HP introduces National Identity System solution built on Microsoft .NET platform

HP has announced the HP National Identity System (NIS) solution on the Microsoft .NET platform, that allows governments to build and quickly deploy a complete infrastructure for security and identity management.

The solution enables national identification systems to allow citizens to access e-government services and conduct secure transactions. The solution also provides citizens with improved secure and intelligent identity documents.

The modular nature of the solution enables national and regional governments to plug in additional elements, such as biometrics, to customize and balance the level of security and privacy as defined by a government's policy and requirements.

Recent figures from industry analyst firm Morgan Keegan show that the worldwide identity management market is approximately US$4.8 billion and is estimated to grow to approximately $10.7 billion in 2007.

The HP NIS is built using HP's security frameworks and public key infrastructures (PKI). The solution can be integrated into the HP e-government framework and integrated into a nation's e-government services delivery framework. The solution encompasses essential national identification system attributes and functions, including online and offline enrollment of demographic and biometric data through live capture.

For the HP NIS solution, Microsoft supplies a range of software products and technologies, including Microsoft Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit), the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Services.

HP says that it is working with the Italian Ministry of Interior to provide smart electronic national identity documents for all Italian citizens. The initiative will assist particularly in the delivery of e-government services by supplying secure access to government services portals and enabling transaction authentication through digital signatures.

In addition, HP is connecting citizens in Israel, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria with new identity and entitlement documents such as passports, driving licenses and identity cards.