Connecting RealMe

and CWP
When online verification gets real

LOGIN
Streamlining secure
identity verification
RealMe® is about providing New Zealanders with easy
access to online services. The RealMe assertion service
provides the means to prove personal information
online, and this includes verified identity. As an online
identity service it allows people to interact with, and
use, both public and private services. It has broad
application, from applying for government allowances,
enrolling to vote, opening a bank account, to ordering a
marriage certificate.

RealMe® has two services – login (one username and

password to access multiple services) and verified
(online identity and address). DIA currently manages
the service with 36 organisations offering 120 services
using RealMe login, with 13 of those using the verified
identity service.

RealMe® has attracted 4.18 million login accounts

and over 480,741 verified identities. 86.6 million
transactions have been conducted using the RealMe
login service over that time.

To extend the convenience and value of RealMe

services, DIA has worked with government agencies to
develop an integration to SilverStripe’s Common Web
Platform (CWP) for the public sector. This means a
RealMe login service user only needs to remember one
username and password to be able to access multiple
government online services.

“The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment

initially drove the login integration with RealMe and
the CWP,” says John Keene, Business Development
Manager at DIA, “and then a health project was
developed using the RealMe verified identity. From
there we could start to see a lot of use cases.”
Verification at scale
Children, Youth and Family (CYF) was a
unit within MSD that had legal powers to
intervene and protect children exposed to
abuse or neglect. In 2017, Children, Youth and
Family (CYF) was replaced by the Ministry for
Vulnerable Children and has subsequently
been renamed as Oranga Tamariki. This
change required the transfer of 3,500 staff to
the new entity, all of which had to go through
the process of verification.
“Staff had to be verified for the purposes
of The Vulnerable Children’s Act. There’s a
process that describes if you’re a core worker
or a non-core worker, and what transactions
need to be taking place. Normally new staff
need to be identified and need a police check
and reference check,” says John.
MSD had to manage this process as efficiently
as possible. It was a significant logistical
challenge with the number of people involved,
the importance of getting the process right,
and a relatively constrained timeline.
John says the project was an outstanding
success. “We built a process that looked
after the identity piece and the police
vetting piece. We had approval on a Friday,
met on the Monday with MSD who gave
us their requirements, first iteration on
Tuesday, second one on Wednesday and
we had the full thing done by the Friday.”
“The beauty of CWP, it’s called the Common
Web Platform for a reason. It has a common
capability, so a lot of that work in adopting
a solution is already taken out; it’s had the
security reviews; it’s standards compliant
so agencies can just say I’m going to adopt
that, and they’ll be ready to go.”
John said the MSD project is an example
of how the integration between CWP and
RealMe® could be used across many other
situations. “We’re now looking at using it at
other agencies, particularly those that need
to comply with The Vulnerable Children’s
Act across education and health.

“Putting (RealMe) into CWP removes a lot of effort,

it’s a lot easier, quicker and more agile. It means
customers can come to us with their requirements
and we can quickly build something for them.”

– John Keene, Business Development Manager,

Department of Internal Affairs
A key partner
The MSD project was a huge success for DIA, says John. “The project was
actually recognised by the Chief Executive of MSD. You don’t get a letter
from a CE very often, from any agency in government, but we got a letter
from the CE saying job well done.

“SilverStripe was a key partner with us. I had the RealMe

service, I had clients, I needed something to connect the two
together. SilverStripe were agile, very responsive, and they
were committed.”

John says the future opportunities for the RealMe/CWP integration are
exciting. “We’re investigating all of these use cases at the moment with
agencies. There’s also a lot of uses in the private sector. We’ve got banks
coming on board, there’s money exchange, even a Bitcoin trader. So
there’s a lot of different use cases.”

Accelerating digital public services

The CWP is a “Platform as a Service” for New Zealand
Government websites. SilverStripe is contracted by the
Department of Internal Affairs to provide the platform.
It provides technology and services that enable
government agencies to quickly, cost-effectively and
safely build highly functional websites to service their
stakeholders.

Want to harness the power of open source

web technologies through shared resources
and code? Get in touch with the Common Web
Platform team to leverage a thriving community
dedicated to serving public sector agencies.

www.cwp.govt.nz/contact