Cyprus to get public services digital platform

The government aspires to give Cypriots online access to public digital services from 2022 through a portal (gov.cy) constructed by the Deputy Ministry of Innovation and Digital Policy with UK expertise.

Deputy Minister of Research Kyriakos Kokkinos said: “We aim to have in 2022 the public sector on one screen and to offer an easy and quick search and navigation system.

“I am absolutely convinced that we will make it.”

Kokkinos noted that a portal is being set up in cooperation with the UK Government Digital Services, adding that an inter-state agreement for the provision of advisory services amounting to €1.5 mln was reached and that gov.cy will operate in the same way as gov.uk in Britain.

Over 214 services will be included in the portal; the Digital Services Factory, the team responsible for the portal, is currently trained by UK experts.

Kokkinos underlined that Cyprus can and must play its role as a technological capital in the Eastern Mediterranean with a dynamic and competitive economy, a modern and effective public administration and a thriving and inclusive knowledge society.

He said that digital ID and digital signature are being promoted. Cypriots will have in a wallet on their mobile phones personal certificates as their ID, passport, and birth certificate in digital form.

Referring to new online services to be introduced in 2022, he noted that these concern the Labour Ministry (Social Insurance Services, applications for allowances and pensions), the Town Planning and Housing Department, the Tax Department, and the Commerce Ministry.