Colin Charles Agenda

Since I last wrote about The 1Malaysia E-mail Project, Tricubes the company pushing it has come up with a FAQ. It has confirmed some of my thoughts and made me wonder even further how some things are going to work. I’m sitting on a plane now, with not much else to do, so why not write further thoughts…

What’s Possible (and some confirmed with the FAQ)

I initially put forward that I see this as more than just an e-mail project, and believe it to be related to being an ID-based project for one to use government services. I also posited that it would have an API similar to Facebook Connect.

With an ID that is tied to your IC number, you’re going to get single sign on (SSO) across all government services. It only makes sense, considering today to file your taxes, you have one login, to do stuff with the road transport department, you have another and so on. This is now confirmed in the FAQ.

And rather than have an email account that you will probably not use, you will see a floating toolbar, like the Google Friend Connect social bar (that ran on this site before, and was later disabled). When you login to perform your online banking (which may connect via the API), you will see these messages.

Let’s go even further. All Malaysians carry an IC, and its called a MyKad. This MyKad has a smart chip (it is essentially a smart card). Why not give out smart card readers to everyone with a 1Malaysia e-mail account, so that you get two-factor authentication automatically? I have seen smart card readers with fingerprint scanners sell for pretty cheap in bulk, so I doubt this is far-fetched as an idea. This is now generally confirmed in the FAQ.

Will citizens become more civic-minded now that they have easy access to contacting the government? If I see a pothole, am I more likely to send an email now? Will it then go into the correct queue in the customer relationship management (CRM) system that the government is running, and will my problem get fixed? Can I file police reports about break-in’s, and other crimes without spending an hour at the police station? This could be a good thing in a way ;)

Above, I did not address things like: terms of service, privacy policy, and even an ethics policy. If your bank had SSO with the same systems that the tax department had, it could do wonders for revenue collection, but at the same time, is not something people would want. Another thing I have not addressed if this whole two-factor authentication with the smart card reader+MyKad working with all operating systems — this is likely Microsoft technology, and Mac OS X and Linux users might be left out (which would be a step back if this happens).

Remember, all this has to happen by 2020, so Tricubes and their partners have a pretty long future ahead of them.

So while these accounts are not compulsory, the key performance indicators are such that every adult above the age of 18 get on this service by 2015, is quite achievable. If you want to deal with the government, you get an account. Plain and simple. And while you may not be paying taxes yet, you will very likely have an EPF account, and that alone is enough to give you this ID.

Just remember, no one is forcing you to use this for your own personal email.

Its called myemail

I’m glad it’s not called 1Malaysia email and you’re not foo@1malaysia.com.my. You really are using the service called myemail, and you are basically foo@myemail.my. That’s not too bad for an address, no?

There is a “What’s myemail” page which is well worth reading (when the site is up). It claims a lot of storage – 25GB for every user. You also get access to Microsoft Office Live as I initially speculated.

Some pickings from the FAQ

It’s a long read, but here are some quick thoughts:

1. “Malaysian Email” means the service is operated and hosted by a Malaysian company. Tricubes is Malaysian, but their partnership with Microsoft means that they’re getting lots of tech from them. Email, ID, possibly the API and more all seem to come from Microsoft, with maybe only the MyKad reader coming from Tricubes. Does this qualify that its operated and hosted by a Malaysian company? Currently its hosted overseas, but will we see data centers here in Malaysia by then?
2. Revenues seem to be generated by eating away the pie of POS Malaysia. I cannot imagine the postal service being too happy about this. But we are moving forward, and will this also mean that scanned receipts and documents are now going to be accepted by the government?
3. More revenues from advertising it seems. I presume this will be very much like how webmail like Gmail works — comb through your contents and habits and show you the most interesting ads.
4. Revenue from creating an online marketplace could be interesting. Today, eBay, Lelong, Mudah and others have no way to say you’re you. eBay has ratings but that doesn’t mean you’re you. Imagine if the API is extended so that your trading ID had a link to your national ID? No more back-out buyers! Again, we come back to security, privacy, ethics though… Elsewhere, imagine social purchasing — your neighbour just installed a water filter
5. On security… entire session works via data encryption, which basically is HTTPS/SSL. The end points, access to the server, etc. by administrators is of course possible, but I’m sure there will be checks and balances here (all large services do). Again, no one said you needed to use this for all communication, and let’s give them a chance to come up with a good policy first.

Concluding thoughts for the moment

No mention of how the API will work. Will they allow any agency or even GLC access to the API. Will they charge for access (this is quite likely)? How much data will be exposed? Will the user get to choose what is exposed (Facebook Apps ask you this today for example — users probably blindly click “accept”, but know there’s a choice available)?

I’d advise Tricubes to start getting into using social media a little more. People are liking their Facebook page just so that they could write hate comments on it. Plenty of social media consultants around who can help rehabilitate their image. Also, skip calling it an “email project” and call it an “ID project”. Or a “single-sign-on with two-factor authentication project”.

I’m still wondering where MyEG fits into all of this. There’s a story waiting there. An acquisition? ;-)

There was great furor yesterday on Twitter with the #1malaysiaemail hashtag. I’m happy to say I did not participate :) However, I’ve been thinking a lot about it, especially since I’ve heard about this for a while, and heard about Tricubes being awarded the project. If you don’t want to read everything, scroll down for “What’s definitely possible”.

