6 F O C U S O N I T F A L L 2 0 0 3 S U M M I T : C A N A D A ’ S M A G A Z I N E O N P U B L I C S E C T O R P U R C H A S I N G

Because the world changed on Septem-ber 11, 2001, it follows that govern-ment procurement should also be af-

fected by such a dramatic departure point.The impact of the twin towers tragedy inNew York on the world of government pro-curement can be understood from two per-spectives: product and process.

New and improved – product, product, product

The crisis hastened innovation and re-inforced the market for data and personalcommunications, but the most obviousimpact was on the security industry. Thatwas especially true for electronic commu-nications and operations security. Thereare important implications for governmentprocurement.

Automated electronic systems have longbeen part of public sector procurementoperations. Many purchasing applicationsare part of enterprise information tech-nology applications.After all procurementis an integral part of overall managementand planning. Events and environmentsthat affect the operation of the organizationoften have a special effect on procurementactivities. This is certainly true of the fall-out from 9/11 and how it affects the pro-curement world.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the Canadiangovernment appointed a super-minister incharge of security measures and allocatedover $7 billion to address the vulnerabilitieshighlighted by the twin towers attack.

Caught in the Net – securingelectronic communication

Secure electronic communication is amajor focus in the post 9/11 e-world. In-deed, as Government On-Line advances

and procurement itself becomes more auto-mated, secure communication is not onlya major area of purchase in itself, but onethat affects government procurement pro-cesses and systems.

Hans Downer is senior vice-president ofGlobal Professional Services and CanadianSales for Entrust.

“Initially the post 9/11 focus was aroundthe perimeter of the country, the CoastGuard, RCMP and the US-Canada border.Since then a great deal of support from thepublic and the public sector has developedfor increased security in general, not onlyphysical security, but security involvingdata networks,” Downer said.

As security measures are introduced,they must be measured against Canadians’concerns about privacy. “For Entrust thishas meant a lot of work relative to a com-mon infrastructure within the IT environ-ment,” Downer said. “We are seeing a lotmore interest in our own products becausethat is our market niche – security of com-munications and digital identities.”

Specific electronic applications for pro-curement will depend on secure communi-cation and the Internet. The federal govern-ment’s Secure Channel will enable “businessto government” procurement applicationslike registration, secure transmissions andInternet bidding, processing or awardingof contracts.

Downer said the 9/11 crisis led to anunderstanding in government procurementthat we now live in a Web-based world, aworld in which communications must becontrolled and monitored, even after theyhave been sent and received.“Products likeours allow governments to communicatemore freely, and securely, to people on thefront lines – firemen, policemen, doctors

or even buyers for example, who may haveInternet access, but not access to some ofthe higher grade secure networks,” he said.“We learned from 9/11 that crucial infor-mation needs to get out to those peoplevery rapidly.”

In the online world of infinite intercon-nection and easy anonymity, it is criticalto verify information sources. Entrust haspartnered with Adobe to provide a digital‘signature’ for the United States Govern-ment General Printing Office’s (GPO) dailyactivities publication.“They want to makesure that everyone understands that it isthe GPO that is putting the informationon their website, that it is truly official andnot the result of someone else hacking theirwebsite. So we developed an applicationthat allows anybody to get a free Adobeplug-in to validate that the signature istruly that of the GPO,” Downer said.

Think big – putting the “gee”in global

Procurement specialists will need tothink big in the post 9/11 environmentand consider global rather than domesticsolutions. Requirements will increasinglycall for links to other governments’ systemsand processes.

“The need for secure communication isgrowing so rapidly, especially as workforcesshrink, that vendors who cannot providethat cross-jurisdictional capability will bedisadvantaged in the new information era,”observed Downer. “If you look at organiza-tions like NATO and other worldwide agen-cies you can see fairly readily how cross-departmental communications fit into aworldwide network.”Canada and the UnitedStates are studying border security andpolice communications. “As we see these

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Desperate measures21st century security

by David Newman

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S U M M I T : C A N A D A ’ S M A G A Z I N E O N P U B L I C S E C T O R P U R C H A S I N G F A L L 2 0 0 3 F O C U S O N I T 7

two countries converging with their plansand efforts, we are going to see the very realneed for more secure cross-border commu-nications,” he said.

The political implications of greaterreliance on common suppliers as govern-ment go-betweens are immense:• Can medium and small business com-

pete within this kind of global enter-prise marketplace?

• What will it mean for existing tradeagreements and international accordssuch as the WTO, NAFTA, ASEA orEuropean Common Market?

• What does it do to domestic politicalpolicies involving set-asides such asgeographic selection, Aboriginal orgreen procurement policies?

• Are the stakes raised for corporationsbased in countries that may be “most-favoured” or “least favoured” nations ofanother? The “Brave New World” could become

one for the very brave indeed, especiallyfor the people making the rules, andjudgment-based buying and asset man-agement decisions!

I know what you did last summer– the information cycle

To seize all the benefits of electronicautomation, it’s no longer enough to protectdocuments as they move from point topoint. They must be secure throughouttheir entire life cycle.“Because everybody,business and governments alike, wants to

share information, the real issue as we goforward is not how you keep people out,but how you let people in and only letthem see the stuff you want them to see,”says Downer.

Hans Downer believes digital rightsmanagement – defining and restrictingwhat people can do electronically with filesand information – is a developing market.

“If I send you an email now with anencrypted signature, you clearly know whosent it, but as a sender, I don’t know who

you are then going to send it to or what youare going to do with it.As we move forwardthere will be a lot more focus on digitalrights management to ensure confidential-ity and security of the information itself,”Downer said. “The next generation pro-ducts will help deal with how informationis used once it is sent.”

Public sector procurement specialistsmust constantly balance privacy and secu-rity against transparency and account-ability. In the years ahead, they will beamong the most demanding customers forthe next generation of digital informationproducts.

David Newman is an Ottawa-based contributingeditor to Summit magazine and a freelance writer.He is also president of Newman Communications,which specializes in coalition and alliance buildingand reputation management.

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“…not how you keep people out,but how you let people in…”