Mobile Meetings Series: Trust Across Borders and the Role of Mobile for e-ID and e-Signatures

Ensuring effective, efficient and secure methods of electronic identification and authentication, as well as cross border trust services represent a key pillar in the emerging European Digital Single Market. The Commission has acknowledged the critical importance of updating existing legislation pertaining to eIDs, e-signatures as well as increasing the cross border interoperability of trust services and eIDs through the creation and employment of the eIDAS Task Force.

Increasing interoperability and ease of use in cross-border transactions is the primary focus of the eIDAS Task Force. This requires a network of trust and security between the Member States as well as key stakeholders at the national and international level.

As markets develop and trust and reputation become more important assets within the economy, policymakers need to ensure consistency between the different legal and regulatory instruments that affect digital identity management. Such consistency and legal certainty will be required not only to ensure interoperability of services and consistent experiences for users, but also to provide business efficiencies and fair competition across different platforms, thereby encouraging market deployments while enabling innovation, competition and market growth.
Mobile identity represents a powerful platform through which to achieve these aims. Mobile offers a compelling proposition for governments seeking to provide secure access to digital services. It provides an ideal platform for creation, storage and management of digital identity thanks in part to the sheer number of devices worldwide – with 6.99 billion connected mobile handsets, the mobile is the most ubiquitous telecommunications medium on the planet. However whilst accessibility is key to the success of digital services, security is also a central consideration. The SIM card, encrypted and part of every mobile device, is arguably the most secure technology on which to store identity credentials. Additionally, mobile identity can provide high security assurance in combination with other existing online and digital infrastructures and technologies.
It is clear that mobile operators and policy makers share a common agenda in order to meet the challenges of growth, employment, innovation and sustainability and evident that the mobile industry plays a critical role in meeting those challenges.

This event will bring together a variety of stakeholders from the EU institutions, industry and civil society to discuss:

•    Development of electronic identification frameworks and creation of online environments where individuals and organizations can trust each other.
•    The Levels of Assurance of e-ID of e-ID schemes, Interoperability Framework, Formats of e-Signatures as to be established by the eIDAS Task Force together with the experts from the Member States, and their implications for industry and civil society stakeholders.
•    The impact of secondary legislation on harmonization of national legislation, as well as interoperability within the EU.
•    Broader recognition of the EU level regulations beyond the EU, and integration with other jurisdictions and legislation on eID (the US, and other markets).