Geneva Vision on eVoting rewarded by the vote

The eVoting acceptance by the Geneva population rewards the vision of Geneva Government, WISeKey and its partners in developing secure technologies to facilitate the Citizen interaction with their governments.


This Sunday Citizens in Geneva voted in favor of the Geneva eVotiong project by an overwhelming 70 per cent. With this vote of confidence voters decided to enshrine electronic voting in the constitution making Geneva the first of Switzerland's 26 cantons to do so.

This project stated in March 2000, at that time the Cantonal executive (Conseil d'Etat) agreed on a proposal to implement e-voting within the subsequent three subsequent three years.

In the course of a public subscription in fall 2000, two private enterprises (Hewlett-Packard and WISekey SA) were selected for working out the design of the system and the adequate software requirements. At the same time, various experts from reputable local institutions (CERN, University, central hospital etc.) were chosen for studying various critical issues of e-voting procedures (e.g. problems of voter identification, security and confidentiality of votings etc.).
The e-voting system was introduced by the Chancellor of the State of Geneva in collaboration with two private companies located in Geneva, namely, Hewlett-Packard and WISeKey www.geneve.ch/evoting/english/doc/Presentation_generale_english_2006_2_web.pdf . This public-private sector partnership was needed in order to develop a solution compatible with the Swiss voting habits and legal constraints. WISeKey played a crucial role in security of the e-voting system in the State of Geneva. The objective was to guarantee the secrecy of voting and to make sure that votes are not intercepted, modified, nor diverted, and to ensure that many other conditions of secrecy were fulfilled, such as:

· ensuring that each voter can vote only once;

· restricting e-voting access to registered voters;

· allowing access to the system only during the voting period, from the official opening to the official closing of the e-Ballot box;

· ensuring that the ballot box can only be counted in the presence of the minimum quorum of electoral representatives;

· and many others.

WISekey has since this pilot project assisted many governments with their citizen to government applications with the development in cooperation with Microsoft of a Citizen Service Platform which includes evoting among of many other services provided to the citizens that via leading-edge identity federation that enables the establishment of customized citizen portals adapted to the needs and the interests of each citizen in a real Web 2.0 environment.

More information at:

http://www.geneve.ch/evoting/doc/rapports/rapport_version_internet.pdf



http://socio.ch/intcom/t_hgeser12.htm

The Future is Now

The Future is now
2/6/2009 by Richard Casna, SWISS STYLE
WISeKey has the key to open the door
A few years ago a young man had had a single (and somewhat simple) idea: to make the Internet secure. The Web was in its early days, as were computers, e-mails, e-commerce and all the other e-concepts, many of which were still figments of imagination.

But this young man also had a vision that looked far into the future: he foresaw a time when the need for security and trust in the electronic world to come would become all-important and all-encompassing – extending into every facet of activity carried on by businesses, industry, governments and individuals. What was needed was a tool to provide that security and for building trust on the infrastructure.

In the beginning there was the key

Having spent some 15 years beginning in the mid-1980s at the UN in Geneva as United Nations expert on IT telecommunications, security and information networks section, and heading the World Technology of the United Nations Trade Point Programme, where he was responsible for the development of the world’s largest Internet network of sites and secure hubs for e-commerce (GTPNet), Carlos Moreira left the UN and set up a company in Geneva named WISeKey. The name derived from the tool that Moreira developed – “World Internet Secure Key” – during his last 3 years at the UN, which he spent at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia working as a head of a lab on a research project for Internet security.

Since then, what began as a small, one-room office in Geneva with him and three other employees has evolved into a global enterprise whose activities and products reach around the world. And as the company prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary in February, its founder – and now numerous colleagues and partners – rather than reminiscing on the past and its many accomplishments, has his eyes set firmly on the future and how to extend the ever-expanding reach of what WISeKey offers to today’s and tomorrow’s world citizens.

Given its development of key innovations in electronic digital identification, authentication and encryption products and services, stemming from its foundation block of the basic security tool, WISeKey will no doubt fulfil that aim, as it has become today a world leader in its field with a unique trust model and neutrality – essential elements for this type of technology.

A record of achievements

In its first years of operations, the company globally launched and operated the first global Public Key Infrastructure based on a common Root Certification services jointly deployed by WISeKey, the OISTE Foundation and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva. Consequently WISekey further developed and commercialized its PKI technology in several different areas related to Digital Identification, Secure Transactions, first-time solutions for e-voting in Geneva (since used in many other areas around the world as well), Citizen Services Platforms and Secure e- Government projects.

In building on this solid foundation in subsequent years, WISeKey strove to evolve its products and services through the development of its CertifyID product line, a joint project using WISekey and Microsoft technology to develop a low-cost Digital Identification platform (enabling customers both public and private to establish their own trusted identity infrastructure, with the overall premise of decentralization rather than through a centralized arrangement, thereby ensuring even more security and trust to users activities).

