Presidência do Conselho de Ministros (Council of Ministers' Presidency)
Resolution of the Council of Ministers
The public programmes for the promotion of information and communication technologies and the introduction of new ways of relationships in society, between citizens, companies, non-governmental bodies and the State, aiming at strengthening the information society and the eGovernment, involve, for specific purposes, mechanisms of strong digital authentication of identities and signatures, which may be carried out with the use of the so-called public keys infrastructures.
Examples of programmed or ongoing projects in the scope of the information society and eGovernment may be those related to the citizen’s card, the Portuguese electronic passport, the provision of Public Administration services over the Internet which require strong digital authentication of identities and signatures, and the dematerialisation of procedures within and between bodies of the State that require this type of authentication.
Thus, to ensure the unity of strong digital authentication systems in the electronic relationships of natural and legal persons with the State and between public bodies, it is necessary to establish a State’s electronic certification entity.
This entity shall operate independently of the public, private or foreign keys infrastructure, but shall allow the necessary interoperability with infrastructures that satisfy the necessary authentication precision requirements, namely within the scope of the European Union (EU) countries.
The analysis of public key infrastructures of other States, the assessment of the need to create such a system for the Portuguese State and the proposal of recommendations for the setting up thereof were the subject of a study carried out by UMIC - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (Agency for Knowledge Society), together with the FCCN - Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (National Scientific Computing Foundation), the ICP-ANACOM (National Communications Authority) and the GNS - Gabinete Nacional de Segurança (National Security Office).
The Government thus decides to establish and launch the operation of a State’s Electronic Certification Body - Public Key Infrastructure, which ensures the fulfilment of the needs in this area of the society and the State, appointing a work group to monitor the respective implementation process.
Therefore:
Pursuant to point g) of article 199 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers hereby resolves:
1 - To approve the establishment of the ECEE - Entidade de Certificação Electrónica do Estado - Infra-Estrutura de Chaves Públicas (State’s Electronic Certification Body - Public Key Infrastructure), with its legal, organic and operational components, assigning the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers the powers to coordinate the respective implementation process.
2 - To determine that the implementation process shall assure the following objectives:
a) To define a certification authority management structure and organization model to be adopted for the ECEE;
b) To prepare draft statutory instruments to govern the ECEE operation, namely in matters concerning the definition of certification policies, certification practises, inspection and accreditation of certification entities;
c) To identify entities and bodies that participate in the ECEE implementation and operation process;
d) To define and prepare the physical location of the root certification authority, as well as an alternative location;
e) To purchase all necessary goods, services and infrastructures for the implementation and operation of the ECEE;
f) To make the legislative framework governing the ECEE compatible with the international technical recommendations and with standards applicable to international bodies of which Portugal is a member, in order to guarantee a future interoperability with other public keys infrastructure, through the appropriate technical mechanisms;
g) To qualify the ECEE to issue digital certificates that support strong authentication of identities, electronic signatures and integrity, privacy and acceptance of communications certified with keys supplied by the infrastructure;
h) To provide the ECEE with transversal compatibility mechanisms that guarantee the necessary integration of functionalities for the use thereof by services such as electronic commerce, personal and institutional email, distribution of electronic publications which require integrity of communications and/or strong identity authentication, encryption of messages, Web services, directory services, composition and maintenance of network devices.
3 - To determine that the implementation process shall be monitored by a work group, which is assigned technical counselling functions, and shall comprise representatives of the following entities:
a) UCMA - Unidade de Coordenação da Modernização Administrativa (Administrative Modernization Co-ordination Unit);
b) UMIC - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (Agency for Knowledge Society);
c) ICP-ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (National Communications Authority);
d) GNS - Gabinete Nacional de Segurança (National Security Office);
e) FCCN - Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (National Scientific Computing Foundation);
f) IT - Instituto de Telecomunicações (Telecommunications Institute);
g) CEGER - Centro de Gestão da Rede Informática do Governo (Government Network Management Centre);
h) ITIJ - Instituto das Tecnologias da Informação na Justiça (Institute for Computing Technologies on Justice);
i) Centro de Instalação da Rede Nacional de Segurança Interna (National Internal Security Network Deployment Centre).
4 - To establish that the members of the work group shall be appointed by the entity to which they belong, within a 15-day time limit from the date of publication of the present resolution.
5 - To establish that the work group referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be under the powers of the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, who shall articulate with the remaining members of the Government with responsibilities on the matters concerned.
6 - To determine that on account of functions performed as members of the work group, such members shall not earn any salary, remuneration supplement or attendance fees, without prejudice to daily allowances which eventually they may be entitled to.
7 - To determine that, in their scope of action, the work group may request the cooperation of services and bodies of the direct and indirect administration of the State.
8 - To determine that the mandate of the work group shall be of 90 days from the date of publication of the present resolution, which may be extended up to a 60-day period of time, by order of the member of the Government with supervision powers thereupon.
9 - To determine that the operation budgetary burden arising from the present resolution shall be borne by the budget funding of the Secretariat-General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which shall also be responsible for the administrative and logistic support for the work group.
10 - To establish that the present resolution shall take effect as from the day following that of its publication.
Presidency of the Council of Ministers, 6 October 2005. - The Prime-Minister, José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa.
