EC: People are e-government 'heart'

The content of a recent European Commission research report (EC) urged the government to take more measures to ensure the trust of people using e-government services.

Experts recommend modern technology may reduce and adversely affect people's confidence in the government. The government needs to fully implement the necessary security measures to protect people.

The report was published just in time after the British government's loss of personal data of 25 million people. The danger is that among the stolen data, there are also personal account information of the people.

Through this research report, the European Commission for Information and Social Affairs wants to encourage governments to target a 'citizen-centered e-government' (cc: eGov - Citizen-centric e-government).

According to the committee, the future of technology - typically web technology - will become a means for people to interact with local and central governments.

Expert Frank Harris - one of the authors of the paper - said people learn the trust from the actual use experience. However, the form of online communication does not provide the same sense of trust as the traditional face-to-face contact.

In order to gain the trust of people through electronic contact channels, governments need to implement a lot of security solutions, not just stop at basic security requirements.

Ordinary people can hardly recognize technical security solutions such as information encryption. Then, instead, the government can use other signs, Harris said, as a strong endorsement of electronic certificates to assure people of safety when using e-government services.

Mr. Harris proposed that a public agreement be made between the people and the government. It clearly states how information related to people is handled. In case of loss of information or misleading information, what measures are used .

Hoang Dung