Award-winning technologies and innovations for the digital networked world.
This year the slogan of the competition is „City, Land, Network! Innovations for a digital world“. So the initiative „Germany – Land of Ideas“ and Deutsche Bank honor projects which provide solutions for the digital change. With “SkIDentity – Electronic Identity for Online Services“ ecsec GmbH provides an important contribution for the secure and user-friendly creation of a connected world, as electronic identity (eID) cards and signature cards can be transformed into secure and mobile usable “Cloud Identities”, which can be used in any cloud and web application for strong and user friendly authentication.
More than 1000 research institutes, companies, start-ups or associations from all over Germany competed with their trendsetting projects. Supported by a five-membered advisory board an independent 18-membered jury choose the 100 winners in the categories economy, culture, science, environment, education and society. “Out of the middle of economics, culture and society this year´s winners take the people with them on a way to a changed digital professional and social daily life. Germany´s connected future needs this creativity, eagerness to experiment and willingness to accept risks”, Jürgen Fitschen, co-chairman of the managing board of Deutsche Bank AG and member of the executive board of Germany – Land of Ideas e. V.
SkIDentity creates confidence and security in the „Network of Ideas“
After being distinguished for the„BürgerCloud“ idea last year, this year the innovative SkIDentity-service (https://skidentity.de/service), which was developed within the „Trusted Cloud“ program supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), is among the “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”. With SkIDentity various eID cards like the German eID („Elektronischer Personalausweis“), the Austrian social insurance card (e-card), the Estonian eID as well as several signature and banking cards can easily be used in cloud and web applications. SkIDentity allows to derive cryptographically secured “Cloud Identities“ from any standard compliant eID card, which can be transferred to almost any smartphone in order to be used for pseudonymous authentication or a self-determined proof of identity in the cloud.
„SkIDentity builds the bridge between secure eID cards and the more and more increasing cloud services. Secure online identification does not only help citizens and authorities to manage processes more efficiently, but it also makes business processes easier and more transparent to consumers and entrepreneurs”, Dr. Heiko Roßnagel, project-coordinator at Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO). „I am particularly pleased that by the use of SkIDentity the challenging eID integration is perceptibly made easier.”
About ecsec GmbH
ecsec GmbH is a specialised provider of innovative solutions in the areas of IT security, smart card technology, identity management and electronic signatures. Based on the long lasting experiences gathered in various smart card projects with international reach ecsec belongs to the leading providers in this area and supports well-known customers during the conception and realisation of tailor-made solutions. Considering the relevant state of science and technology and actual and future international standards, an excellent consulting quality and sustainable customer success is guaranteed.
About SkIDentity
The SkIDentity project is performed by an interdisciplinary team, which is coordinated by ecsec GmbH and comprises experts from ENX Association, Fraunhofer institutes for industrial engineering (IAO) and computer graphics (IGD), OpenLimit SignCubes GmbH, Ruhr University of Bochum, University of Passau, Urospace GmbH and Versicherungswirtschaftlicher Datendienst GmbH. In addition the SkIDentity team is supported by major associations and federations such as the Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien e.V., BITKOM), the German EuroCloud association (EuroCloud Deutschland_eco e.V.), the ProSTEP iViP association and TeleTrusT – IT Security Association Germany and well known enterprises such as DATEV eG, easy Login GmbH, media transfer AG, noris network AG, SAP AG and SiXFORM GmbH.
About the “Trusted Cloud” Program
The German Federal Ministry for Economic affairs and Energy (BMWi) supports through “Trusted Cloud” the development and testing of innovative, secure and legally valid cloud computing services with about 50 million Euro. Because the various project partners roughly bring in own resources of the same amount, the program has in total about 100 million Euro as its disposal. The “Trusted Cloud” technology program of the BMWi is part of the cloud computing initiative, which has been started by the BMWi in October 2010 together with its industrial and academic partners.
About the „Landmarks in the Land of Ideas“ competition and the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative
The German-wide “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” competition, staged by the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative with Deutsche Bank, the competitions national sponsor, showcases exemplary ideas and projects developed in Germany. The goal is to publicize German innovations at home and abroad and to strengthen Germany’s economic potential and future viability. Each year, the competition is devoted to a certain theme. Please refer to http://land-of-ideas.org for more information.
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Contact:
Dr. Detlef Hühnlein
SkIDentity c/o ecsec GmbH
Sudetenstraße 16
96247 Michelau, Germany
E-Mail: skidentity@ecsec.de
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