Authority to issue digital certificates

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Hyderabad: As part of its e-governance initiative, Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in India to attain a Certifying Authority to issue co-branded digital certificates.

The Andhra Pradesh Technology Services (APTS), a state-owned corporation handling IT needs of the government, has signed an agreement with IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of the digital Certifying Authorities in India to public key infrastructure (PKI) to enable all the electronic applications as well as issue co-branded digital certificates to the participants.

APTS managing director Randeep Sudan told a press conference on Monday that the agreement would enable APTS to act as an Issuing Authority of digital certificates for users of all e-governance initiatives undertaken by the state government. The applications include e-Procurement, e-Seva, paperless office, SmartGov, KM-ATOM etc. “The partnership with TCS will boost our strengths in e-governance and will set a model for other governments,” Mr Sudan said.

The government will introduce PKI-enabled solutions and digital certificates initially in e-Procurement, which did transactions worth a whopping over Rs 3,300 crore last year. With the launch of broadband project in the near future, the same will be introduced across all major e-governance initiatives such as APOnline, SmartGov, e-Seva and other applications, he added.

According to TCS executive vice-president (advanced technology) M Vidyasagar, “The agreement will help leverage the best of PKI technology in catering to the needs of the APTS customers and we have an advantage of being both as a PKI products/solutions vendor and a Certifying Authority to help the state to take up in a full-fledged manner.”