Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Minh Hong speaks at the meeting. — Photo mic.gov.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The authentication process for digital signatures on electronic documents is effective and economic, shared a government official at a conference in Ha Noi on December 30.

A provincial official reported that more than 51,000 electronic documents were signed digitally after eight months of implementing the digital signature program in the province, added Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of the Vietnam government of certification authority under the Vietnam Government Information Security Commission.

The conference, titled "Management and usage of digital signatures on electronic documents," was organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). It aimed to discuss the application of digital signatures in Viet Nam.

The conference included a discussion on how to turn a handwritten signature into a digital signature. It also discussed the process of verifying the authenticity of the digital signature. Digital signatures are a mathematical scheme used to demonstrate the authenticity of a digital message or document. Comments on the difficulties and possible solutions for the application of digital signatures were collected at the conference.

The MIC also announced the opening of the National Electronic Authentication Centre (NEAC) on the same day.

MIC Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hong revealed during the conference that the centre's introduction helps the ministry improve the safety of information infrastructure for electronic transactions, including verification of the authenticity of digital signatures and electronic data.

NEAC Director Dao Dinh Kha shared that the Vietnamese people are becoming more familiar with digital signatures. He noted that the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications group, the first provider of a digital signature service nationwide, has up to 12,000 customers using the service five years after its implementation in 2009. — VNS