[LINK] E-government Group forms within Liberty Alliance

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

E-government Group forms within Liberty Alliance
Jeremy Kirk
IDG News Service
Computerworld
18/08/2006 11:01:09
http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1308216526;fp;4;fpid;21

A new group within the Liberty Alliance will address government concerns 
with federated identity projects, the organization said Wednesday.

The Liberty Alliance is a consortium of companies and organizations 
working on technology and policy standards for identity projects. The 
eGovernment Group will focus business, technical and policy issues, with 
an emphasis on privacy and security issues.

The alliance has supported a range of protocols and standards that 
companies can implement to allow users to move easily from one Web site 
to another without having to key in a login and password again, among 
other functions. Companies stand to gain greater efficiency in dealing 
with passwords by federating identities while also streamlining how 
their Web sites interact.

The eGovernment Group includes representatives from Denmark, Finland, 
France, Korea, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. The group is chaired 
by Colin Wallis, of the New Zealand Government's State Services Commission.

The countries represented so far are on the forefront of e-government 
projects, wrote Graham Titterington, Ovum analyst, in a research note. 
The announcement has commercial significance going beyond the public 
sector, he said.

"This initiative is another indication that the Liberty specifications 
are resonating with major IT user organizations, this time in the public 
sector," Titterington wrote. "Governments have considerable influence as 
role models for the consumer sector, and there is scope for sharing 
identity networks with the private sector."

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Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au