6 December 2005

Draft Authentication Standards released for consultation

The State Services Commission today released a set of draft authentication standards for public consultation.

The standards are designed to provide New Zealanders with a uniform and consistent experience of secure online transactions with government agencies.

"Achieving the goal of 'no wrong door' hinges upon the success of the All-of-government Authentication programme," Laurence Millar, Deputy Commissioner Information and Communications Technology, said. "Government agencies have put an impressive array of public information online, but are increasingly looking to bring more services online that offer New Zealanders the convenience, privacy and security they expect."

"Authentication ensures services are delivered securely to the right person. To give people confidence in secure online government services, a consistent approach is needed for online authentication across government", Laurence Millar said.

The authentication standards will help agencies implement the New Zealand E-government Strategy and contribute towards the Digital Strategy launched early this year.

The suite contains business process, technology, and data standards aimed at maintaining and improving authentication processes and services for government agencies delivering services to people, particularly those delivered using the Internet.

Working groups representing a range of government and non-government stakeholder groups developed the draft standards during 2005.

The next phase of their development is to consult on the draft standards with all relevant stakeholders. After comments have been received, the working groups will consider all feedback before finalising the standards next year. After finalisation the standards will be incorporated into the New Zealand E-government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF).

Further information on the draft standards and the consultation process can be found on the e-government website (www.e.govt.nz/services/authentication/standards).

The closing date for submissions is 17 February 2006.

ENDS

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