.61. This further establishes our credibility as
the premier provider of information assurance services to the Federal
Government. We look forward to working with the EPA to make this a highly
successful relationship and are pleased to be featuring the RSA Certificate
Manager software as part of our solution.'

Both solutions also comply with Federal Information Processing Standard 201-1
from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Federal PKI
Common Policy Framework.

'ORC is a well established and trusted partner to agencies like the EPA and
these contracts demonstrate the success of our strategic partnership. Working
together, we were able to offer an integrated portfolio to the EPA that allows
them to successfully meet HSPD-12 requirements in 2006 and beyond,' said Shannon
Kellogg, director of government and industry affairs at RSA, the Security
Division of EMC. 'This also shows how RSA's card management system, as part of a
comprehensive solution, provides an effective option for enabling U.S. federal
agencies to comply with the HSPD-12 mandate.'

About RSA

RSA, the Security Division of EMC, is the expert in information-centric
security, enabling the protection of information throughout its lifecycle. RSA
enables customers to cost-effectively secure critical information assets and
online identities wherever they live and at every step of the way, and manage
security information and events to ease the burden of compliance.

RSA offers industry-leading solutions in identity assurance and access
management, encryption, security information management and anti-fraud
protection, bringing trust to millions of user identities, the transactions that
they perform, and the data that is generated. For more information, please visit
www.rsa.com and www.EMC.com.

About WidePoint

WidePoint is a technology-based provider of products and services to the
government sector and commercial markets. WidePoint specializes in providing
systems engineering, integration and information technology services.
WidePoint's wholly owned subsidiary, ORC, is at the forefront of implementing
government-compliant eAuthentication identity management managed services and
associated systems engineering/integration. ORC has earned four major U.S.
federal government certifications offering the highest levels of assurance for
transactions over the Internet.

WidePoint's profile of customers encompasses U.S. Federal Government agencies,
including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the
Department of Justice as well as major U.S. defense contractors and several
major pharmaceutical companies. For more information, visit 
http://www.widepoint.com.

An investment profile about WidePoint may be found at:
http://www.hawkassociates.com/wyyprofile.aspx.

For investor relations information regarding WidePoint, contact Frank Hawkins or
Cale Smith, Hawk Associates, at [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange