The digital transformation does not only affect the private sector. The government has in fact been working for several years to transform and modernise administrations. The Public Action 2022 programme aims to use the digital sector to provide a better public service to users, improve conditions for agents to carry out their tasks and reduce the weight of public expenditure for taxpayers. The aim is an ambitious one: to offer French citizens all services electronically by 2022.
In this context, public bodies and administrations must manage their identity and access management strategy in order to respond to the requirements of their agents, but also to meet the expectations of citizens, while complying with the strict regulatory obligations to which they are subject.
How to meet the 3 major challenges for identity and access management in the Government sector?
1
Modernisation of agents’ work environments
Government organisations are now required to offer numerous electronic services to citizens. This new trajectory has considerably changed the professional environment of the agents. Collaboration and exchanges between administrations or the need for mobility are now becoming an inherent part of their daily lives. They therefore require adapted tools and services in order to improve their working conditions and, by extension, the quality of the public service offered to citizens.
However, there is a wide range of different types of personnel and usage scenarios in the public domain. As part of their role, agents access many applications or portals every day, varying in their level of sensitivity. Some agents are office-bound and log in to individual or shared workstations, while others are required to work in the field from a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone.
Imposing upon them unsuitable authentication methods, too many username/password pairs to remember/enter or an excessively complex password strategy in order to access the work environment would have a negative impact on their productivity and, as a result, the quality of the service provided. What is required, therefore, is an improved user experience! Use by agents must be supported and secured, not restricted by imposing unsuitable means of authentication upon them.
Our identity and access management platform allows the deployment of ergonomic solutions adapted to the specific requirements of the profession through the implementation of multi-factor authentication and Single Sign-On, or SSO.
It makes work easier for the agents by freeing them from IT constraints and allowing them to use a modern, fast and smooth digital work environment in complete security.
Furthermore, it avoids the need for your administrators to manage and reset passwords thanks to features such as the Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR). You have a clear ROI on the administration costs and the gains in productivity resulting from your employees’ independence.
2
An optimum user experience
and simplified digital services
Citizens’ requirements from the public service are strongly influenced by their daily lives as digital consumers, so administrations and local authorities must reposition users at the heart of their digital transformation strategy. Citizens have high expectations when it comes to confidentiality and transparency of access to data, speed of service provided or the simplicity of administrative procedures.
Furthermore, the user experience must also be optimal, and include a multi-channel dimension. A citizen can visit an administration in person, make a request by e-mail, send a justification in electronic format from their personal area on the site of the administration concerned or consult confidential information from their mobile… It must be possible to orchestrate and protect these various data flows in order to offer citizens a smooth path.
Our IAM platform allows you to provide your users with a unified and secure digital experience across all of your sites and applications. To do this, it uses a robust access management infrastructure incorporating advanced features such as Web SSO single sign-on, multi-factor strong authentication, Mobile Access Management and identity federation.
It also incorporates an IAM Customer solution providing key features for the implementation of online services for the general public: registration and authentication services, personal data and user consent management, advanced access control policies, easy integration with the customer IS and in particular CRM tools, etc.
3
Digital trust between
the administration and the user
The security of national infrastructures and the protection of citizens’ data are government issues. The regulatory framework is therefore strict and the compliance requirements high: many operators of critical infrastructure (OCI) or operators of essential services (OES) are, since July 2018, subject to the French Military Planning Act (LPM).
Securing access to sensitive data, sometimes classified as secret, is essential for public organisations. They must be able to control and prove that user access is authorised, secure and compliant. Furthermore, public bodies are required to check the identity of users, a prerequisite to establishing a relationship of trust and limiting the risks relating to impersonation or identity theft.
Lastly, administrations are required to collect, process and exchange data of a personal nature, in particular via the identity federation system FranceConnect. They are therefore obliged to respect the GDPR and must put in place procedures to protect the confidentiality of data and justify the effectiveness of these procedures through audits.
Our IAM platform meets all of these high security and compliance challenges for the Government sector, while allowing bodies to open up their IS to an extended ecosystem (local authorities and administrations, private partners, citizens, etc.), thus offering their users a smooth and modern digital area.
It was designed using a “Privacy by Design” approach, allowing citizens to manage their profiles and control their personal data that they do or do not wish to share with the administration. This approach will allow you to create a genuine connection of trust with citizens, concerned by the uses made of their personal digital data.
An IAM solution proven with the major actors in the Government sector
The Compensation Fund for Family Benefits, Workmen’s Compensation and the Welfare of Employees; New Caledonia (CAFAT) uses the Ilex IAM platform to centralise the usernames of health professionals and business leaders, and secure their remote access to its online services. Furthermore, CAFAT also strengthens authentication for certain e-services where more sensitive data is involved.