The use of digital signatures scheduled to begin this year is several months late and will not be implemented until February 2014.
Several factors are responsible for the delay, among which is the delay in the tendering act which had to be performed twice, said Hernando Carrasquilla, director of Public Registry. The company awarded the tender was the Spanish consortium Indra Sistemas.
The Executive has given approval for the Public Registry of Panama to be the certification authority for electronic signatures in the Republic of Panama.
This authorization will facilitate the expeditious processing of electronic government services avoiding manual processes and achieving better coordination of management information between public agencies, said Abraham Carrasquilla, director of Public Registry.
The Public Records Office will have a budget of $4 million in 2011 to begin the project.
The director of the Public Records Office, Luis Barría, commented that the pilot scheme is part of a $47 million project called "País Sin Papel" ("Paper-free Country"), in which the Panamanian state is seeking to modernize its processes.
"The electronic signature pilot scheme would be carried out in the Public Records Office and go live in 2012," reports Pa-digital.com.pa.