PRC RELEASE 13th international Porvoo Group conference in Norway 9 - 10 April 2008
To the media
13th international Porvoo Group conference in Norway 9–10 April 2008: INTEROPERABLE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY TO ENABLE SECURE CROSS-BORDER USE OF E-SERVICES
Interoperable electronic identity (eID) and the security and future of e-services are the focus of much attention in Europe as well as the world over. The aim is to realise a transboundary electronic identity; the EU, for example, has set the goal of a working, interoperable transboundary eID by the year 2010, and the European Commission has encouraged Member States to develop e-services especially in public administration.
The international Porvoo Group will convene in Norway on 9–10 April 2008 to review development in e-services and the European electronic identity. The conference will take place on Hurtigruten between Tromsø and Trondheim and will be attended by delegates by several European countries as well as the US and Japan. The 13th Porvoo Group conference is organised by the Brønnøysund Register Centre (Brønnøysundregistrene), the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and the Population Register Centre of Finland.
Themes of the conference include the utilisation of eID in host country Norway, regional projects in Europe, Asia and the US, the interoperability of eID between the various sectors, and national identity card and other eID projects.
The conference widely addresses the topic of electronic identity interoperability in Europe. The views of the European Commission on the recognition of electronic identity and interoperability in e-government will be presented. Issues relating to identity management and the population registers required for identification will also be addressed. Other items on the agenda concern preparations underway within the EU, the pan-European electronic identity in health services, usability aspects, and standardisation and biometrics. Case studies of national eID development projects will be presented from the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Poland, among others.
The Porvoo Group actively monitors the “Large scale pilot project” in eID administration which seeks to bring about secure shared electronic identification methods and create the framework for the use of authenticated electronic documents in the EU by the year 2010.
Local case studies from Norway to be presented concern eID as the key to services in the public and private sectors, i.a. health services and the Norwegian National Lottery. The various ministries are supporting the implementation of three sector-specific electronic identities: the one offered by the banks for online banking (motivated by money-laundering regulations and the Single European Payments Area SEPA), travel documents issued by the police (motivated by the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO) and health services abroad (motivated by the European Health Insurance Card, which is planned for introduction in the years 2009 - 2010).
In addition, the Brønnøysund Register Centre will present a proposal for the standardisation of a unique company identifier, which would permit the reliable and automatic identification and verifying of organisations in e-services.
The first recorded traveller on the conference’s Hurtigruten route was Viking adventurer Ohthere (Ottar) of Hålogaland. A record of his identity and voyages remains to this day, although his footprints across Norway have long been lost. This information can be taken as an introduction to the nature of identity and the management of identity in the modern world. The Porvoo 13 conference will thus travel a brief stretch along the trail originally blazed by Ohthere.
Preparations underway across the world for deployment of chip cards
Chip ID cards have probably been most widely introduced in Estonia, where the mandatory card provided to citizens at subsidised prices can be used when voting online in national elections. Plans are in place in most EU Member States for the introduction of cards. Besides Estonia, chip ID cards are also in use at least in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
The Asian IC Card Forum, a body corresponding to the European Porvoo Group, expresses its vision as ”One Card, One Asia”. Plans are aiming at the realisation of interoperability between the numerous chip ID cards in Asia, where the card volume is far higher than in Europe. For example Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan have already had mass rollouts. Japan is deploying a social security card and electronic mailbox for citizens. The aim is to open a personal internet account for all Japanese citizens and offer all e-government services through a single portal. Other countries of significant volume include China and India. The US is also involved in the development of standardisation together with at least Europe and Australia as well as in the examination of identity management issues and biometrics. Deployment of federal employee ID cards (Personal Identity Verification cards) pursuant to a Homeland Security Presidential Directive has begun in the US.
The Porvoo Group supports the deployment of electronic identity in Europe
The Porvoo Group is an international cooperation network coordinated by Finland and established in the Finnish city of Porvoo, as the name suggests, in April 2002 in connection with the eEurope 2002 programme. The primary goal of the Group is to promote a trans-national, interoperable electronic identity based on PKI technology (Public Key Infrastructure) and smart cards and chip ID cards as well as secure e-services in Europe.
The Porvoo Group has seen constant expansion. It is widely recognised as a significant actor and relevant contributor to informed public dialogue in this area. The majority of its members represent their respective national authorities but representatives of the business community as well as the European Commission and the UN have also contributed to its work. The US and Japan are closely involved in the Group alongside some thirty European nations. Porvoo Group conferences have been attended by as many as approximately one hundred delegates.
The Porvoo Group holds biannual conferences across Europe. The Porvoo 14 conference will be held in autumn 2008.
Further information: Ms Katja Häkkinen, Chairman of the Porvoo Group and Senior Supervisor, Finnish Population Register Centre, Certification Authority Services, tel. +358 9 2291 6737 or +358 50 591 7517, email katja.hakkinen@vrk.fi or Mr Jan van Arkel, from the Netherlands, Co-Chair of the Porvoo Group, email arkel@cardlife.nl or Mr Sverre Bauck, Senior Adviser, the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment, Norway, tel. +47 90028513, email sverre.bauck@difi.no
Conference agenda and other materials on the internet: http://www.brreg.no/porvoo13/ and www.fineid.fi/en -> What’s going on around the world -> Porvoo Group
Contact person: Ms Irene Rissanen, Communications Coordinator, Finnish Population Register Centre, tel. +358 9 2291 6717 or +358 50 573 7210, email irene.rissanen@vrk.fi