Free digital signatures will be provided to Hanoi residents every weekend from April until the end of 2023, according to the city government.

Starting April 8, a series of events will be held on the pedestrian street around Hoan Kiem Lake in downtown Hanoi and many districts across the city to encourage people to use remote digital signature services to conduct administrative procedures electronically and support digital transformation.

This activity is part of a nationwide campaign to promote personal digital signatures with the goal of having 10 million subscribers by 2023.

According to Nguyen Huy Dung, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, digital signatures are an inevitable trend in the Internet and technology age.

"The digital world we live in has brought many changes. Digital signatures will speed up and simplify online transactions while providing high security and authenticity. When conducting transactions in the electronic world, a digital signature will be legally recognized by law and serve the same purpose as a person's handwritten signature or an organization or agency's seal," Dung said.

Chairman of the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee Pham Tuan Long (L) and Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications Nguyen Viet Hung registered for digital signatures. Photo: Cong Tho/The Hanoi Times

From now until the end of December 2023, Hanoi residents and visitors to the Hoan Kiem weekend pedestrian street will be introduced to digital signatures and how to access public services and conduct electronic transactions.

According to Pham Tuan Long, Chairman of the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee, digital signatures for people will be an important development in Hanoi's digital transition.

"In the past, authorities and staff in our district have used digital signatures in conjunction with document management software to complete business transactions. All documents are sent, received, and transferred over the network, which helps save money and time," Long said.

He emphasized that through the new way of working, Hoan Kiem District has found that digital signature is one of the key determinants for the ongoing digital transformation. He believed that using digital signatures would speed up and simplify civil transactions. "As of today, digital signatures can be used instead of handwritten signatures for all transactions that require the commitment of people and citizens. Digital signatures used in contracts will help reduce costs significantly," he said.

Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communication, said digital signatures are crucial to validate and guarantee a citizen's obligations, rights, and responsibilities. He said Hanoi has been working on providing free digital signatures to 10 million residents to improve the quality of citizen services in managing administrative procedures.

The city government will set up a new public service system in mid-April 2023, implementing all computerized public services. According to the deputy director, citizens will be able to digitally sign them in the public service system from anywhere, including their homes, instead of signing papers and submitting documents in person as they do now.