Cyprus-Greece announce interoperability of Digital Citizen & Gov.gr Wallet

The interoperability of the 'Digital Citizen', the official mobile application of the Republic of Cyprus, and the corresponding application of the Hellenic Republic, Gov.gr Wallet, has been jointly announced by the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy of Cyprus, Nicodemos Damianou, and the Minister of Digital Governance of Greece, Dimitris Papastergiou.

The two Ministers announced that the 'Digital Citizen' and the Gov.gr Wallet can be simultaneously used in Greece and Cyprus. In the first phase, the interoperability will concern only two documents, the identity card and the driving license.

“They can be used for any legal use within the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and the Hellenic Republic, but they are not travel documents,” Damianou said during a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia on 19 May.

He said that the identity card and the driving license can now be mutually recognised and verified in Cyprus and Greece for a series of procedures such as identification in public services, citizen service centres, banks, car rental or any other daily activity. He noted that showing digital documents through the 'Digital Citizen' and Gov.gr Wallet applications was equivalent to presenting the physical documents.

Damianou said that this was one of the main initial goals of the cooperation between the two countries in this area and added that this constitutes “an important step” as regards the digital cooperation of the two countries, strengthening and implementing digital economy.

Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance said that “we are one nation, two states, that are linking their information systems little by little, with the most important thing being that Greeks in Cyprus and Cypriots in Greece can now easily and securely use their digital identity and driving license.”

He said that this “is just the first step towards providing more common digital services.”

The two Ministers proceeded to a live demonstration of the interoperability, with Damianou scanning the Greek Minister’s ID card live through the “Digital Citizen” application, demonstrating the immediate and secure verification of documents between the two countries.

Damianou said that a Cypriot citizen in Greece or a Greek citizen in Cyprus, who need to show their ID or driving license in Greece or Cyprus, respectively, can do so simply through their mobile phone using the Digital Citizen application for the Cypriot citizen and through the Gov.gr Wallet for the Greek citizen.

He also said that Cyprus would soon join the 'Pharos' AI Factory of the Hellenic Republic.

The Deputy Minister also said that the immediate next step would be adding in the “Digital Citizen” application in June the Fan Card, which is necessary for buying tickets for football matches and enter stadiums throughout Cyprus.

He added that access will then be extended to foreign nationals residing in the Republic of Cyprus, while the registration of the identity card of minors on the parent’s mobile application will also be possible.

(Sources: CNA, PIO)