IPRE Policy Brief: MobiSign – will increase the accessibility of digital services and reduce the costs for the issuance and renewal of certificates for advanced electronic signature

28 October 2022

Moldova has placed the digital transformation among the national development priorities. To implement the digital transformation agenda, a series of actions have been undertaken: the introduction in the government program of a chapter in this regard, the appointment of a Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization who has the mission of coordinating this effort, but also the development of a National Digital Transformation Strategy for the period 2023-2030. The strategy will affect all branches of the economy and public life, with the ultimate goal of developing an inclusive digital society that will benefit every citizen.

In this context, Victor Guzun, associate expert of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), prepared a  policy brief assessing the coverage with digital authentication tools and qualified electronic signature tools in Moldova, as well as the prospects for increasing the number of users and developing new digital tools.

According to the author, currently, in the Republic of Moldova, there are three types of authentication certificates and qualified advanced E-signatures.  All having the same legal force, namely: (1) mobile signature – Mobile eID, by using a special SIM card, issued by telecommunications operators Orange and Moldcell; (2) USB token issued by the Information Technology and Cyber Security Service (STISC); (3) eID identity card, issued by the Public Services Agency (PSA).

At the same time, according to the STISC data from September 2022, in the Republic of Moldova the number of certificates of the public key for advanced qualified electronic signature active is 129. 384 units. This number includes all types of certificates issued, including  USB tokens, Mobile eID and electronic id cards. Of this number, most of the certificates were issued by THE STISC (USB tokens), numbering 97. 633 units or 75.45%. According to the PSA data, the number of active certificates on electronic identity card support is only 66 units, the number of Mobile eID certificates issued by Orange Moldova is 18. 400, and 17. 725 certificates were issued by Moldcell. The Public Services Agency (PSA) has issued, starting with June 2014 and until now, 350 electronic identity cards with the respective certificates of advanced electronic signature qualified.

“One issue that we want to mention is related to the expenses for the renewal of the certificate of the public key for the qualified advanced electronic signature are equivalent to the issuance of a new certificate. This discourages citizens from drawing up their digital signature certificates. Another problem that discourages mobile signature users mobile-eID is the fact that, despite the free activation of the Mobile Signature service of Orange and Moldcell companies, the use of the service is for a fee. Thus, users of the Mobile eID Orange signature can choose to pay 3 lei per each digital signature applied or the activation of monthly options containing a specific number of signatures (10 signatures – 10 lei, 100 signatures – 30 lei or 1000 signatures – 60 lei). The tariffs for using the mobile signature offered by Moldcell vary between 10 lei per 10 transactions (validity 30 days) and 70 lei per 700 transactions (validity 180 days). However, the monetisation of a service so essential for digital transformation runs counter to efforts to develop an inclusive digital society where no citizen can be excluded. The term of validity of the certificates issued by both providers is 2 years. It is to be appreciated that the renewal of the certificate of the public key for advanced digital signature issued through Orange Moldova and Moldcell is free of charge, regardless of the type of user (public institution, private or individual)”, considers Victor Guzun.

The author of the brief believes that MobiSign is a handy solution for reducing costs and increasing the number of users of the electronic signature. The service will be free of charge, accessible from any location in the world where there is an internet connection, it will not limit the number of digital signatures applied, and the renewal of public keys can be done online. In principle, MobiSign will serve as a secure access key to all digital services in the Republic of Moldova, at a click away, in any user’s phone. Once certified and officially launched, MobiSign will become the most important activator element of inclusive digital transformation in the Republic of Moldova.

Following the analysis carried out, IPRE comes up with the following recommendations:

  1. Finalization, extended public consultation and adoption of the National Strategy for Digital Transformation 2023 -2030 and of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy, aimed at increasing the coverage with authentication tools and qualified advanced electronic signature of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova
  2. Review the mechanism for issuing and quantifying digital signature certificates on token support, in order to avoid situations when a person holds several certificates and to prevent public money from being spent on their additional issuance.
  3. State subsidization of expenditures for issuing and extending digital signature certificates in order to increase their attractiveness among the population of the Republic of Moldova, including the diaspora.
  4. Completing the process of development, testing and implementation of MobiSign application, which could substantially increase the number of users of digital services in the Republic of Moldova and will reduce the costs of money and time for the preparation and renewal of advanced electronic signature certificates.
  5. Actively promoting digital authentication mechanisms and digital services among the population of the country and the diaspora, in close collaboration with civil society and IT companies.

For more details see the IPRE Policy Brief, available in Romanian only here.

This Policy Brief was prepared within the IPRE project “Public Policy Briefs”, implemented with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in the Republic of Moldova. The views reflected in this publication belong to the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of KAS.

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