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E-government describes governments’ efforts to use information technology to improve the efficiency of government services. While the positive aspects of e-government are evident from an organisational point of view, individuals can either accept or decline e-government solutions and governments aim to increase citizen acceptance of their e-government initiatives. There is a wide range of literature with so-called technology acceptance models to study population acceptance of e-government. However, these models have some shortcomings regarding the planned implementation of tangible systems in the public sector (ex-ante acceptance). We, therefore, propose a revised model of information system acceptance in the public sector, the GISAM, and apply it to the case of the 2021 ballot proposal on electronic identity (e-ID) introduction in Switzerland. Using the VOX dataset allows us to examine the survey data of 2,092 Swiss citizens, covering their voting decisions and reasons for them, and several socio-demographic and socio-economic variables. Our findings show that a broad range of factors influences voter acceptance of e-ID. Contrary to traditional technology acceptance models, the results of this study suggest that individual attitudes towards digitisation play a significant role in technology adoption in the e-ID context. Future research should investigate the case of ex-ante technology acceptance more deeply.

In the contemporary era marked by the pervasive use of digital devices, safeguarding electronic identity has become indispensable for ensuring secure and dependable interactions within federated systems. This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of identity assurance frameworks, with a specific focus on the perspectives provided by Kantara, eIDAS, and REFEDS systems concerning Levels of Assurance (LoA), which involves examining various aspects of their identity assurance frameworks, standards, and implementations. Although Kantara, eIDAS, and REFEDS share a common goal of increasing identity assurance and trust in federated systems, they differ in their scope, regulatory mandates, LoA frameworks, and approaches to adoption and implementation. Understanding these differences is essential for organizations looking to navigate the complex landscape of identity management and choose the most appropriate frameworks for their specific needs. Through a meticulous review of each framework, this study delves into the foundational principles, methodologies, and implementations underpinning identity assurance within federated systems. By scrutinizing the perspectives of Kantara, eIDAS, and REFEDS, this analysis elucidates the similarities, distinctions, strengths, and limitations of each framework in tackling identity assurance challenges. Furthermore, this study explores the implications for future research and development in federated identity management, providing higher security of the electronic identities of users of federated systems. By fostering a deeper understanding of identity assurance frameworks, this comparative analysis contributes to the advancement of secure and trusted digital interactions in various organizational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the management of national electronic identity (eID) infrastructure, cooperation between public and private parties becomes more and more important, as the mutual dependencies between the provision of e-services and the provision of the national public key infrastructure (PKI) continuously increases. Yet, it is not clear which key factors affect the public-private collaboration in the eID field, as existing studies do not provide insight into this particular matter. Therefore, we aim to identify the factors that affect public-private partnership (PPP) in the field of eID. We also describe feasible formats that help to improve the cooperation between the two sectors, based on insights from the case of Estonia. In service of that study, we conducted twelve qualitative interviews with high-level experts representing several parties from the public and the private sector. By conducting a thematic analysis of the interviews, we identified five key factors for successful PPP in the eID field, i.e., engagement, joint understanding, two-way communication, clear role division, and process orientation. Furthermore, we generalize our results by discussing, in how far the found cooperation formats can be used by stakeholders to manage state-critical information technology (IT) infrastructure components similar to eID such as mobile phone services, data transmission services and digital signature services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the process of digital transformation of public administration in Romania and the European Union, in the current legislative and institutional context. The reform of public administration, in the context of the digitization of the public sector, is focused on simplifying procedures and bureaucratic burdens for individuals and legal entities, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative act, and ensuring accessibility and transparency of data use by public authorities and institutions. At the same time, this study also deals with issues related to eGovernment, cybersecurity, and the security of personal data of users of platforms and information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within digital virtual space, secure and efficient user authentication and identification are essential to prevent identity theft and unauthorized access to sensitive information and services. The eIDAS network implementing the European Union (EU) Regulation 910/2014 links the electronic identity (eID) systems of EU countries to allow citizens’ access by authenticating with government eIDs. At authentication time, the eIDAS nodes transfer core personal attributes (i.e., name, surname, date of birth, and an identifier) to the service providers (SPs). Since long-term applications require more personal or domain-specific data to provide the service or to perform identity matching, the SPs must obtain such data in an alternative way, with additional costs and risks. Herein, we extend the eIDAS network to retrieve and transfer additional person and domain-specific attributes besides the core ones. This process introduces technical, usability, and privacy issues that we analyze. We exploit a logical AP Connector between the eIDAS node and the entities providing additional attributes. We implemented two AP Connectors, named AP-Proxy and AP-OAuth2, integrated with the Italian pre-production eIDAS node to get additional attributes from the Politecnico di Torino university backend. In an experimental campaign, 30 students have accessed academic services at three foreign universities with recognized Italian eIDs, and transferred additional attributes over the eIDAS network. Despite some usability and privacy concerns encountered, the user experience was positive. We believe our work is helpful in the implementation of the recently adopted European Digital Identity framework, which proposes to extend the person identification data set recognized cross border, and the creation of digital wallets linking different data sets or credentials.

