A government spokesperson said newly appointed federal chief information officer (CIO) Ann Steward would oversee development of a "whole-of-government" identity management framework to be announced in a new e-government policy scheduled later this year. The spokesperson said the framework would see agencies gain the ability to "share information where appropriate" and cited the example of a citizen giving change of address details to the Australian Taxation Office.
Rather than going to other government agencies and repeating that process as at present, the citizen would see that change of address distributed to the systems and databases of those agencies who require the information.
The spokesperson stressed that, at least in the initial stages, the identity management system would be opt-in rather than automatic, with individuals being asked to nominate whether they wanted to pass the information on and to which agencies or departments. If they did not, the information would reside only with the agency originally contacted.
The spokesperson pointed to the proposed AU$200 million government services card -- which is expected to operate across several entities, including Centrelink and the Child Support Agency -- as one plank of the identity management strategy.
Reports indicate Cabinet has asked the Human Services Minister, Joe Hockey, to develop the card, which would be introduced from mid-2006.
The identity management framework was one of a number of initiatives announced by Special Minister of State Eric Abetz at an e-government conference in Japan last Thursday.
"It means establishing a whole of government identity management framework that secures information held by government and enables more efficient public administration," he told delegates to the Nikkei Fifth Strategic Conference on e-Government.
As the senior official in Abetz' portfolio, Steward will lead the project, as part of the new e-government agenda. It will be her first major assignment since being appointed to the federal CIO role in June. ZDNet Australia understands Abetz has been examining the identity management plan since his appointment to the post of Special Minister of State.
He told the conference the government was also establishing new project management processes and systems, new investment frameworks and standardised business processes.
"Our challenge for the future is to continue the focus on embedding ICT in the business of government, increasing value for money and improving the rate of ICT project success, while at the same time increasing service excellence and protecting privacy and security.
"[These goals] will continue our mission of using ICT to improve government service delivery, to improve government operation," he said.
Autor: Steven Deare
Quelle: ZDNet, 01.08.2005
