27 September, 2007 - 4:13pm

CBC TV reported yesterday that the BC government will early next year test virtual identity cards enabling citizens to more safely and easily connect with the government's online services. Ian Bailey, director of application architecture for the province's Office of the Chief Information Officer, notes that "it will give us better privacy protection for individuals." He also stated that it would be done in accordance with the Seven Laws of Identity by Microsoft's identity architect Kim Cameron. The CBC concludes that the project includes identity companies CA, Microsoft and Sxip.

Of note, the project actually includes a lot more of the leading IdM vendors including: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Novell, Nortel, Computer Associates, Siemens, Sun Microsystems, Deloitte, Bell, Telus, and Sxip. The government asked Sxip to lead this vendor team. The goal is to make online provincial government services more accessible to its constituents while reducing the costs for delivery, and unified IdM has been identified as a primary driver. We'll be producing a user-centric IdM architecture that scales to meet the needs of government ministries, the broader public sector (Crown Corporations, health providers, etc), non-governmental bodies, businesses and citizens.

The project is gaining North American and global attention in e-government circles as an innovative approach to the IdM problem that would provide digital credentials for its citizens, businesses, and civil servants and reduce the friction of e-government.