Towards Interoperable Electronic Identity Through Harmonisation

Towards Interoperable Electronic Identity Through Harmonisation - 9th seminar of the international Porvoo Group in Ljubljana was held in Slovenia on 11–12 May 2006.  

Electronic identity is rapidly gaining ground. The number of identification documents incorporating an electronic identity chip is steadily climbing both in Europe and other parts of the world. Development is steered by close cooperation in standardisation and the increasing prevalence of biometric identifiers. However, genuine international interoperability also calls for standardised e-services.

About 100 delegates from 21 European countries, Georgia, Japan and the United States as well as the European Commission and the UN will gather on 11–12 May 2006 in Ljubljana, Slovenia to review progress made in an interoperable European electronic identity and e-services as well as development projects underway in the participating countries. The seminar will address matters relating to harmonisation, standardisation and interoperability on a wide front. Other items on the agenda include preparations being made in the EU, the development of a European Citizen Card, and biometrics and its utilisation in electronic identity cards and passports. The seminar is part of the activities of the international Porvoo Group consisting of representatives of European governments and is organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration and the Finnish Population Register Centre.

Slovenia seeks to excel with new strategy

Minister, Dr Gregor Virant of the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration will deliver the opening statements of the seminar on the topics of the Ministry of Public Administration, pan-European services and electronic identity. He will also report on new e-services in Slovenia, highlighting the value of the e-State portal.

In April 2006, the Slovenian Government adopted the Strategy for Electronic Commerce in Public Administration for 2006–2010. Its main goals are better, more efficient and more secure public administration services. By the end of 2010, Slovenia seeks to be one of the leading EU Member States in e-government field and among the top 10 countries globally in the field of e-democracy.

An electronic identity-related good practice case from Slovenia is the greater security achieved in banking on the basis of PKI technology (Public Key Infrastructure). The solution can be utilised widely both in the public and private sector.

EU prepares e-government development programme

Mr Gzim Ocako?lu representing the European Commission will relate recent EU guidelines to intensely accelerate the development of e-government by 2010. Underlying these measures is the Commission’s i2010 eGovernment Action Plan published in April 2006. The Commission has also made active contributions towards the management of electronic identity. The Porvoo Group applauds the commitment of the Commission to progress in this respect.

Harmonisation receives international support

A review of the work on determining common requirements that would help support international interoperability in electronic identity and standardisation of authentication will be presented at the seminar. Determination of these common requirements has been coordinated by the Global Collaboration Forum on interoperable eID/IAS active in Europe, the Far East and the United States. The possibility of utilising open source solution in interoperability is also being studied within the framework of the forum. An electronic identification service demo is available on the internet and has been tested at least with the electronic identity cards used in Finland, Estonia, Belgium and Italy as well as the Personal Identity Verification cards of the USA.

 Review of the situation in Europe, Asia and the USA

Determined efforts to increase the number of electronic identity cards and e-services are being made throughout Europe as well as in Asia and the United States. In Europe, the chip card has found the most widespread use in Belgium, Italy, Estonia, Finland and Austria. Electronic identity has also been a focal development issue in Sweden. The most recent country to introduce the card is Spain and Portugal is preparing to follow suite.

Voters in the municipal elections held in Estonia in October 2005 could cast early ballots over the internet with an electronic identity card. As far as is known, this marked the first time anywhere in the world that online voting was possible in national elections.

The Asia IC Card Forum, a body similar to the Porvoo Group, expresses its vision as ”One Card, One Asia”. The forum consists of China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand and seeks to promote the interoperability of electronic identity and the so-called Tourist Card. Asian countries are planning the introduction of several different electronic identity cards.

Under a Homeland Security Presidential Directive, the United States will adopt federal employee ID cards (Personal Identity Verification cards). The total number of cards is expected to rise to 30–40 million.

The international Porvoo Group supports the deployment of electronic identity in Europe

The Porvoo Group is an international cooperative network whose primary goal is to promote a trans-national, interoperable electronic identity, based on PKI technology (Public Key Infrastructure) and electronic ID cards. As its name suggests, the Group was established in Porvoo, Finland, in the spring of 2002 in conjunction with the eEurope 2002 programme. The Group consists of governmental representatives from European countries; representatives from the private sector and from the European Commission have also attended the two-day seminars, which are held every 6 months. The number of participating member countries has steadily increased; at present, about 30 countries have representatives in the Group.

The next and 10^th seminar of the Porvoo Group will be held during Finland’s EU presidency at Haikko Manor in Porvoo on 2–3 November 2006.

 

Further information:

Mr Tapio Aaltonen, Director of Certificate Authority Services Finnish Population Register Centre
tel. +358 (0)9 2291 6625 or +358 (0)50 563 5706
email: tapio.aaltonen@vrk.intermin.fi
Mr Jan van Arkel, Co-Chair of the Porvoo Group
tel. + 31 6 2005 7555
Dr. Ale? Dobnikar, Head of the Department of International Relations, the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration
tel. +386 1 4788 646 or +386 41 495 015
email: ales.dobnikar@gov.si

Material from the seminar and other information on the internet (pages will be updated during and immediately after the seminar):
http://porvoo9.gov.si/
www.fineid.fi (-> What’s going on around the world-> Porvoo Group )
http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi (-> In English –> Electronic identity -> Porvoo Group)