Mobile Connect: advancing digital society

Afke Schaart, Vice President – Europe, Government & Regulatory Affairs, GSMA

On 14 October the GSMA hosted a GSMA Europe Mobile Meetings Series breakfast debate on “Mobile Connect: advancing digital society”. Participants, including officials from the European Commission and Member States and industry representatives, discussed the opportunities for citizens, businesses and governments arising from the implementation of the Regulation on Electronic identification and trust services (e-IDAS) across Europe.

The regulation aims to deliver a predictable regulatory environment in order to encourage citizens, companies and administrations to embrace digital solutions. Supporting a range of tasks from submitting tax forms to accessing documents, eIDAS is designed to ensure citizens can easily and securely access services with confidence no matter where they are. Participants in the debate noted that the way in which digital identifiers work, whether provided publicly or privately, needs to be both trustworthy and transparent.

As an enabler, the mobile phone is uniquely placed to provide the convenience and security citizens want when accessing government, banking, health and gaming services. The GSMA’s policy and mIdentity experts Janne Jutila, Tomas Jakimavicius and Marina Solin presented the opportunity offered by Mobile Connect, and explained the fast and secure login system that enables individuals to access their online accounts with just a single click or, where appropriate, automatically.

Participants were positive about the adopted regulation and its’ ability to facilitate a Digital Single Market and about the role of Mobile Connect as enabler. They all agreed that Europe is leading globally on e-Identity and e-Authentication and can set the standard by which other countries regulate digital services in this area. For more information on Mobile Connect, please click here. To discover more about Mobile Connect and Government, please visit our Mobile Connect & Government page.