News - Authentication project carries out ground

Authentication project carries out ground work

July 2001

The Authentication project is part of the policy development work underway in the e-government programme.

The project team has established firm working relationships with government stakeholders, including the establishment of a sponsor group of Chief Executives from the Department of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Social Policy. The project team also works with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

The focus of the project to date has been on gathering background information with which to inform future analysis. Several fronts have been examined. The first has been to look at what government needs are for online authentication. This has included a look at the different types of transactions government has with individuals, and the different kinds of authentication used.

The second has been to understand the legal framework required to support the implementation of an authentication policy.

The third has been to research the approaches taken to authentication in other jurisdictions and to understand how these might work in the New Zealand context.

The project will deliver its first progress report to the sponsors in July 2001. The authentication policy will be developed by June 2002.

For more information contact Sue Boland, sue.boland@dia.govt.nz