ETDA readies identity platform
Goal to bolster digital transaction ecosystem
The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) plans to officially launch the open national digital identity platform in June to facilitate ID verification for digital transactions, especially e-payment in both the public and private sectors.
The first eight corporate groups on the platform to provide digital IDs to their users are securities companies, banks, the Revenue Department, Thailand Securities Depository Co, National Credit Bureau Co, Student Loan Fund, Thai Life Assurance Association and Thai General Insurance Association.
Surangkana Wayuparb, chief executive of ETDA, said the project is driven by the Digital Economy and Society (DE) and Finance ministries, working closely with pioneer corporations to adopt the open digital ID platform with an initial budget of 20 million baht for platform development.
The budget is projected to be 100 million baht by year-end.
“The open national digital ID project will facilitate routines for the government and large enterprises as well as enhance assurance of the digital transactions ecosystem, including the e-commerce market,” she said.
Mrs Surangkana said ETDA is responsible for the development and management of the Federation Proxy. The Federation Proxy, which is part of the Digital ID Platform, acts as a bridge connecting components in the digital ID ecosystem with an inter-operable authentication protocol.
There are three major components for the digital ID architecture: Identity Provider (IdP); Relying Party (RP); and Authoritative Source (AS).
IdP offers authentication services to process transactions. The RP is an entity that relies on the digital identity issued by an IdP.
RP should assess their own business risks and choose an appropriate set of IdPs that can provide an assurance level commensurate with the risk assessment.
AS is an entity that has access to, or verified copies of, accurate information from an issuing source so that IdP can confirm the validity of identity evidence supplied by a subscriber.
Mrs Surangkana said the national Digital ID platform is an open, intermediary form of infrastructure that provides online service providers with a standardised way to identify and authenticate their subscribers or customers using existing digital identifications, allowing them to access a variety of services remotely.
Yesterday, ETDA signed a memorandum of understanding with Omise Co, a Thai startup specialising in online identification and e-payment service.
Omise Co was appointed by ETDA as a cooperative partnership, and the agency is considering one more Thai company for another such partnership.
“ETDA aims for at least 10,000 people to adopt the national digital ID system through digital transactions for greater assurance of online activities,” she said.
In a mobile-first society, the national digital ID system will help promote growth, especially in e-commerce activities, said Mrs Surangkana.
She said the digital ID system will also help reduce online fraud.
Ezra Don Harinsut, co-founder of Omise, said the firm provides e-payment infrastructure for enterprises including Line Mobile, Total Access Communication and True Move.
The collaboration with ETDA will enable Omise to be the country’s first identity provider connecting directly to ETDA’s federated proxy.