Government explores partnership for online igovt services
January 21, 2010 The Department of Internal Affairs will look at a partnership model to provide online igovt services . In September 2009, the Department consulted with the private sector on the best way to develop and operate igovt services such as the igovt Identity Verification Service (igovt IVS) and the igovt logon service. The decision to investigate a partnership model follows a Cabinet decision on 24 August 2009 to continue the roll-out of igovt over the next two years using the existing funding, and explore options for commercial sector involvement in the programme. Under a partnership, the Government would continue to issue igovt IDs and protect personal information about people used in online identity verification services, such as the igovt IVS and the igovt logon service. New Zealanders would be able to choose if they wanted to use igovt services. By doing so, their identity and privacy would be protected when doing business online. People would have to give their consent each time their personal information was sent to a participating service provider. The Government would have no way of knowing what people did on a private organisation's website, and this information also could not be shared between organisations offering and using igovt services. The Department is aiming to achieve its objectives faster and more efficiently, with greater convenience, through the expanded, combined capabilities of a partnership. Its key objectives include: issuing igovt IDs to the public more efficiently and quickly; integrating igovt logon and IVS into a broader range of public facing services more efficiently; and the combined capacity of the partnership leading to faster development and release of improvements to the igovt services. The GETS notice contains more detail of these objectives. The Department will hold a briefing for potential partners and users on Tuesday 9 February. All participants must register to attend the briefing. At the briefing the Department will outline how participants can register for a 'partner' discussion stream or a 'user' discussion stream. Any organisation wishing to partner with the Department to develop and operate igovt services must register and attend the 9 February briefing and then register for the partner discussion stream. Organisations that are primarily interested in using igovt services for their own authentication and identity verification needs, e.g. banks, must also register if they want to attend the 9 February briefing. If a 'user' organisation does not wish to attend the briefing, that organisation may still take part in subsequent user discussions on igovt services. Quotes attributable to Annette Offenberger, Identity Services' General Manager.
"We were pleased with the high quality of responses to our Invitation to Present Commercial Opportunities (IPCO) where we sought innovative ideas for the provision of online identity services. "The Department carefully assessed all the ideas it received and is further exploring a partnership model as the optimal way forward. We want to explore this option with potential partners. We also want to further explore private sector use of igovt services. "If a partnership is the optimal model for the ongoing development and operation of igovt services, we want to have a partnership in place by November 2010. Final decisions on the provision of igovt services will be made by Cabinet. "igovt uses the information the Department already has to produce trusted documents, such as passports and birth certificates to allow people to prove who they are online. It's similar to showing someone your passport as a form of identity. igovt services give participating service providers a high level of confidence in the identity of an individual, but the service provider will only get the minimum amount of information needed."
For more information
Background about igovt logon service and identity verification service
