Cabinet logs on to igovt vision

The Government will seek private sector partners for igovt, an ambitious $122 million project intended to make it easier for people to access services online.

The Cabinet agreed to support the project for another two years. Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy and Finance Minister Bill English will report to the Cabinet on longer term funding options before the end of this year.

Mr Guy says igovt would deliver benefits worth between $641 million and $1.37 billion over 10 years by avoiding duplicated identity verification systems and making it easier for agencies to put more services on the web.

The first part of igovt the igovt logon service was introduced in 2007 and lets people access services provided by agencies through a shared logon system that allows a single user name and password.

The second component, the identity verification service (IVS) is due to be trialled by Internal Affairs' Births, Deaths and Marriages division from November. It is designed to give agencies a high degree of confidence that people who have obtained a logon are who they say they are.

People would enroll in the IVS by presenting their igovt logon and passport or citizenship certificate in person. A photograph would be taken, that could be checked against Passport Office records.

Registrants would be issued with a "two-factor" token, similar to those issued by banks to secure internet banking transactions, that they could use in addition to their user name and password.

The Dominion Post reported earlier this year that the igovt logon service was earning revenues of only $2500 a month from a handful of agencies that were using it to provide services to only a few thousand people.

State Services Minister Tony Ryall subsequently confirmed a review, saying the worsening financial environment might mean fewer agencies than expected might sign up, and the project might need to be revisited.

Uptake is expected to increase. Agencies need special permission from ministers to invest in alternative identity verification systems.

Mr Guy says he has a "lot of confidence in the officials that are rolling out this process".

Internal Affairs wants to hear from businesses that could benefit if igovt was extended beyond government agencies.

The department would look at public-private partnerships or arrangements to "enhance investment, get operational scale and bring more innovation". One idea is that igovt could be used to verify the identity of people opening bank accounts online.

BNZ and ANZ National Bank both say they are interested. Kiwibank spokesman Bruce Thompson says it is "very interested" and is in discussions with Internal Affairs.

- © Fairfax NZ News