“Security on mobile phones is a big issue in Korea,” said Prof Oh. “We need a different kind of technology to protect the information stored on it. As much money that goes into R&D to build a better mobile environment for government services should go into making that environment secure.”
Over the past decade vendors have focused on making the wired world secure, but they have neglected mobile security, he said. “The solutions that are used to keep mobiles secure are not as reliable as a result. Vendors will, of course, tell you that their technology is secure. But because customers and citizens are not mindful that security is an issue, effective security solutions are not driven by the market.”
More than US$1 billion has been spent on the construction of Korea’s e-government infrastructure over the past ten years, with an increasing amount of data redesigned so that it can be used interchangeably between the PC and mobile. But a lot more will be needed to be invested to improve the mobile environment, Prof Oh added. “And much of that money will need to go on the forgotten piece of mobile service delivery - information security.”
However, he is confident the security issue will soon be adequately addressed. “No matter what problems the evolution of e-society throws up, technology can always provide a solution. It’s just a matter of time.”
The presence of domestic mobile technology giants Samsung and LG should help reassure Korean citizens that mobile services can be reliably delivered, he concluded. “Trust is such important social capital. Koreans have a lot of confidence in companies like Samsung and LG, which has given us confidence that we had chosen the right platform [the mobile phone] on which to deliver public services.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Robin Hicks
Quelle/Source: FutureGov Magazine, 08.03.2010
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