News - Public secure electronic communication channel being

Public secure electronic communication channel being explored

March 2003

For many, sending email has become an accepted part of daily life. In the e-government environment people and businesses are increasingly looking to communicate with government agencies electronically.

For routine matters, like requesting a form or asking a question about a service, ordinary email works well. However, people may think twice before giving personal or financial information in an email, preferring instead to see someone face-to-face or sending the information in the post. And agencies themselves are required to secure sensitive communications.

A consistent approach across government is needed to develop an effective and more complete messaging channel for communication between government and people and businesses, one that is trusted, secure and reliable. A number of agencies have begun work to understand more about what is required to develop such a channel more fully.

A policy and technical framework for secure electronic messaging between government agencies and people and businesses will eventually be incorporated into the e-GIF. This will sit alongside SEEMail, which provides a framework for secure email exchange between agencies themselves.