For over 15 years, B.EST Solutions Azerbaijan has been actively contributing to the development of the country’s digital economy and innovative solutions. Today, ‘Asan Imza’ is a fundamental component of e-government, widely used by citizens, entrepreneurs—both individuals and legal entities—as well as civil servants. In the digital world, it serves as a kind of digital identity card for Azerbaijani citizens. Jana Krimpe, the founder and head of B.EST Solutions Azerbaijan, discussed the technological development prospects of ‘Asan Imza’ in an interview with ‘vergiler.az’.
– Ms. Jana, as we know, ‘Asan Imza’ was first implemented in the country’s tax system. In which other areas is this technology currently used?
– Currently, ‘Asan Imza’ is successfully integrated into the call centers of various state and private institutions. The primary priority of the ‘Asan Imza’ service is to ensure the high confidentiality of users’ personal data and state information systems, providing security for online transactions and cashless payments in compliance with major global standards. Therefore, when implementing any innovation, risks and issues related to global cyber threats are carefully analyzed. Our company understands its responsibility and, considering that the ‘Asan Imza’ service belongs to the RegTech (Regulatory Technologies) industry, does not rush to apply the latest innovations of the industry. RegTech is a new platform that combines regulation and technology to facilitate compliance with increasingly complex rules in various industries.
Thanks to active partnerships with both the public and private sectors, including all banks, more than 2,000 electronic services are available across the country through ‘Asan Imza’. ‘Asan Imza’ is also widely used in other important areas such as insurance, medicine, education, and more.
Considering the latest global trends in electronic solutions, we are witnessing the dynamic emergence of new digital offerings on both public and private internet portals in Azerbaijan. We closely monitor the development of these innovations and are actively working on integrating mobile electronic signatures into various electronic systems.
The advanced encryption strengthened by the mobile signature of ‘Asan Imza’ plays a significant role in ensuring a high level of security in online transactions.
– Technological progress dictates new challenges. New methods of identification and authentication are emerging. How do you see the technological development of ‘Asan Imza’ in the coming years?
– To support the ambitious national goal of turning our country into a global leader in the digital economy and ensuring universal access to advanced innovations, B.EST Solutions Azerbaijan continues to invest significant resources in the development of the ‘Asan Imza’ mobile digital signature.
Together with the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we have launched the ‘Asan Imza’ personal cabinet on the e-taxes.gov.az internet portal for taxpayers. Created in accordance with the latest world standards, the ‘Asan Imza’ personal cabinet is a virtual assistant designed to save users’ time and enable the execution of important online transactions in the shortest possible time. Access to the personal cabinet is possible from any device, including computers, tablets, and smartphones. In the personal cabinet, users are provided with the following capabilities: detailed information about the validity period of all ‘Asan Imza’ certificates belonging to the user; online application for additional ‘Work’ or ‘State’ type certificates; extension of the validity period of existing certificates online for the next 3 years; change of user ID; monitoring of all transactions carried out with ‘Asan Imza’. For heads of enterprises and organizations, the main functionality of the personal cabinet is the ability to manage ‘permissions’, allowing them to decide whether to grant or deny employees and electronic services access with ‘Asan Imza’. In the near future, it is also planned to introduce a service for the recovery of user PIN codes.
With the emergence of new threats and attack methods on digital platforms, the use of additional security mechanisms becomes vital. For this purpose, an innovative service in the field of cybersecurity—the encryption and decryption service for documents—will be launched.
The advanced encryption strengthened by the mobile signature of ‘Asan Imza’ plays a significant role in ensuring a high level of security in online transactions. This security mechanism ensures that users’ confidential information remains inaccessible to unauthorized persons, thereby maintaining trust in the electronic signature system. This service can also be used to encrypt electronic wallets, crypto wallets, and more.
Additionally, in the coming days, the new www.asandoc.az portal will be launched, offering services such as file encryption and decryption, multisign (bulk signing), signature verification, document request approval/rejection, use of predefined contacts, signature groups and roles, sending documents via email through a link, and more.
To prevent potential threats that may arise from the development of quantum computing and artificial intelligence, our company has made a strategic decision to proactively apply quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms to the ‘Asan Imza’ service. This approach stems from the necessity to ensure the long-term protection of Azerbaijani citizens’ data from quantum decryption. The implementation of this initiative aims to prevent the possibility of compromising the information assets we protect in the future through the use of quantum computers. We are confident that these innovations will have a significant impact on ensuring sustainable mechanisms for the development of the digital economy in Azerbaijan.
The ‘Asan Imza’ service can be used on all types of phones, including relatively old button phones, even those without internet access.
– As we know, over time, virtual SIM cards (eSIM) are gradually replacing classic SIM cards. Smartphone manufacturers are already gradually abandoning SIM card slots. The eSIM service is also available in Azerbaijan. What does ‘Asan Imza’ offer to eSIM users?
– Considering the growing interest of users in the ‘Asan Imza’ service and aiming to ensure maximum user convenience, our company, together with the State Tax Service, has introduced the innovative ‘Asan Imza’ eSIM service. ‘Asan Imza’ on eSIM has become available for the first time in the world in Azerbaijan for Azercell Telekom subscribers.
