At the time of writing, the UK’s new government had announced the scrapping of its intended eID card program as well as the second phase of the biometric passport. All very well and good but we have yet to see what the fallout will be once the final cost of prematurely ending development and supplier contracts will be set against money already spent.
Politically, this move was not much of a surprise but it still caused some ripples in the industry. In terms of budget, yes, it may look as though public spending is being cut but the real opportunity lies in new discussions about the necessity of privacy options and about technological solutions which can minimize the need for central data storage – the two main points of criticism against the ID schemes.
Outside of the UK, eID remains a very strong subject with many countries actively embracing the platform and all the possibilities that it holds including more transparent eGovernment. You can read more about this on page 8 in the article “The European eID Landscape” (pun intended). We continue this theme of open government through eGovernment with an article titled “Governance of a national eGovernment system” (page 12). This article looks at the challenge of providing a modern competitive framework for the development, both economic and social, of the State.
We also have an article looking at eHealth systems “Securing future eHealth systems”. With more and more focus brought to play on medical identity fraud and eHealth applications as well as requirements for secure medical data storage we spoke to Gemalto, Infineon Technologies and Giesecke & Devrient about their thoughts on the topic. Read it on page 6. From Government to Health, from the State to the individual, technology is leading the way to a more secure and convenient lifestyle.
Until next time
Veronica Atkins