Based on its collaboration in its very first year with the OISTE Foundation and the development of the OISTE Trust Model, WISeKey subsequently partnered with a number of leading international organizations, including the ITU, HP, Microsoft (allowing Windows CA to issue hightrusted certificates and digital IDs), Verisign (managed PKI services to authenticate and secure business transactions and communications over the Internet) and Sun Microsystems, among others.

Its partnership with the ITU helped to develop international standards on cyber security and spawned e-commerce solutions based on the mass usage of certification by Internet users for authorized access to intranets and restricted Web-based sites, resulting in an approach that changed the entire dynamics of how the Internet is used and will further propel its transactionalbased usage into the 21st century and beyond.

In furtherance of its collaboration with the ITU in ensuring that the highest open standards are implemented to enable all countries in the world to benefit from the introduction of true e-commerce and be accessible to all regardless of origin, and guided by its drive to promote secure electronic communications worldwide – which is fully endorsed and supported by its Board and Advisory Committee – WISeKey has initiated relationships in recent years with numerous international organizations and firms to further enhance the shared opportunities provided by the electronic world. Noteworthy among these are its affiliations with the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Association for International Mobility (AIM), the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the European Commission, the G8 Cybersecurity Working Group, the Malaga Valley, the Digital Mediterranean Space, OASIS (non-profit consortium driving open standards for global information society), Liberty Alliance (non-profit promoting of identity-related international interoperability standards) the DVB Project Office (Digital Video Broadcasting standards body), and the Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, among many others.

Opening the doors with the key to the future

In all these endeavours, WISeKey has remained – and remains – faithful to its original mission statement: “To facilitate and enable the mass use of secure digital identities in everyday life”. And, as an independent, neutral organization led by remarkable leadership and a team of dedicated, committed partners and colleagues, the company will do doubt continue to achieve the single overall aim first envisioned by that young man with an idea and dream a mere 10 years ago.

The next phases of the company’s evolution include the further development of its recently launched WISeAuthentic service (a cost-effective, reliable anti-counterfeiting solution), its I’M Mediterranean project and its MBanking services, bringing secure electronic credit card and banking services throughout the world’s lessdeveloped regions.

In addition, according to the company’s most recent move forward, WISekey is finalizing the procedures to list the company this year – despite the current crisis – on the Frankfurt stock exchange as a first step to its introduction as a listed company.

In opening the company to the public, WISeKey aims to further enhance its position as one of the world’s leading digital identification and security companies, and to continue to expand its product range around the globe through additional secure revenue models.

With this new positioning, WISekey is becoming an enabler for smart companies (start-ups or established) to disrupt their market. One of the opportunities enabled by WISeKey’s approach is to protect privacy and authenticity while allowing mass deployment and the exploitation the “community effect”. This way, consumers can build up trust through their paying track record. In addition, they have the potential to remain anonymous to all parties except the registering bank. And, last but not least, it allows consumers to use their (anonymous but unique) identity to join clubs or communities with similar interests.

Furthermore, WISeKey has set its eye on domains with high market potential for technology solutions that offer improved security and/or privacy for the transactions together with an improved customer experience.

In the words of its founder, “WISeKey is unique. The future is now and the future is without boundaries. The key to that is here and is based on wisdom.”

[NB: WISeKey is the only Swiss company to have been selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 New Champions during the firstever meeting of New Champions, held in Dalian, China in 2007.]

Full article

Big chill at Davos

Photo: Carlos with Ikram at davos 2009

Big chill at Davos



Thursday, February 05, 2009
By Ikram Sehgal

Davos normally has a snowstorm during the WEF Annual Meeting week, but the measure of winter this year was not the weather but the deepening freeze in the world economy. Most "feel good" economic soothsayers predictably, and prudently, absented themselves along with a host of world corporate figures, many dumped by the economic slide. Among those conspicuously missing were high-profile John Thain of Merrill Lynch who lost his job, embattled Citigroup chief Vikram Pandit did not turn up to avoid hostile interrogation. Nonetheless, quite a few of world business leaders joined dozens of heads of state and government, like Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Britain's Gordon Brown, as well as many top academics, to discuss the ongoing crisis and work out solutions and possible post-crisis initiatives. The bad news consensus: while 2009 would be a tough year the world recession would not bottom out till mid-2010, or even later. Very bad news for the Third World.

