eID programmes increase government ICT spending

Seeking to cost effectively raise the quality of public services and better interact with citizens, governments have been increasingly turning to mobile technologies. While keen to provide simple access to its public services, governments are also aware that they need to adopt robust authentication and security solutions that will strongly protect the privacy of citizens.

Many countries have already deployed national ID programmes and eID solutions to facilitate identity management. eIDs are delivered by trustworthy parties and serve as reliable proof of identity when accessing online government services.

Though the move toward digital modernisation hit a roadblock during the economic downturn, governments are keenly aware of the need for state modernisation to deliver high-quality services to citizens. This is increasing government spend on ICT.

Jean-Noël Georges, Global Programme Director, ICT, Frost & Sullivan, comments: “Most modern states have deployed online services by using specific websites and a few of them have extended these services to the mobile space. This approach allows governments to be more present and accessible to citizens even when live services are not available."

In Europe and the US, the government sector has made massive investments in the mobile space to provide an innovative user experience to citizens. The public sector needs to expand its digital vision and adopt a ‘mobile first’ and user-centric strategy. Indeed, many governments involve citizens in the creation of relevant solutions to strengthen social cohesion.

However, with the rise in the use of digital services, there will be parallel rise in the need to educate citizens on the necessity of using governmental online services.

“Many governments have established physical shops to demonstrate the use of online services and to ensure a physical presence to citizens,” observes Georges. “Citizen shops in Portugal, for example, offer in the same location, all the services deemed necessary for CITIZEN 2.0.”

Overall, the number of mobile devices in developed countries, coupled with advanced network infrastructure, will facilitate the large-scale deployment of online services. Even though most of these services are still only viewable through a tablet or smartphone, in due course, they will be specifically designed for mobile devices.