Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, telecoms firm Telus, and PKI company VeriSign have officially launched Soltrus, a new joint venture company charged with establishing a national e-commerce trust network in Canada.
The new independent company will offer tailored outsourced solutions designed to safeguard communications and transactions using public key infrastrucutre (PKI) technology, say the companies.
Peter Ricciardi, president and CEO of Soltrus, comments: "As Canadians interact more and more online, trust is fundamental to fully exploit the Internet's potential."
Employing about 60 people from its headquarters in Toronto, Soltrus will deliver a suite of managed services that are tailored to meet the needs of any enterprise, individual or electronic service provider, he says.
A key part of the company's digital trust services offering is geared toward the wireless Internet sector, as Canadian carriers continue to invest heavily in mobile infrastructure. Plans are underway to introduce Canada's first suite of wireless digital trust services for PDAs, mobile phones and other similar devices in 2002.
"To realise wireless e-commerce opportunities, businesses need to authenticate identities for the secure exchange of valuable information, provide payment capabilities, ensure that content can be delivered to all types of handheld devices, and make it easy for users to access that content. Soltrus will help Canadian businesses accomplish this," says Ricciardi.