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Vault Systems to host Australia's digital identity solution

The company has been selected by the Digital Transformation Agency as the platform for Govpass.
Written by Asha Barbaschow, Contributor

Australian cloud services provider Vault Systems has announced it will be the platform for the federal government's digital identity solution, Govpass.

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) outlined the process for applying for a Govpass last month, with the system expected to match a user's photograph, as well as Medicare, driver's licence, and birth certificate details, with information already held by various government entities.

Vault Systems is one of three companies to meet the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) requirements for protected-level ASD Certification, allowing the company, alongside Sliced Tech and Macquarie Government, to store highly classified government information in their respective cloud platforms.

While Vault Systems received the certification for its government cloud offering, its infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering is also certified for unclassified DLM use.

The tick from the ASD allows Vault Systems to host the government's identity play.

"Privacy and protection of personal information is at the heart of the DTA's work on digital identity. Building trust in how the government stores personal data is not something we compromise on," DTA CEO Gavin Slater said on Tuesday.

"Vault's open standards cloud has been the perfect solution for Govpass, providing a level of security and sovereignty that is a critical to making the process of proving who you are to government simple, safe, and secure."

Facing the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue last month, DTA CDO Peter Alexander revealed there were three providers that would be charged with the responsibility of Govpass in the first instance: The Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Human Services, and Australia Post.

"They hold a lot of identity data already," Alexander said. "It could easily be extended to jurisdictional providers and commercial providers, who are talking to banks, the Australian payment network, and others who can provide identity."

Vault Systems also announced on Tuesday that financial services firm Moelis Australia has established the Moelis Australia Government Infrastructure Fund, launched to spur the expansion of Australian government secure cloud services through Vault Systems.

The staged investment is expected to continue for a number of years, which Vault Systems said will support its plan to invest AU$350 million into cloud infrastructure for Australian federal, state, and local governments.

Vault Systems expects the fund will create around 300 new technology based jobs in Australia.

The company made a string of appointments this week, with former secretary of the Department of Finance Jane Halton appointed as chair of the company's board. Halton is joined by former secretary of the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and former director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Dennis Richardson, as well as Dr Paul Moy, who recently returned to Australia having retired from UBS Asset Management where he was global head of Infrastructure and Private Equity. Moy also held senior executive roles in public policy and public sector management having been a former deputy secretary of NSW Treasury.

Both men join the board as non-executive directors.

Meanwhile, Tony Marceddo has joined the company from Northrop Grumman Australia and Raytheon as its first general manager.

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