Pennsylvania’s ‘Keystone Login’ aims to please, securely

Lots of states are trying to enhance what it’s like for citizens to interact with their government, but in Pennsylvania, the focus right now is on secure online credentials.

“One of the key initiatives we’re working on to innovate and really enhance the citizen experience is our Keystone Login process,” Erik Avakian, Pennsylvania’s chief information security officer, says in a video interview.

Keystone Login — a citizen-facing portal — is designed to provide a single secure credential for the citizen, Avakian says, to streamline the way they interact with the state, regardless of the online services they use.

While the goal of a single sign on for all Pennsylvania online services is important, Avakian says the tool makes citizens more secure when interacting with government services, as well.

“They have that one secure credential that can give them access to those systems that they need,” Avakian says. “With that, we’ve integrated things like identity proofing and social media integration, as well, so the citizen is getting the experience they would expect if they went to any other private website.”

Avakian described the experience as similar to ordering items on an online shopping site, and having “one shopping cart,” rather than “having a citizen log in to a bunch of different applications.”

Avakian on virtualization:

Avakian on cloud:

Avakian on cloud and virtualization-enabled cybersecurity:

This video was filmed December 4, 2018, at the Public Sector Innovation Summit, presented by VMware and produced by FedScoop and StateScoop.