Electronic authentication (e-authentication) is a process to provide electronic identity trust to users who register electronically in an information system. Verifying the identity of students and the veracity of their work is very important for academic institutions because only in this way can academic misconduct be reduced and on the other hand ensure the quality of education. In recent years there has been increasing research into technological innovations that combat fraud and copying. Currently, password-based credentials are one of the most widely used authentication mechanisms, despite their weaknesses. Today digitalization is pervasive in all parts of modern society. One of the main ways to keep this process safe is the verification process. This process begins with the evolution of authentication systems ranging from One Factor Authentication (SFA), and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) to Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). All these systems have their advantages and disadvantages which negate the lawful use of the user. It can often happen that passwords are forgotten, the wrong placement of the code on the smart cards can be done or biometrics can become temporarily unavailable, such as loss of fingerprint quality. Moreover, biometrics is not safe if used as a single authentication factor as it can be copied (an attacker can take a copy of a fingerprint and build a copy). The purpose of the document is to analyze the level of electronic identity security and electronic identity verification for users who wish to have certain resources using many authentication factors as well as the credentials given to users after successful verification of their identity by a party providing the credentials service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its 2020 report on a digital euro, the European Central Bank (ECB) created a starting point for a broader dialogue on the topic. The initiative behind the digital euro, supported by the European Commission, draws on best practices and promising approaches, but is also predicated upon the idea that electronic identity schemes and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) should be developed in concert. This paper discusses the ECB's report, before examining other global CBDC initiatives and then proposing a possible blueprint for a digital euro. The paper argues that if the key parties continue to combine their expertise, Europe will not only have a world-class blueprint for a digital euro, but also a template for the creation of a future digital world currency based on European design principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The free movement of European citizens across member states of the European Union adds an important level of complexity to strategic efforts of health interoperability. The use of electronic health data has been marked as an important strategic activity and policy to improve healthcare in European countries. Cross-border healthcare depends on the ability to set up shared practices with respect to patient data exchange across the countries. Data flow must comply with demanding security, legal and interoperability requirements, as defined by the European Patients Smart Open Services project specifications. The aim of this article is to propose a novel design of healthcare data warehouse based on the restructured Extract–Transform–Load process. We describe a portal framework that offers a comprehensive set of interoperability services to enable national e-Health platforms to set up cross-border health information networks compliant with European Patients Smart Open Services. The presented approach incorporates the technical and organizational interoperability by interconnecting Health Level Seven standard and Open National Contact Points framework in order to provide a modular, scalable and inter-operating architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the Schaffhausen population’s needs regarding more flexibility of authorities, an augmented importance of online services and increases in (cyber) security awareness, the e-government committee (eGov-Kernteam) of the Canton of Schaffhausen decided to pilot the electronic identity 'Schaffhauser eID+' to ultimately allow for efficient and effective Smart Government processes.* The aim of this practice article is to show how the Canton of Schaffhausen adopted a co-design approach to introduce its electronic identity and to set out key findings regarding the introduction of a technology-based public service innovation. Based on the strategic approach of a ‘testing laboratory’, co-design methodology was used through conducting usability tests and semi-structured interviews with selected individuals. The optimization suggestions collected were subsequently evaluated and reintegrated. Furthermore, the collected data were used to analyze the acceptance of the 'Schaffhauser eID+'. This piloting procedure in cooperation with citizens unites several advantages: modest budgets, rapid and more targeted product changes and, in the sense of co-design, positive spillovers with regard to acceptance and legitimacy. In reference to Smart Government and to ensure ongoing civic participation, the co-design approach should also be considered in the further development of any E-ID or Smart Government project.

