The government in Cyprus has issued a reminder to organisations regarding the acceptance of digital documents, which include national ID cards and driving licences stored in the country's official digital identity app, Digital Citizen.
Digital documents are considered to have the same legal validity as their physical counterparts and are to be accepted unconditionally by all organisations, companies, and service providers in Cyprus, the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy announced [1] as reported by In-Cyprus.
Nicodemus Damianou, who [2] is the Deputy Minister also noted that [3] the Digital Citizen app is now linked to Greece’s Gov.gr Wallet, enabling Cypriot citizens to present their digital IDs and driving licences in Greece, while Greek citizens can do the same in Cyprus. However, this interoperability agreement between the two countries has drawn scrutiny from the Cypriot state Audit Office.
A recent report examining the Digital Citizen project raises concerns that the agreement did not adhere to public procurement procedures. The contract for the Digital Citizen app is valued at €1.7 million, with €1.5 million allocated by Cyprus for the platform's development and an additional €200,000 from Greece for the integration of electronic signatures and identity into its Gov.gr wallet. This integration was awarded to an existing contractor already utilised by the Greek government, rather than being awarded through an open tender.
Both Cyprus and Greece did not provide detailed cost estimates for the project's activities. According to the Audit Office, the implementation costs [4] are now anticipated to exceed the original €1.5 million budget outlined in the contract due to unforeseen expenses. In a recent statement, Deputy Minister Damianou addressed concerns raised by the Audit Office, noting that while procedural issues were identified, no misconduct or legal violations were found.
The Digital Citizen project is a result of intergovernmental collaboration between Cyprus and Greece. The agreement includes contractual safeguards designed to protect public interests and incorporates standard provisions. According to the Ministry, [5] legal experts from both Cyprus and Greece reviewed the contract.The Ministry has indicated that future phases may be managed through an open tender process. The government is evaluating the possibility of enhancing the existing application to comply with [6] the European Digital Identity Wallet framework or creating an independent solution. This is not the first occasion on which the Cypriot Audit Office has expressed concerns regarding the nation’s digital ID initiative.
February data from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy [7] reveals that 75 new digital services were developed in 2025, with the Digital Citizen app surpassing 135,000 registered users. Cyprus is also preparing for additional projects in 2026, including the Mobile Smart Citizen App, designed to facilitate communication between users and local authorities while providing access to services from the Cyprus Electricity Authority.