Moving high-value Government transactions online

  • Annette King
State Services

The ability for government agencies to move high value transactions online has moved a step closer today with the Government providing $9 million in capital funding for the Identity Verification Service (IVS), says State Services Minister Annette King.

The investment over 2007/08 and 2008/09, together with approximately $1 million in operating costs for 2007/08 to come from reprioritisation within existing State Services Commission e-government funding, will provide a more secure yet simple online environment for delivering government services to the public using the highest level of confidence for establishing an individual’s identity.

The Identity Verification Service (IVS), part of the All-of-government Authentication Programme, is a joint project between the Department of Internal Affairs and the State Services Commission.

Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker says the IVS will make an important contribution to reducing identity fraud. “By providing the public with access to secure on-line services, while ensuring government agencies have a high level of confidence in the identity of the individual. we can enhance the integrity of government transactions.

“This will also provide a more consistent experience for people who need to verify their identity to government agencies,” Rick Barker says.

Both Ministers see the authentication as an opportunity to drive economic transformation. “We want to take advantage of the Internet to improve the ability of people and businesses to interact with government. The All-of-government Authentication Programme is a shared service that will provide the platform for these sorts of high value transactions,” Annette King and Rick Barker say.

At the end of March, one of the key components of the Authentication programme became available when the shared workspaces of over 5000 public servants, vendor staff, consultants and contractors were integrated with the Government Logon Service.

During the coming months, more agencies will complete integration of their new secure online services with the Government Logon Service. Among the first of those agencies are Statistics NZ and Auckland City Council.

“The next phase of the programme will involve piloting the IVS with a small range of users. A fuller version of the service is expected to be available for use by government agencies in 2009,” Annette King says.

The Ministers say today’s announcement of funding for the IVS will ensure New Zealanders can access government services in ways that will give them higher levels of security and privacy protection, together with greater convenience. “This will open up real opportunities for government to offer new services online, without putting people or agencies at risk,” they say.

IDENTITY VERIFICATION SERVICE

What is the Identity Verification Service (IVS)?
The IVS is a mechanism for people to verify their identity to government agencies online and in real time, to a high level of confidence. This is something like presenting your passport online.

IVS is a major component of the All-of-government Authentication Programme, and is a collaborative project run by the Department of Internal Affairs and the State Services Commission. Another key component of the All-of-government Authentication Programme is its use of the Government Logon Service (GLS).

What is in the 2007 Budget in respect of IVS funding? Why is it being provided?
The 2007 Budget provides $9 million in capital funding for the IVS over the next two financial years – 2007/08 and 2008/09. A further $1million in operating cost will be provided from within State Services Commission e-government funding.

What is the total budget for IVS and the All-of-government Authentication Programme?
$9M is allocated in budget 2007 for the development of the Identity Verification Service. The total cost of the Identity Verification Service will not be known until implementation plans are complete and a vendor is contracted.

More than 20 agencies have been engaged in the authentication programme overall. To date the programme has delivered a suite of all-of-government standards, the Government Logon Service, designs and a business case for the Identity Verification Service, and feasibility studies on Future Services. The total spend from 2004 to the end of this financial year is expected to be less than $26 million.

What benefits does IVS offer?
The IVS offers a whole range of benefits. It will provide a simple and reliable mechanism for customers of any government services using the IVS to prove who they are to the required level of confidence. For government, it will contain the costs of verifying identity by building the system once and not having to repeat that investment for every agency.

It will benefit both individuals and the government by helping to reduce the risks of identity fraud, because it will rely on robust and trusted verified identity information, and at the same time it’s privacy-enhancing, because it shares a minimum of information, and it puts the individual in charge of their own information. We’re expecting that the IVS will make it possible for government agencies to offer new kinds of services online because they’ll know who they’re dealing with, and that has real benefits of customer convenience.

What work has been undertaken with agencies to date?
Several agencies have been supporting DIA and SSC in developing the IVS concepts and are already playing an important part in the design work. There has been consultation with agencies as well as targeted market research.

What work will be done with agencies in the future?
The programme will be contacting agencies in the coming months with further information about IVS. This will include outlining opportunities for future involvement as work towards the implementation of IVS continues.

Where can we get more information about IVS, GLS or the All-of-government Authentication Programme?