Cyprus plans to introduce electronic signatures by the end of September.
This was announced by the Ministry of Innovation on Monday 16 September.
It is expected that this will greatly facilitate the process of interaction between Cypriot citizens and government agencies. In particular, the personal presence of citizens in state institutions will no longer be required in many cases where a digital signature is available. Moreover, the electronic signature will enable tax documentation, banking transactions and all transactions between individuals and government agencies.
In addition to saving time and reducing bureaucracy, this type of signature will also save the cost of sending documents by courier or other services. Deputy Minister of Research, Technology and Digital Policy Nicodimos Damianou said the draft has been submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval and a decision should be taken by the end of the month.
I believe that this innovation will greatly facilitate the daily lives of our citizens," Damianou said.
He added that the main objective is to provide citizens with free electronic identification and signature facilities by the end of the year, stressing that projects that the government has been promising to launch for months, if not years, are now underway. Damianou also recalled that Cyprus will launch a digital assistant in October. He explained that this tool will be located on the new government portal, which went live in mid-July. Through it, residents will be able to get answers to their questions about public services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It should be noted that the use of electronic signatures as well as electronic seals, documents and other forms of electronic identification in Cyprus is regulated by the EU Regulation 910/2014/EC on electronic identification and authentication services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS) and the corresponding Law 55(I)/2018. According to the eIDAS Regulation, there are three types of electronic signatures
- Standard electronic signature (e-signature) - any data in electronic form, attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form, used by the signatory - from the name in an email to the provision of biometric data. No third-party verification is required.
- Advanced electronic signature - is created using public key infrastructure (PKI) and inserted into the code of an electronic document. Authenticity is guaranteed by a digital certificate issued by a trust service provider.
- Qualified electronic signature - a digital signature created using an electronic signature device and accompanied by a digital certificate.