eRecognition is an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, which has commissioned experts and private suppliers to develop a robust network solution for authentication and authorisation issues, by reusing tried and tested tokens and tools. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation initiated eRecognition in order to enhance administrative efficiency and stimulate reduction of administrative burdens for businesses.

As the successor of DigiD for businesses, eRecognition is one of the building blocks of the Dutch National Implementation Programme (NUP), a joint priorities programme of municipal and provincial authorities, regional water boards and central government. This programme sets out to provide excellent (e-)services to business and citizens, one of the primary goals of the Netherlands administration. To achieve this goal, e-government services need to be accessible and reliable.

Therefore, the ministry has invited commercial experts to become involved in the development of a robust e-solution for authentication and authorisation, and to reuse e-identification tokens and tools that have proven their worth in the commercial market. A considerable number of commercial parties have shown their interest by responding and participating, including major banks, Telco’s, software developers and e-identity experts.

Subsequently, an initial group of ten public sector organisations, under the direction of the ministry, has formed the eRecognition network. Other parties are invited to participate in the network once they are accredited to offer eRecognition services.

Governance is currently supervised by the ministry and a provisional management organisation is installed.

With the Internet playing an ever increasing role in conducting business (whether or not in the public or commercial domain), the means to sufficiently identify oneself is a prerequisite for the further development of e-business and e-government. The e-identity scheme offered by eRecognition is a major step towards fulfilling this goal.

Last but not least, eRecognition offers a significant contribution to the implementation of cross-border electronic services within Europe, as initiated by the EU Services Directive.

Source: www.epractice.eu