Author(s): Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology
Resource Type: Case studies
Countries: Oman
Keywords: Access to Information, Accessibility, Administrative Procedure, Transparency
Oman National Public Key Infrastructure
Source in English: ESCWA-OECD Case Study - National Public Key Infrastructure, Oman
Oman National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a security architecture that augmented the eGovernment (eOman) with trusted e-services and increased the level of confidence in using these services. The use of PKI provided excellent solutions, including a secure authentication (multi-factor) mechanism, a legal-binding electronic signature, and an electronic stamp. It ensured the security and privacy of personal data, which encouraged citizens to complete e-transactions in both public and private e-services, and helped in saving time, efforts and costs, especially for residents of remote areas.
Implementation: 2013
Contributor(s)
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology owned and operated this initiative, with the help of the Royal Oman Police and Telecom Providers.
Purpose
Enable secure and trusted e-services that help in saving the resources needed for traditional services and Know Your Customer systems, which require face-to-face verification at the premises of service providers. This in turn reduced the time needed, transport costs, and road traffic.
Functions
- Enable electronic and secure identification and authentication of clients using a national digital identity card, without usernames and passwords.
- Enable e-signature of documents and e-transactions with non-repudiation feature.
- Provide digital identify and e-signature in three medias: National eID, mobile phones, and corporate tokens.
- The PKI in the eID and mobile phones are provided for the public (citizens and residents) and the PKI token is provided for official employees to authenticate to internal systems, sign official documents and encrypt data.
Clients
All citizens, residents, and employees.
Outcome
The PKI services help citizens and residents to access e-services remotely and at any time. The electronic and mobile ID give people confidence in the secure use of e-services. They also allow individuals and organizations to sign contracts and documents electronically. Oman became a worldwide success story with a wide use of national PKI services that integrated around 77 electronic systems and performed more than 24 million e-transactions since 2013.
Impact
The use of PKI services increased confidentiality and integrity of data and prevented identity fraud. This has increased trust and confidence in e-government services and decreased the use of papers and waste printer toners, which has a positive impact on the environment.
Challenges
The challenges include the significant need for raising public awareness on the government e-services and protecting personal information.
