Trends in government e-authentication: policy and practice

Government engagement of its citizens through digital channels offers the potential for efficiencies and savings, while at the same time allowing the government to reach out to constituents in novel ways. Yet such endeavours must be undertaken with care, especially with personalised service delivery, which requires effective management of security and privacy. Proper authentication and management of identity are key related factors. In this chapter, the authors examine government use and adoption of e-authentication and identity management technologies in order to securely interact with citizens. They first provide some background in which the state-of-the-art for protecting and managing identities is reviewed in terms of the various methods studied in academia and marketed by industry. The chapter then describes the degree to which these methods have been, and continue to be, used in the e-government initiatives of several developed countries. Finally, the authors consider the lessons learned, and how they might be applied to similar initiatives in developing countries.