Change of Address in Sofia To Be Accessible as an e-Service
Sofia Municipality has signed the contract for the development of the pilot platform for electronic civil status services. The first entirely online accessible service will be the change of address, and by the end of the year, it will be gradually introduced in four districts of the capital. The first one is “Studentski,” where the frequency of use of the service is the highest and will start in September. The other three districts are Vitosha, Sredets, and Slatina. In case of good results, there will be full integration of the work process in all regional administrations, announced Gencho Kerezov, Deputy Mayor for Digitalization.
Thus, change of address services will be delivered entirely electronically, and there will be no need to go to the counter and be accompanied by a property owner (in the case of rent, for example). The pilot phase aims to test the interaction and user experience for the citizens, Sofia Municipality explains.
The development of the platform will be implemented by Eurotrust Technologies. The project is under implementation with consulting assistance from the Bloomberg Philanthropy Foundation. It is part of the “Sandbox for Innovative Solutions” programme, which Sofia Municipality is implementing through “Innovative Sofia” – its digitalization, innovation, and economic development department and in partnership with “Green Sofia”. The Sandbox is Sofia’s programme for pilot projects for testing innovative technological solutions related to urban challenges, and it focuses on the environment, education, transport, e-government, entrepreneurship, innovation, and other essential topics for the city.
Regarding the development, testing, and implementation of a fully electronic process for changing the address registration, Sofia Municipality also concluded a Framework Agreement to provide the so-called “Cloud electronic signature” – remote electronic identification, replacing the standard electronic and handwritten signature. The service is entirely in line with the requirements of the Communications Regulation Commission and provides the user with the opportunity for identification without the need for physical presence in the office of an electronic signature provider (QES), counter for issuing a personal identification code or other. As part of the pilot phase of implementing an electronic address change, residents of Sofia will be able to identify themselves completely free of charge only with their mobile phone camera and a mobile app.
