What are digital identities?
Digital identities are electronic identifiers that are assigned to a person or an organization in the digital space. They are used to electronically verify and confirm the identity of a person or an organization in a legally secure manner. Within the European Union (EU), the regulation on the electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS) forms the overarching set of rules for implementation.
Under eIDAS, digital identities must meet certain standards to ensure security and trust in electronic transactions within the EU. These includes electronic signatures, seals, certificates or specific authentication methods. Digital identities are designed to make electronic interactions legally-compliant, similar to a photo ID or signature in the analogous world.
Which conditions must be created by public authorities to successful implement digital identities in public administration?
Public authorities must know the desired output of their administrative services. What result should the process have and what information is required to achieve this result.
For example, the result may be that a public authority wants to pay a benefit to a reference account that is uniquely assigned to the person making the application. The public authority also wants to ensure that only persons with German citizenship obtain this benefit. To be entitled to benefits, the person must also be studying or in training. This information is required so that the desired result, namely payment of the benefit to the right person, can be achieved in the end.
As soon as the necessary information has been defined, I can determine the processing procedure and the information query in the input channel based on this. The input channel is the interface between citizens and public administration. All the necessary information is requested and transferred here. Up to now, the status of most of the application procedures has been a mix of data queries of varying quality and integrity.
"A person's digital identity is much more than just the eID"
I would like to illustrate this with another example.
A person wants to apply online for a benefit from a local authority and is at the beginning of the digital application process. First, the person has to identify themselves online. Ideally, the person should use the BundID (user account of the German federal government) for this, as the electronic mail from the authorities will then be sent directly to the integrated mailbox, thus proving their own identity to the authority. This is done by using the electronic identity (eID), which is now an integral part of all ID cards in circulation. It contains the most important information about a person (name, first name, date of birth, place of birth, place of residence, citizenship) and is transmitted to the public authorities.
If further proof is required, such as marital status, social security number, tax identification number or proof from health insurance companies, employers or banks, information must be entered manually and documents uploaded if necessary. The public authorities receive some of the data, namely that from the eID, in verified form. All other information must be checked. Manual input may lead to input errors. Depending on their origin, format and quality, documents have a very volatile information value. The processing department at the authority therefore starts by checking the individual pieces of information or passing them on to a department that can check them. This leads to loops and queries to the applicant. The processing procedure is delayed due to the checking of standard queries.
This example shows that a person's digital identity is much more than just the eID. Information about the martial status or bank details can be just as relevant for the application. These are then part of the digital identity required for this purpose. The aforementioned eIDAS was recently expanded by the European Parliament and European Council to include the creation of a framework for a European digital identity. This also introduces the digital wallet, the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW). This will make it possible in future to transport and present various types of information as secure, digital evidence.
In order to anticipate this, the public administration must consider at an early stage how it will change its procedures and applications, what information is really needed and how it can ensure that the information issued is of the necessary quality for this innovation.
What role does data quality play in implementing interoperability for digital identities across public authorities?
Data quality is crucial for the usability of digital proof. From a technical and regulatory perspective, it is possible to give semantically inadequate proof integrity. Data is transported and exchanged using standardized logs. Using the EUDIW as an example, the EU has clearly defined which logs are permitted for the digital proof in the wallet. The transfer of data from public authorities to the wallet and back requires a wallet agent. This wallet agent can convert the authority's data into the format of the EUDIW and vice versa. It is not yet clear where this agent will be located, whether as a central basic service with a standardized interface that can be used by all public authorities or whether there will be various individual solutions. However, the first option would be desirable from the authorities' point of view. They can then concentrate on the digitalization of their processes and the quality of their data instead of investing time and effort in an individual connection to the EUDIW.
"This is not about shifting the administrative process from the citizen's office to the digital world "
How can msg support public authorities in the area of digital identities and which solutions do we offer?
In addition to digital identities, msg can also offer solutions for other needs and requirements of administrations because we know and understand public authorities and their specialist processes We provide advice and implementation services throughout the entire process, from conception to implementation. The use of digital identities is a prerequisite for efficient and legally compliant administrative processes. It ensures that all persons and organizations involved in the process, as well as the most important information, are validated and verified. By combining this with other solutions, such as low-code and process automation, synergy effects become scalable and tangible for everyone involved.
How can acceptance of the use of digital identities be increased among the population and in public authorities?
Clearly through suitable use cases. A suitable use case is characterized by tangible added value for citizens and the administration. This is not about shifting the administrative process from the citizen's office to the digital world or reducing a user journey by two clicks. Acceptance will increase in those cases in which the public administration's workload is reduced and citizens receive their administrative payments more quickly. By using digital identities, processes can be accelerated and automated, individual manual verification steps become superfluous and processing times are reduced.
A person, as in the first example, will use suitable technologies to provide the public administration with the necessary digital proof of bank account, place of residence and status as a student or trainee. By changing its processes at an early stage, the public administration can ensure that its workload is reduced and can handle such processes within a few hours. In such a case, the person would receive payment of the benefit on their account the next day.
Tobias Link is working as Lead Business Consultant in Public Sector industry unit at msg. The political scientist, business economist and economist advises the public sector on media and system interruption-free specialist processes with a focus on digital identities. He has many years of project and consulting experience in the implementation of the OZG (Online Access Act (“Onlinezugangsgesetz” OZG), particularly at federal level, as well as in the introduction of electronic files and organizational development.
