Jan-Olof Brunila - Swedbank - Stockholm 03 November, 2011, 16:37 0 likes

Banks are in a good position to be the focal point för digital identity managenment since banks have through the KYC requirements already a reliable register of customers accessing online-banking. In Sweden banks have launched an interoperable online identification service called BankID since a number of years. This service is now used by other parties like the tax office, the national health insurance service, insurance companies and other entities wanting to transact securely on-line with the public without building a proprietary user identification service. The Swedish digital ID scheme works with an open loop business model enabelling commercial use of this service. Look at BankID.com to learn more.

A Finextra member 03 November, 2011, 17:56 0 likes

I'm confused. Is this actually the same thing as the Cabinet Office's Digital Identity Initiative? I though that put some fairly robust criteria around who would be trusted as an ID provider. This seems to be something different to what's previously described. Can anyone clarify?

A Finextra member 03 November, 2011, 18:55 0 likes

I am confused too.Just been at a lunch time meeting today organised by CSFI and nothing was mentioned about this initiative.We did have three very interesting presentations from companies running identity initiatives and the round table discussion essentially agreed that nothing would be done until a cash crisis hit us - I undertsand the next presentation will demonstrate the cost advantages.

If any one is intersted suggest they google Dave Birch ,Research Fellow CSFI,Co-Founder Consult Hyperion,Chir Digital Identity Forum

Jacqui Taylor - FlyingBinary - London 04 November, 2011, 06:40 0 likes Yes this is the same initiative as the Cabinet Office IDA programme. However the delivery is being managed in a variety of ways. Department of Business Innovation and Skills is one of the implementation strands of the overall programme which is why they are quoted in this article. An additional four strands from different Goverment Departments make up the initial implementation phase of the programme. This is in line with the ICT Strategy and the devolved Crown responsibilities which now exist for the delivery of IT systems into government.

A Finextra member 04 November, 2011, 09:58 0 likes

This does seem a little strange as I heard that the Gaia project had not been progressing as fast as the other pilots. Has it been relaunched as Midata?

I must say that it is strange that there was no mention of this at recent industry/Government meetings on IDA (unless I fell asleep at a crucial time!)

A Finextra member 04 November, 2011, 10:07 0 likes

Thanks Jacqui - so there's one initiative, multiply rebranded and with functionality sliced up among different departments, with no central point for us banks to engage with. Sounds good so far!

Maybe I'm being thick, but from the very generalised descriptions of midata, it's impossible to work out what it actually does. The description does seem to differ from what the Cabinet Office has proposed as the federated ID for accessing government services (which seems to be a more robust scheme than the BIS variant).

So, here's a thought for the government departments involved - get your acts together and explain concisely and coherently what this thing does, what it means for businesses, and what it means for customers. The last is, of course, the most important, as there is a huge antipathy among the general public against any government involvement with their digital identity. Utopian, and vaguely worded blog postings won't sell this – show us the real benefits

Nick Collin - Collin Consulting Ltd - London 04 November, 2011, 15:59 0 likes

Fascinating!  This "e-trust" concept - the idea that banks are uniquely well positioned to deliver digital ID and authentication services on behalf of government or anyone else - has been around for many years.  I wrote a paper on the subject of e-trust for CSFI back in the 1990s then worked on the ECIPS project for the Payments Council a few years later, then did the same for MasterCard, and even approached the UK government a few times during the national ID card years.  In all cases nothing happened.  Which is a great pity, since as Jan-Olaf points out it works perfectly well in Sweden.  It will be interesting to see what happens this time around.

A Finextra member 07 November, 2011, 12:46 0 likes

Both Norway and Denmark have sector solutions, whcih are used by all the banks (in case of Norway) and banks + gov. agencies (in case of Denmark). Getting the banking sector on-board remains a key success factor.