Moderated by Harvard's David Shapiro, the session on "Crisis to Prevent at All Cost" had Gareth Evans, Graham Allison, Kishore Mahbubani, Lilia Shevtsova and Luis Moreno-Ocampo highlighting the dangers: (1) assuming that the international liberal economic order will survive and not come crashing down (2) major terrorist attack by either weapons of mass destruction or a biological one and (3) deterioration of relations between Russia and the West leading to another "cold war." Among challenges identified were: (1) some effective global governance with better sharing of power in international institutions between the west, countries like Russia and China and the developing countries (2) creation of more trust in world trade between the US and EU on the one hand and countries like China and India on the other (3) combating cynicism about the NPT and bringing into the fold not only India and Pakistan but also Israel (Arab League secretary general, Amr Moussa impassionedly appealed for the recognition of all nuclear players) (4) making the International Criminal Court (ICC) more effective (5) making the UN agreement strong about intervening in a country where there is gross violation of human rights. Graham Allison and Gareth Evans encouraged addressing the root causes of terrorism and micro-level problems in ground-zero countries like Pakistan.

Another session, titled "the Global Talent Equation" was moderated by David Arkless, head of Manpower Inc, along with Brunson McKinley, former director general of IOM and Carlos Moreira of Wisekey, founding member of a new grouping dealing with international labour mobility, aptly called "Association of International Mobility (AIM)." AIM was launched at Davos on Friday, Jan 30. They debated how education, training, gender and legal issues were hurdles to recruitment of the right people for the right job. In "World-Economic Brainstorming" chaired by Maria Bartiromo, CNBC's anchor and Young Global Leader (YGL), three critical questions outlined the ongoing financial crisis: (1) most damaging policy mistakes (2) regulatory failure producing the largest systemic shock and (3) where did genuine market failure occur? The participants felt that the failure to attribute personal blame for the collapse was intriguing. There should be serious consequences for inappropriate financial behaviour, "including going to jail" like other people are so criminally charged in other fields. Do we in Pakistan have the courage to send to jail for their criminal conduct some of our fat-cat stockbrokers, and those in the SECP who were criminally negligent in failing to regulate them? Manipulating stocks and shares for their personal benefit and holding the country to economic ransom, the SECP gave time to its favourites to bail out at the expense of the taxpayers' money by suspending trading for months.

There is far more to Davos than being a rich men's club interested only in collective gloating over their wealth and partying. Why indeed do world leaders come to Davos in droves? Gordon Brown's predecessor Tony Blair was there, Germany's Angela Merkel made an appearance. UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon was passionate about the Israeli destruction of Gaza. Davos was shell-shocked when Turkish prime minister Erdogan, displaying great sensitivity to the havoc wrought by Israel in Gaza, stalked off the stage and flew off to Turkey after a shouting match with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The Chinese prime minister spelt out the reasons for Davos: "Annual Meeting (2009) has a special significance. Amidst a global financial crisis rarely seen in history, it brings together government leaders, business people, experts and scholars of different countries to jointly explore ways to maintain international financial stability, promote world economic growth and better address global issues. The theme of 'Shaping the Post-Crisis World' is highly relevant and reflects the vision of its organisers. People from across the world are eager to hear words of wisdom from here that will give them strength to tide over the crisis. It is our responsibility to send to the world a message of confidence, courage and hope. Confidence being the source of strength, in tackling crisis practical cooperation is the effective way to prevail over crisis, accepting responsibilities is the pre-requisite." Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's suggested: (1) deepening international cooperation and promoting a sound multi-logistics trade regime (2) advancing reform of international financial system and activating the establishment of a new international financial order (3) strengthening cooperation in financial supervision and regulation guarding against the build-up and spread of financial risks (4) effectively promoting the interest of developing countries by actively supporting economic development of the whole world and (5) jointly tackling global challenges and building a better home for markets. To quote the Chinese prime minister, "the harsh winter will be gone and spring is around the corner."

I was privileged to be a panellist in the session entitled, "Future Conflict" along with Interpol's Ronald Noble, Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, Lockheed Martin's Dr Ray Johnson and moderated by Prof Audrey Kurth Cronin of US National War College. We explored the possibilities of cyber-terrorism and nuclear proliferation, as well as the ground zero of Pakistan's disturbed areas. When explained properly, Pakistan's predicament was better understood by world leaders and intellectuals in Davos. Facing a barrage of hostile questioning, Prime Minister Gilani held his own at my traditional "Pakistan Breakfast" on Friday, Jan 30. Personalities like George Soros, Sonje Bata, Anand Mahindra joined a host of world business and academic leaders at eight in the morning to hear the Pakistani prime minister. Compared to over 100 Indian business leaders, only Hussain Dawood, Arif Naqvi, Zakir Mahmood and Kalim Siddiqui provided Pakistan's scant representation. This was my sixth breakfast for a Pakistani head of state or government and one is grateful that for the first time there was some recognition at home. My friends Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz, privately acknowledged the event and its effectiveness, publicly in Pakistan it never happened!

For a Pakistani head of state or of government not to go to Davos every year would be criminally negligent. We need to drastically expand private sector participation to take advantage of commercial opportunities that can be networked in Davos and government-to-government interaction without the shackles of protocol. Whether in the media, the economy, geopolitics or simply in social engagement, Davos is a must, big chill or no big chill!



The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com