Security and simplicity are the driving forces behind this European project that brings together 16 entities from nine different countries with the aim of facilitating online procedures in public services through the use of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. IMPULSE (Identify Management in PUbLic SErvices) seeks to be a tool that facilitates the digitisation of the European public sector in a context in which digital processes are increasingly used by citizens. Gijón City Council will focus the development on the improvement of the Gijón Citizen Card services.
Gijón City Council is participating in this project with the aim of developing a technology capable of verifying the identity of citizens in the online processes of public services in a simple, secure and private way. To this end, the work will be based on the concept of Electronic Identity (eID), i.e. the way in which users identify themselves online.
The consortium, made up of partners from Spain, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Finland, Iceland, France and Denmark, is funded by the European Union with €4 million under the Horizon 2020 programme. Asturias will receive more than half a million euros in funding.
The current health crisis around the world has limited personal interactions, digitising all kinds of procedures. This brings several problems, not only for those unfamiliar with complex internet identification systems, but also for those who do not feel comfortable providing their personal data online. Thus, the 16 partners of this initiative will create a tool that meets all ethical and legal requirements and that can be useful for public services in all EU countries, regardless of their culture and degree of digitisation.
IMPULSE will become the clear representation of efficient, useful and secure modernisation. The combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain will offer a technological advantage over the most common systems today. Regarding the Gijón City Council, it will improve the services offered to citizens with the Citizen Card by applying the latest technologies such as Blockchain or Artificial Intelligence to make them more secure, simple and reliable.
Gijón City Council has been committed to the technology and services offered to citizens by the Citizen Card for almost 20 years. The Citizen Card currently has 335,000 users, with an average of 32,000 uses per day (one million per month), and 20 integrated services. Thanks to the IMPULSE project, the City Council aims to improve and increase the benefits of the card, as well as providing citizens with greater security thanks to new identification and information storage systems. The basic objective is always to promote mobility, healthy habits and social behaviour, seeking to improve the quality of life of citizens and establish a better relationship between their needs and public services.
