Infrastructures and Security Projects Government PKI Government PKI
In June 2006, the SCEE – State Electronic Certification System – Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for providing qualified electronic signatures for the government.
The overall management of the SCEE, created by the Decree-Law No. 116-A/2006 (text in Portuguese), of June 16is entrusted to a Management Council chaired by the Minister of the Presidency and composed of representatives of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the Center of the Government Computer Network management (CEGER), the Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN), the National Security Office (GNS), the ICP – National Communications Authority (ANACOM), the Institute of Informatics (II) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, the Institute of Telecommunications (IT), the Institute of Information Technologies in Justice (ITIJ), the National Network of Homeland Security, and the Coordination Unit of Administrative Modernisation (UCMA) representation that passed in May 2007 to the Agency for Administrative Modernisation (AMA).
The SCEE ensures the operation of a PKI – Public Key Infrastructure for issuing and managing electronic signatures for the government that, besides issuing electronic signatures certificates for the Citizen's Card and the Portuguese Electronic Passport, will allow the full dematerialization of the legislative process.
The installation of the SCEE was prepared and monitored by a Working Group with identical composition to what came to be that of the SCEE Management Council, referred above, as determined in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 171/2005 (text in Portuguese), of November 3, that approved the creation of the State Electronic Certification Entity – Public Key Infrastructure (ECEE) and started its installation process. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) participated very actively in the work of the Working Group that created in record time the State PKI, more precisely in less than seven and a half months. It was also on the advice of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) that the mentioned Resolution of the Council of Ministers determined the rapid completion of this infrastructure, which in the original proposal provided for a year of preliminary studies before moving to the installation phase. With this advice, that was accepted, the creation of the PKI of the State Electronic Certification Entity was accomplished in about one third of the time that was then proposed, and before the beginning of the deployment of the Citizen´s Card in February 2007, avoiding serious complications if it would be delayed a few months.