First, the facts:

1. This is a private sector funded project. The RM50 million is the investment Tricubes is making, as part of the ETP. And the period of investment? Till 2020.
2. There is collaboration with Microsoft to provide these services.
3. The purpose? Stated below:

The 1Malaysia Email project is a government initiative in providing a unique and official email account and ID for the citizens of Malaysia.

This initiative will serve to allow direct and secure communications between citizens and the Government, as well as enhance the delivery of Government services to consumers and businesses alike.

What’s definitely possible

I see this as an ID-based project that helps you log on and use government services. We’re moving into a digital era, and I see us eventually receiving our quit rent notices, and more all via e-services. I think the providing of email is just a by-product. I’m banking on the fact that we’re all going to have MSN Live ID’s for all Malaysians above age 18 to access all kinds of services that helps with e-gov stuff. There will be messaging, but this isn’t entirely email as we’re used to.

We can probably draw parallels with the National Strategy on Trusted Identities in Cyberspace that the United Stats is proposing.

I see the API as something like Facebook Connect.

Update (20/04/2011 – 16:12): I just had another thought. Malaysia is a hub for software piracy. Maybe there will be a tie in with Microsoft Office Live, and then SkyDrive will provide cloud storage services, all with the 1Malaysia ID. The potential for this is huge (and can make people rock up to the portal…).

Random thoughts/questions

Do we need another email account? A lot of people have their own Hotmail, Yahoo! as well as Gmail accounts. These accounts also usually tie in with some form of instant messenger like MSN, Yahoo! Chat, and Google Talk.

However the purpose of this 1Malaysia Email project is for direct & secure communications between citizens and the Government. Phishing is becoming a real problem, and banks are facing this, for example. Maybank has a new authentication method with a picture+passphrase, while HSBC does two-factor authentication with a hardware device. As the government starts sending out emails, the phishers will start conning people. However, email is easily receivable, and phishers in theory can just email you the moment they have your email account details (it doesn’t help unless your email address is private, no?) So maybe the phishing argument goes away…

But maybe it is not email. Maybe its receive only from the government, and everything else from the Internet is denied. Or its like how Facebook Messages used to be — only members can send you email (it’s not like that now, more people have @facebook.com email addresses). And if someone tries phishing, well, we’ll know who they are, since their accounts are tied to their IC numbers!

And since its all web based, we have it all over SSL (HTTPS). Bypass the need for PGP/GPG encryption ;)

The claim is that this is a web portal. So it is webmail. Will there be IMAP? People are getting mobile these days, and are reading emails on their Blackberries, mobile phones, tablets, etc. If the service is webmail only, I wonder what the uptake will be like. Remember, if its yet another INBOX to check, there is less chances of people using it. And if you do not engage or use the service, you’ll miss government emails.

How is everyone getting an ID? Do you choose a username? Is it based on your identity card (IC) number? Is it based on your name as per IC? Signing up will of course be something that happens against your IC number — thats a given.

Who reads your email? I for one will not be promoting my 1Malaysia email address. I don’t see people printing business cards with their email address @1malaysia.com.my. I do not know if administrators will read my emails, though I highly doubt this, as all large services have checks and balances for this. But I should be allowed my paranoia ;)

What about continuity? 1Malaysia is Najib’s thing. Before him, Badawi had his own mantra (which I don’t recollect). And before him, Mahathir had Vision 2020. Will this email account be around forever, I don’t know. But I’ve had the same email address since the 90’s, and I’m unlikely to ever give that up.

I’ve seen rumours that this is meant to be a portal, which includes: email, social networking, online bill checking and payment, plus there are claims that there will be an API to extend this so others can build applications. Immediately I think MyEG, and for me MyEG is a stock to buy (surprisingly, remains unchanged today on the KLSE). The claim though is that it isn’t like MyEG: “Khairun said the portal was different from the MyEG website, which focused on the payment of bills and summonses, as it would allow interaction between people and the Government.”.

Do we need another social network? Can we keep up with more than 3 social networks, to begin with? Do we only want to be friends with other Malaysians or be friends with people globally? There are so many ex-Malaysians I’d like to keep in contact with, and I’m sure TalentCorp would like to contact them too, but if its tied to an IC number, you lose it the moment you give up your citizenship (as an aside, average time I’ve seen for people that go to Australia? 3-5 years).

Malaysiakini reports: “We will focus on delivery of notices and bills, MYEG is about online payment,” CEO Khairun Zainal Mokhtar told a press conference after the announcement. If you are not compelled to login, will you see the notices and bills? I don’t think so!

Have they thought about storage and quotas, assuming that people actually somehow decide to use this actively?

This is not compulsory for Malaysians. So what is the unique selling point? Opt-in emails from the government? I have a MyEG account because I want to renew my road tax. Or settle summonses. I rather have my notices and bills sent to my personal email account, which I read. I’m unlikely to want to see bills and notices sent to a portal that I have to login separately.Will they then send me an email saying I have a message waiting for me? That’s highly possible :)

I have lots of questions. This system will be rolled out sometime in July this year. I’m disappointed that its all Microsoft based, since there are some amazing opensource ID management systems around, but c’est la vie. Go with the provider that fits the bill!

If anyone from Tricubes/Microsoft wants to share more technical information, I’d be curious to hear about it.

P/S: Many told me about Tricubes being a dodgy firm, having issues on the stock exchange, etc. I don’t know anything about Tricubes besides what I’ve read in the media. So that’s not relevant to the technology discussion I’d hope to have here (if at all there will be discussion).