(本文翻譯自 陳冲 歐盟數位身分皮夾的羅盤功能 2022-01-04)
Hearing President Tsai’s New Year Day address, Taipei Mayor Ko responded “Isn't it nonsense?” But the idea mentioned in the speech to strengthen European connections, although just a slogan so far, if planned detailed, might really came into truth.
The more people, the more diverse voices are. The EU consisting 27 countries might not be an efficient organization theoretically, but due to the enhanced cohesiveness cause by Brexit, coupled with the impact of Covid-19 and the supply chain restructuring, the EU’s rapid response to the digital change really impresses the world a lot.
On Christmas Eve, with the support of like-minded partners, we Appacus Foundation successfully held a seminar, The Inspiration from the EU’s Digital Identity Wallet. Since the keynote speakers and attendee are all heavy hitters and that the EU official in charge of the Digital Wallet program gave a first-hand explanation by video, domestic audiences can feel that the EU has made great progress step by step in the past two years.
Of course, EU Digital ID Wallet is the theme of the seminar. The EU official pointed out that since 2014, EU member states had set up their own e-ID regulations based on diverse national e-ID systems. In other words, there are limitations for cross-border, cross-sector, or cross-industry use. Also, the simple function made it hard to face the pressure from large international platforms. The EU starts to be aware of the crisis.
In Oct. 2020, as the EU leaders called for the development of an EU-wide secure public electronic identification (e-ID) as President delivered the annual address and stated that the current system no longer meet the long-term development needs of Europe. Moreover, in 2016, EU has already passed the GDPR ahead of the rest of world, not only gaining the discourse power in the digital economy, but also establishing a sound legal environment in terms of personal data protection, data use, and digital supervision. Among all, the most important thing is to win trust of the European people. On Jun. 3rd, 2021, the European Commission unveiled its plan for a digital ID wallet, which not only provides safe and reliable identity authentication for European enterprises and residents, but people can retrieve, obtain, store and share (including degree certificate) relevant information and enjoy services both in public and private fields with protected by GDPR with just a tap on their phone. The European Commission aims to establish a toolbox by September 2022, which would include the technical architecture, standards and guidelines for best practice.
It’s hard to establish such a digital society in good order among 27 member states with different languages, cultures, governments, and development levels. In ancient Chinese times, Yellow Emperor fought a war against Chiyou (the Battle of Zhuolu). Chiyou covered the battlefield in thick fog. Only with the help of a compass chariot could the Yellow Emperor's troops find their way through the mist. As for digital society, in addition to the concept “digital sovereignty” introduced in 2020, the 2030 Digital Compass proposed by the European Commission on Mar. 9th, 2021 might be a new breakthrough. There are four main areas covered: Skills, Infrastructure, Business, and Government, and the Commission had set out quantitative goals for each item. That at least 80% of population be equipped with basic digital skills, 100% of citizens have access to medical records, 80% of citizens use digital ID and computer with quantum acceleration all impressed the world, and the one that impressed me the most is the double semiconductor output in 2030, roughly 20% of the semiconductors manufactured in Europe. All these show EU’s ambition. With the compass and detailed plans including digital ID wallet, no wonder they can launch new programs in a well-ordered way to achieve the goal.
So far, the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, Examination, and control Yuan seem a unity now in Taiwan. It will not be difficult to make an idea into truth if the government wants to. Well, the only fear is that we don’t have the compass. That is, the direction to move forward, just as if in a thick fog. The new hope in the beginning in the year. If we want to make stronger connections with the Europe, maybe we can start with digital ID wallet. But remember, the most important thing is to have a Taiwan Compass first.
(Released on United Daily News, Jan. 4th 2022)