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Towards interoperable electronic identity through harmonisation
11.05.2006
9th seminar of the international Porvoo Group in Ljubljana, Slovenia
on 11–12 May 2006
9th seminar of the international Porvoo Group in Ljubljana, Slovenia
on 11 - 12 May 2006:
TOWARDS INTEROPERABLE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY THROUGH HARMONISATION
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 Ocakoğlu 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 10th 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
and Dr. Aleš 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/ , http://www.fineid.fi/ -> What’s going on around
the world-> Porvoo Group and http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/ -> In
English –> Electronic identity -> Porvoo Group
Ms Irene Rissanen
Information Officer
Finnish Population Register Centre
tel. +358 (0)9 2291 6717 or +358 (0)50 573 7210
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Finnish Population Register Centre
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