The challenge for Ecuador

The South American state of Ecuador has proclaimed (under the patronage of several ministries) an initiative for digital administration with improved e-government services for the population. Part of this project is an electronic identity card and a new electronic passport for the country’s 16 million inhabitants. The passport is also politically important, as Ecuador wants to be included in the group of non-EU countries whose citizens are allowed to enter the Schengen area without a visa – a modern passport is absolutely necessary for this.

The ID card and passport project was initially managed by the IGM (Instituto Geográfico Militar), which has been responsible for the production of identity documents in Ecuador since the 1980s. At the moment, the Foreign Ministry of Cancillería is in charge.

The challenge for Ghana

With almost 30 million inhabitants, Ghana is an important city in West Africa. Thanks to political stability and numerous mineral resources, the economic situation has improved significantly in the last two decades, making Ghana one of the best developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

As an important project for the future, the Ghanaian government has launched an electronic identity card, the GhanaCard. The GhanaCard is a document with many applications. It can not only be used as an identity document – like any ID card – but also as a passport replacement within the West African ECOWAS region. In addition, the GhanaCard enables strong two-factor authentication – as a secure password replacement for online services. Digital signing of electronic documents is also possible with this card. With the GhanaCard it is even possible to pay – and citizens have the option of activating this function after issuing the card.

The Ghanaian government has ambitious goals for the GhanaCard. Within 12 months a total of 16 million cards are to be issued to the citizens of the country.

The challenge for HR

The Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) campus in Frankfurt offers numerous cable-supported and wireless access points to the station’s local network. The same applies, albeit to a lesser extent, to other HR locations. Since such accesses often allow hackers to penetrate, they are usually protected with encryption and passwords. However, managing the numerous keys and passwords in a larger network is a tedious and confusing task that is also a nuisance for users of the access points.

With the 802.1x technology, however, there is a proven solution that enables central and user-friendly management of network access. HR decided to implement it. 802.1x is based on digital certificates and therefore requires a public key infrastructure (PKI).

The challenge for TU Dortmund

With almost 35,000 students, Dortmund Technical University (TU) is one of the 20 largest universities in Germany. Students at this university use the UniCard 2.0 as their student identity card, a smartcard issued in the corporate design of the University Alliance Ruhr (consisting of Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund and University Duisburg-Essen).

This card is also recognised outside the university, for example when it comes to reduced admission prices. In addition, the UniCard 2.0 provides security for IT use.

With the certificates stored on it, it is possible to sign and encrypt e-mails. Students can also use the card to register at various TU Dortmund services. The UniCard 2.0 also makes cashless payment possible at various locations on campus and outside.