Quote: ‘Touch screens facial and conversation recognition technology, integrating a virtual assistant (AI), document scanner and printer to issue paper certificates, obtain official documents; registration certificate and payment of taxes’
The municipal cyber kiosk installed in the Alicante Citizen Attention and Information Service (SAIC) on Cervantes street has exceeded 1,300 certificates issued in one month, with 1,330 in March, following the launch in April 2022 by Mayor Luis Barcala – with recognition across Europe.
The New Technologies department schedule the installation of another 15 devices in May, reducing the digital divide with an investment of €297,837.44.
Councillor for New Technologies, Antonio Peral said: “The digital cyber kiosk on Cervantes street is installed as a pilot test for the issuance of register certificates and payment of taxes, which has exceeded 1,300 documents, issued over the course of the month of March.
“With these devices we avoid queues and waiting and we make it easier to do these steps in less than a minute just by carrying the ID with the digital chip.”
The new service was launched in April 2022, with 4,709 certificates issued until the end of that year and an additional 3,596 until March 2023, a total of 8,315 documents. Regarding the payment of taxes, 915 operations have been carried out, in cash and credit cards, in the same period last year, plus another 247 in 2023.
Alicante City Council is positioned as the reference administration in the implementation of this type of devices, aimed at eliminating the ‘digital divide’ and facilitating the obtaining of certificates, the payment of taxes, or other procedures that will be introduced progressively.
This is demonstrated by the recent visit of the Vice Minister of Local Administration and Digitalization of the Community of Madrid, José Antonio Sánchez, to inquire about its operation or the Junta de Andalucía, with the invitation to the mayor of Alicante to explain the performance of the device in a conference recently held in Jaén.
The 15 new digital cyber kiosks will begin to be installed by the company Sépalo, from the first half of May in community centres in the city’s neighbourhoods and in different municipal services, with the aim of facilitating procedures and certificates to citizens who do not have access to a personal computer with the aim of reducing the digital divide.
The new devices have touch screens, facial and conversation recognition technology with the possibility of integrating a virtual assistant (AI), document scanner and printer to issue paper certificates, obtain official documents, such as the registration certificate and the payment of taxes.
These digital cyber kiosks will also be accessible by incorporating a double touch screen to facilitate access for people with reduced mobility.
Peral said: “The devices are developed in three languages: Spanish, Valencian and English and are adapted for use by people with visual and hearing disabilities.”
The Councillor responsible for New Technologies said: “They will be assisted by municipal staff, in order to help users carry out their procedures and become familiar with the use of the new device.”
Antonio Peral recalled that this procedure has all the security guarantees. Municipal Register certifications issued by automated administrative action are stored in the municipal electronic file.
Computer applications will ensure control of the date of issue and identification of the body responsible for the procedure.
The unequivocal relationship between the document and the digital signature cannot be modified through electronic filing services, thus guaranteeing its security. In addition, the traceability of any modification of the document is guaranteed.
Alicante City Council’s project to reduce the digital divide through cyber kiosks, the AL21 artificial intelligence web layer and Smart Centers classrooms, continues to receive international recognition.
The initiative led by the Department of Project Coordination, “Closing the digital gap”, has been chosen as a finalist for the 2023 Policy Innovation Institute Awards, in the ‘Good Governance’ category, which will be awarded on May 11 in Warsaw This same project has also reached the final phase of the XV @Aslan Awards for Digital Transformation in public administrations.
