SAFE ONLINE BUSINESS BRIEF SECURED BY CHELGATE
Tuesday 06 April 2004

tScheme, the independent industry regulatory body for online identity management services , is to undertake a major public relations programme to raise awareness of e-business security.

The programme, which targets both public sector and business audiences, will be implemented by newly appointed public relations consultancy, Chelgate Limited.

tScheme aims to provide assurance to individuals and companies using or relying upon e-business transactions by independently assessing and approving secure and reliable identity authentication services.

The body is not-for-profit and owned by its members, which include Vodafone, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royal Mail, Microsoft, IBM, Experian, CBI, BT and Barclays Bank. It was established following the Electronic Communications Bill in 2000 and avoids the need for the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to invoke legislative powers to regulate the industry. It also enables the Government to fulfil certain obligations under the European Directive for a Community Framework on Electronic Signatures.

tScheme is approaching its fourth anniversary. To mark the date, the E-Commerce and Competitiveness Minister, Stephen Timms MP, will be hosting an event at the DTI in London on 21 April where successful organisations will be presented with Approvals and recognition awards.

Stephen Upton, the chief executive of tScheme , said: "We have reached an important stage in the evolution of tScheme . After four years steady and successful establishment of secure electronic transaction service approvals, both in the public and private sector, we now need to move up a gear and help the wider market meet the issues of Internet security and identity authentication. The public and business communities need to have confidence in using the Internet for a growing range of secure transactions. Using a tScheme -approved service to support these will ensure that the service provider has systems in place to properly authenticate users and to manage secure online identities."

Chelgate chairman and chief executive, Terence Fane-Saunders, said:

"This is a tremendously significant campaign. The future of e-commerce is completely dependent on the concept of Internet integrity, and tScheme goes to the heart of this. For many of our clients this is already a critical issue, and we're delighted to have the opportunity to work on such an important initiative."

The Chelgate account team will be led by Michael Hardware, executive vice-president.

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