A look at the archives of local and regional governments makes the special requirements of these administrations clear. They deal with enormous data pools and complex processes and information that require extraordinarily sensitive handling where data privacy is concerned. From this perspective and also taking into account the budget situation of public authorities, the slow move to electronic files and processes is understandable. And yet potential savings in the millions are to be had here. Most information technology (IT) departments in local and national governments need a strong partner with outstanding specialised knowledge and experience to bring about a transformation of this magnitude.
In 2003, Siemens built, in Siemensstadt, Berlin, a test and simulation lab that takes into account the special needs of public administration. The lab analyses and optimises agency processes and transfers them to electronic applications. Further, the lab implements customer projects hands-on. Customers can thoroughly test and familiarise themselves with the IT solutions ahead of time before they are installed on site. Entire mountains of files have already been converted to handy digital formats for a large number of national agencies. Thus, various German public authorities – the Federal Employment Agency, the Social Security Office and others – have digitised some of their processes with support from the Siemens eGovernment Lab.
SUCCESSful TRENDSETTER
The German Federal Environment Agency also wanted to introduce paperless business processes for the German Emissions Trading Authority. This agency collects all 200-page reports on annual CO2 emissions of the relevant plant operators and stores them in a central database. The software for the reports first had to be developed according to European Union guidelines.
In designing the workflow, the IT connection of about 2 000 companies (facility operators) had to be considered. At the same time, the system had to be designed so that it would continue to work reliably, even during peak-load periods, shortly before the submission deadlines to prevent the emissions reports from being manipulated or falling into the wrong hands on their journey from specialists to plant operators through regional authorities and finally to the Environment Protection Agency. The introduction of the electronic agency was a complete success, and the German Environment Agency won the Best Virtual Organisation prize in an egovernment competition.
MODEL PROCEDURES
The experience of the trendsetting Environment Protection Agency project gained has been turned into model processes by Siemens. The handling of permits between construction companies and governments follows a similar procedure. One thing is key to all these electronic processes: the electronic signature. Electronic signatures are needed to organise an optimum flow of data without media discontinuity, while, at the same time, maintaining the necessary security. Electronic communications pass through a virtual post office. Digital signatures now have the same legal force as handwritten ones. They make contract signings and all bank transactions more secure and eliminate the tiresome entry of transaction numbers.
PUBLIC KEY IDENTIFICATION
But how are these digital signatures created? A project manager with the Siemens eGover-ment Lab explains: “You need a pair of keys – a private key and a public key. The signature owner signs documents with his private key and enters a personal identification number. The recipient can then check the signature with the public key.”
Public keys are assigned to a person by certificates, which are managed in central trust centres that are comparable to a passport office. The Siemens trust centre is currently one of the largest in the world.
BIOMETRICS WITH A FUTURE
Biometric processes will be used more and more to better protect digital identities in the future. Digital fingerprints, face recognition, iris scanning and hand geometry – these technologies have now been perfected and are ready for use. These options are still used primarily in border control, the travel industry and the mili-tary. A global identity-management system with biometric functions could become a reality in the future.
Quelle/Source: Engineering News, 20.04.2007
