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Australian Report On Progress Towards the Paperless Trading GoalsIn APECˇ¦s Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce
interoperability between authentication systems) and provide policy advice to those processes;
• provides information and advice to industry and consumers on authentication issues such as a broad 'map' of authentication technology types and best practice relating to electronic authentication which Australian organisations and companies will be encouraged to follow; and
• as the Government expands its delivery of services online, NEAC will facilitate the wider use of authentication products issued by Government agencies for other transactions.
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The Certification Forum of Australia (CFA)
The Certification Forum of Australia (www.aeema.asn.au/frames.cfm?main=divisions ) was formed on 24 August 1998 to provide confidence in the security and authentication of electronic transactions. Membership includes major certification authorities (issuers of digital signatures), Government agencies and major likely users. Its objective is to provide a forum for industry participants to advance the co-operative development of a national infrastructure for trusted certification activities in Australia, in order to promote electronic commerce.
ABN Digital Signature Certificates
The Australian Business Number (ABN) is an 11 digit number, which identifies a business for dealings with the Australian Taxation Office, and for future dealings with other government departments and agencies. Businesses can also use the ABN to uniquely identify other businesses. The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is developing an ABN Digital Signature Certificate (ABN-DSC). This will increase Commonwealth agenciesˇ¦ ability to make transactions available online, particularly via the Business Entry Point, and help address the security and authentication concerns of businesses about electronic trading.
Standards
A key to the utilisation of open trading networks is the development of the information standards providing communication between ˇ§any to anyˇ¨ systems. Considerable work has already been done in standards development in Australia.
Standards play an important role in the spread of e-commerce by establishing common platforms, ˇ§languagesˇ¨ and protocols which are available to anyone to use, ensuring that systems are interoperable. The alternative is proprietary systems that are restricted to those willing to ˇ§join the clubˇ¨ and will not necessarily be able to interact effectively with other proprietary systems.
Open standards, especially international ones, can have wide benefits because they are available universally, enabling many industries that interact to do so efficiently by adopting the same standards. For example, if all retailers used the same standards to identify their product lines, delivery arrangements, documentation, etc, others in the supply chain could use these, resulting in only one system that reduces costs and increases efficiency. These benefits could be shared by all participants such as transport companies, wholesalers, grocery suppliers, insurers and consumers.
NOIE has a neutral and objective role in promoting e-commerce throughout the economy and can play the role of ˇ§honest brokerˇ¨ with industry groups to encourage them to cooperate. For example, Trucks Online ˇV National Road Transport Scoping Study (www.noie.gov.au/ecom/Home/Projects/Transport/Trucks_Online_Scoping_Study/trucks_online_scoping_study.html )recommended the Government promote e-commerce by mandating the use of open standards by government agencies. As a major purchaser from most sectors of the economy, such a policy would not only reduce the costs to government and its suppliers, but it would also encourage the [next page]