The Ministry of Digital Affairs （MODA） this January joined the FIDO Alliance, an international organization promoting authentication standards, making Taiwan the seventh country with a government member, following the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, South Korea and Thailand; The MODA is also the second Taiwanese government office to join the FIDO Alliance following the Ministry of the Interior. This will accelerate Taiwan's interactions with governments and multinational corporations around the world, not only participating in deciding international standards together with global corporations, also bolstering authentication in order to better connect with the world and in turn expand application across industries, while at the same time strengthening the safety and tenacity of the digital industry and demonstrating the MODA's qualities in being visionary, digitized, globalized, and diverse.

As authentication and electronic signatures are both key issues in secure online transactional environments, after its launch in August, the MODA has been actively discussing how to react accordingly to rapidly evolving digital technology and how to build a more complete environment as a foundation for digital trust. In regards to issues centered on electronic signatures, last December, the MODA has released a decree to explain the technology behind legally recognized electronic signatures, and officially became a FIDO Alliance member this January, with goals to gradually take the application scope of FIDO authentication in Taiwan to industries beyond the government and financial sector, ensuring that authentication services online are convenient and safe, remarked Digital Minister Audrey Tang. Moreover, the MODA will be readily participating in discussions with the FIDO Alliance working teams regarding various authentication standards, consumer applications, governments and corporations, also sharing Taiwan's current situation and achievements in promoting authentication and trust services, providing suggestions for authentication standards, consequently boosting Taiwan's position in the world's digital community and its contribution in digital industry development.

The FIDO Alliance was founded in 2012 as a non-profit industrial alliance for authentication standards. It currently consists of over 350 international members, including seven country's governments and some 900 certified products. The authentication technology agreements and verification rules it has formulated have made many online services safer and more convenient.

FIDO Taiwan Engagement Forum Chief Karen Chang, who also serves as the vice president of Egis Technology, expressed with satisfaction that “We received the Alliance's approval in 2021 to establish the FIDO Taiwan Engagement Forum.” This February, the FIDO Alliance held a membership assembly and international seminar in Taiwan for the first time, in which the MODA participated as a new member and Minister Tang delivered a presentation. The event was an exciting one, with domestic and international experts sharing their expertise and working teams holding discussions, which everyone was welcome to sign up for.

FIDO Alliance members include financial institutions, credit card companies, communication carriers, online service companies, chip manufacturers, as well as software and hardware manufacturers. The 39 companies on its Board of Directors include Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon, PayPal, MasterCard, VISA, Intel, NTT DoCoMo, LINE, Samsung, and Taiwan's Egis Technology. FIDO utilizes the user's own device with internal security models to save a private key and biometrics, and conducts authentication in the server with a public key, which achieves a password-free, multi-factor authentication that is more private and prevents passwords from being compromised and accounts getting hacked. This is currently the safest way of authentication online.

The original article content can be found here: https://moda.gov.tw/ADI/news/latest-news/3687