Businesses scared of PKI says E-envoy

Businesses lack nerve when faced with public key infrastructure (PKI) technology, the E-envoy, Andrew Pinder, has warned.

PKI uses digital certificates to encrypt and authenticate data sent over the internet. But because of the cost and complexity, few companies are using it.

"I'm very keen on PKI, but I believe that the commercial sector has shown a lack of nerve about how it operates and how to best exploit it for commercial advantage. But they haven't been helped by the market not taking off," he said.

Pinder also acknowledged that the cost of implementing PKI projects was a major hindrance to take-up.

Speaking to a audience of both public and private sector executives, Pinder said that utilising ebusiness tools in a better targeted way would save government millions of pounds.

He called for closer co-operation from the private sector in e-government.

"We have got to turn the e-government hype into reality, which means making better, more interactive online services available to a wider audience," he said.

He also stressed that meeting previously touted targets was no longer a key issue, and that content was "far more important than checklists."

But Tim Wort, of content management specialist Vignette, said the public sector was not as aware of the potential benefits of ebusiness as the private sector.

"While working with the e-envoy we are particularly targeting the public sector, as the private sector traditionally has a deeper knowledge of ebusiness," he said.