Providing quality government and administrative services to citizens is a goal of the current trends in terms of creating conditions for a social environment smart, inclusive and sustainable. In this context, the e-government is the main pillar of the information society and one of the main pillars of the knowledge society. The work that we propose aims to provide an analysis of the concept, characteristics and values in the current e-government. Thus, the following objectives are targeted: description of the phenomenon of e-government features and values involved him, in closely related to services provided to citizens and facilitate their participation; analysis of certain aspects of the phenomenon of e-government implementation in Romania, in close connection with the evolution of the phenomenon in an international context and in particular, in the European context; analyzing the main aspects of the methodology for implementing e-government phenomenon in public administration, contained in the National Strategy for the Digital Agenda for Romania 2020. The results of this study follow the outline of the instrument e-government can contribute to social sustainability and determine the impact this phenomenon has on our society in accordance with current trends and conditions.

In recent years, due to the development of technology and the intense use of computers and other electronic devices, the internet has become a very important aspect of human society. The participation of social media has enabled individuals to identify themselves in wider geographic space, creating a new communion world, which has helped to connect and stay in touch with others. Generally, an electronic identity is a tool that allows people electronically to identify themselves and thus have access to various services. Identity enables a person to be distinguished from another. The purpose of this document is to analyze the importance of electronic identity, related issues such as reliability of information, privacy, fraud, wealth, etc., as well as the role of virtual life with real life. Two aspects of digital identities are also taken into account: encrypted identity (passwords) as well as virtual personal identities used in forums, chat blocks created by different users. The purpose of the paper is to raise awareness related to potential problems in the area of electronic identities for appropriate actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the strategies used by governments to enhance eGovernment Programs (eGov) is to define an Electronic Identity Management (IdM) system. Brazil has not yet defined a National Strategy for Identity Management. This work aims to propose a Mobile Identity Management (Mobile eID) System aligned with the Brazilian eGov Program, through a solution that prioritizes security, privacy and usability. As a proof of concept, a prototype was developed in software, which was evaluated through functional test cases and a user satisfaction survey. The results show that it is possible to guarantee the security, privacy and the usability of the Mobile eID through the use of FIDO UAF, TEE and SAML standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, leading cities around the world have been striving to develop smart cities. Each city sets its goals and measures on smart city development having regard to its own circumstances, background and priorities. Hong Kong has been maintaining its leading position globally in terms of economic performance and digital competitiveness. With the staunch national support for I&T development, its fast-growing start-up ecosystem and fervid I&T atmosphere gradually created, Hong Kong is well-positioned to pursue smart city development. The Government published the “Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong” in December 2017. The development plans cover six major areas with more than 70 initiatives so as to drive the smart city development in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) Regulation 910/2014 on electronic IDentification, Authentication, and trust Services (eIDAS) for electronic transactions in the internal market went into effect on 29 September 2018, meaning that EU Member States are required to recognize the electronic identities issued in the countries that have notified their eID schemes. Technically speaking, a unified interoperability platform—named eIDAS infrastructure—has been set up to connect the EU countries’ national eID schemes to allow a person to authenticate in their home EU country when getting access to services provided by an eIDAS-enabled Service Provider (SP) in another EU country. The eIDAS infrastructure allows the transfer of authentication requests and responses back and forth between its nodes, transporting basic attributes about a person, e.g., name, surname, date of birth, and a so-called eIDAS identifier. However, to build new eIDAS-enabled services in specific domains, additional attributes are needed. We describe our approach to retrieve and transport new attributes through the eIDAS infrastructure, and we detail their exploitation in a selected set of academic services. First, we describe the definition and the support for the additional attributes in the eIDAS nodes. We then present a solution for their retrieval from our university. Finally, we detail the design, implementation, and installation of two eIDAS-enabled academic services at our university: the eRegistration in the Erasmus student exchange program and the Login facility with national eIDs on the university portal.