Radicchio is a consortium of wireless e-commerce operators, financial institutions and smart card manufacturers set up to persuade international organisations and government bodies of the importance of supporting security in global mobile e-commerce when drafting new legislation.

A workshop, planned for 11 December, will bring delegates from the mobile and banking industries together with e-government departments from across Europe and Japan to discuss measures to offer confidentiality, integrity and authentication in a wireless environment.

Steve Marsh, PKI and m-commerce specialist at the Office of the e-Envoy, says these processes are critical if the public is to start conducting online communication with government and local councils, to carry out activities such as voting or paying council tax.

The initiative follows the August launch of a Government-backed consultation programme aimed at accelerating the uptake of smart cards and digital signatures in consumer and business transactions. The government is concerned at the low rate of commercial penetration of the technology and the implications for its own timetable for bringing the UK online.

Figures released today by the Department for Trade and Industry show that the government's target of having one million small and medium-sized businesses trading on the Internet by 2002 is certain to be missed. DTI research indicates that little more than half this number - 541,000 SMEs - were trading online in October.

Stefan Engel-Flechsig, CEO, Radicchio, says: “For m-government to succeed in the European arena, there must be confidence in the security of mobile transactions. The workshop will enable Radicchio and the Office of the e-Envoy to discuss the best way of moving towards the creation of globally recognised PKI platforms, to carry out secure mobile transactions."