E-signature number rises by 5 pct
By Nigar Orujova
The total number of e-digital signatures issued by the Azerbaijani National Certification Services Center increased by 5.8 percent in November and hit 27,536 as of December 1, the Information-Computer Center under the Azerbaijani Communication and High Technologies Ministry reported on December 10.
Digital signatures make possible the authorship and content of the documents exchanged between organizations.
The state bodies were provided with 16,616 e-signatures, 4,528 e-signatures were issued to the legal entities and 6,392 to citizens.
E-signature enables people to easily use the e-services of state institutions, which are available on the "e-government" portal (e-gov.az).
Some 312 services of the total number of approved electronic services (451) are available on the "electronic government" (e-gov.az) portal. The total number of e-services placed on the websites of Azerbaijani state organizations is 461.
The e-Government website is a key tool for supporting work with citizens and businesses, belonging to the state and private sectors. It aims at reducing the number of documents required by the citizens, with the help of an electronic interaction among different bodies.
The access to the portal is conducted with the help of e-signature, the identity data of the private entrepreneurs and citizens, verification data (login and password), as well as mobile authentication system, which can be obtained in an electronic form after registering on the portal.
The number of owners of digital signature has grown almost 10 times in Azerbaijan this year. Currently, the total number of e-signatures in the country reaches 90,000.
The prices of an e-signature range between 18 manats ($22.9) for the population, 80 manats ($101.9) for state bodies, between 36 manats ($45.8) and 72 manats ($91.7) for entrepreneurs.
There is also the possibility of free distribution of electronic signature among the poor in the future.