Digital document portal in Uruguay

Montevideo, February 27, 2024. 

Sofis Solutions participated in the development of a digital document portal, a tool promoted by AGESIC that facilitates the use of electronic documentation in Uruguay.

Uruguay is advancing in the use of electronic documentation, and within this framework, the Agency for Electronic Government and Information Society of Uruguay (AGESIC) added a new service to the gub.uy app: a digital document portal. This new digital tool allows users to have state-issued credentials on their mobile devices that are verifiable and legally equivalent to physical documents.

Sofis Solutions participated in the development of this project, which involved several technical challenges regarding document security, adoption of international standards, usability, and architecture, stated the company director, Santiago Atella.

The digital document portal allows documents to be stored on Android and iOS mobile devices and presented to the competent authorities. Additionally, the tool ensures that the document data is reliable and up to date.

Easily verify and protect data

Users of the digital document portal can store different verifiable credentials* and validate their information using a QR code, protect them from being altered, process and analyze their data automatically, and keep them within a regulated technical and legal framework.

These credentials are constructed in such a way that it can be verified online which authority issued them, to whom they were issued (allowing verification that it is the same user presenting them), that the credential has not been altered, and that it has not been revoked, meaning it is still valid.

Verifiable credentials are open-source and standardized, containing only the minimum necessary information about the holder. They are considered standards for electronic identification, as they include documentation details while protecting the user’s privacy under the principle of minimal disclosure.

*Verifiable credentials are certifications with competence or authority issued to an entity or person by an authorized body.

How to access a verifiable credential?

The user can request the digital version of a credential through the gub.uy app.

To do this, open the app, select the Documents menu, set a six-digit PIN, and press “continue.” Once the screen indicates that the PIN has been correctly configured, press the “continue” button again. Then the credential can be confirmed.

After completing these steps, the credential will be visible in the Documents menu, from which it can be accessed at any time.

To verify the document with a regulatory authority, open the app, select the credential to verify, go to the menu in the top-right corner, and select “generate QR code.” Once the code is available, it can be presented to an inspector.

Currently, the digital document portal provides access to two verifiable credentials: the private security personnel card, issued by the General Directorate of Company Oversight of the Ministry of the Interior; and the athlete card, issued by the National Sports Secretariat.

The goal is to progressively incorporate more digital documents into the digital document portal.