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IBM to save the government's skin?
As good as Big Blue may be, we haven't heard of any large bets being placed...

By editorial@silicon.com

Published: Friday 10 May 2002

The government is starting to feel the pressure of meeting its promise of getting all its services online.

While some agencies such as Ordnance Survey are feeling pretty good about their chances of hitting this target, the story is very different elsewhere. Take the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Planning minister Sally Keeble has just warned local authorities that time is fast running out. Government figures suggest more than two thirds of local authorities don't even have a planning website.

The real worry is that it's not just a case of throwing money at the problem - there are huge cultural hurdles to overcome.

The key to online government services success will be enabling citizens to genuinely transact with the government. Being able to digest the - albeit very useful - information at ukonline.gov.uk is not enough. It's also not very compelling. The day you can complete a passport application online without even having to think about a dreaded trip to Petty France is the day the government will have made its online services something to shout about.

But forget what the planners should be doing or the Inland Revenue or even the Ordnance Survey. There is one very big fundamental problem hanging heavy over the Office of the E-Envoy: authentication.

It is at the very heart of making sure you are who you say you are. Furthermore, it will enable a transaction to take place - so you can pay for your passport or car tax or council tax.

But it's here the government is floundering - because although the technology is around (in the guise of PKI) it's not necessarily interoperable from vendor to vendor and there is certainly no service provider who can get it out to the consumer.

Enter Big Blue. The government is now in cahoots with IBM to develop a possible alternative: chips.

Chips with everything - on your PC, your credit card and your mobile. If IBM can muster some support from the rest of the technology industry this could become a reality. The chip would act as a kind of pen enabling you to sign your digital signatures on any government site.

A can of worms - undoubtedly. A real possibility? Well, only if IBM can make it happen. If the rest of the industry fails to get involved on this one, the project will simply be shelved.