Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1487299
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 DECEMBER 2022 12 COMMERCIAL Connecting Malta to Europe, A few years ago, MITA em- barked on a long journey to implement the eIDAS Reg- ulation in Malta. The new Regulation had come into ef fect in 2016 with the ambi- tious objectives of achieving cross-border interoperabilit y for the use of digital signa- tures and authentication to eGovernment ser vices in Eu- rope, albeit in ver y dif ferent ways. For the effective cross-bor- der exchange of digital sig- natures within Europe, the Regulation created a common standard for Member States to achieve. Qualified Elec- tronic Signatures have a spe- cial meaning under the eIDAS Regulation and provide for a presumption of the identity of the sender and the integ- rity of the signed document. A first for the Islands, MITA created a Public Key Infra- structure to issue the digital certificates for the electronic identity card, and successfully achieved the Qualified Trust Mark, attesting for very high levels of security for the infra- structure. For achieving cross-border authentication to eGovern- ment services, the Regulation required that every Member State should establish an in- frastructure known as the eIDAS Node, in accordance with common technical spec- ifications. The eIDAS Nodes co-operate to allow citizens in every Member State to au- thenticate using their own electronic identity creden- tials to eGovernment servic- es in other Member States. In another first, MITA built the national eIDAS Node us- ing EU funds and connected it to allow notified electron- ic identity schemes to access our eGovernment services where applicable. This summer we have com- pleted the eIDAS Node in- frastructure by attaching our own national electronic iden- tity card to the eIDAS Node, following the notification process done by Identity Mal- ta which afforded to the card the level of assurance High. In this way, Maltese citizens and residents will be able to use their electronic identity or residence permit card to ac- cess eGovernment services in other Member States, and the services offered by the Euro- pean Commission through its authentication portal. This achievement could not come at a better time as MI- TA is now preparing to shift Camilleri Adrian, Digital Enabling Services DepartmentHead For achieving cross-border authentication to eGovernment services, the Regulation required that every Member State should establish an infrastructure known as the eIDAS Node, in accordance with common technical specifications.