WISeKey Partners with The Government of Seychelles to Explore the Potential of Introducing Trusted Digital Identity Services for Citizens of the Republic of Seychelles, Businesses, Digital Nomads and Visitors

WISeKey Partners with The Government of Seychelles to Explore the Potential of Introducing Trusted Digital Identity Services for Citizens of the Republic of Seychelles, Businesses, Digital Nomads and Visitors

Victoria (Seychelles), Geneva (Switzerland) – March 16, 2021 – WISeKey International Holding (“WISeKey”, SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Seychelles, represented by the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT), to initiate a pilot project for the development of an innovative Digital Identity platform for Seychelles. The Digital Identity platform is expected to be integrated with different national initiatives especially the eGovernment and potentially eTourism and eHealth.

In 2014, WISeKey was initially selected by the Government of Seychelles as a partner to supply technology and expertise on Public Key Infrastructures (PKI), Digital Signatures and its usage in electronic transactions. PKI and all the derived applications for authentication, digital signatures and encryption are indisputably the most secure technologies to ensure the protection of personal identities and documents. WISeKey is a key player in the PKI arena, and offers a unique combination of know-how and geo-political neutrality. WISeKey can ensure the independency of its trust services, allowing its customers to issue digital identities that are recognized worldwide.

Over the last decade, The Government of Seychelles has developed several initiatives for digital inclusion and the adoption of new technologies in electronic identity. The Government of Seychelles has been praised internationally for all these efforts; in 2012 the Government of Seychelles won the topmost award in Africa in Information Communications Technology (ICT) under a program called United Nation (UN) E-Government Survey Ranking & Award 2012. Since then, Seychelles has been considered as a benchmark in the region. Currently the Government of Seychelles is seeking to implement new solutions for the citizens of Seychelles and local services, to facilitate access to Digital Identity and new eGovernment services through the use of smartphones and mobile applications.

The pilot project will be based on WISeKey’s WISeID platform for Digital Identity and online security. WISeID is a trusted identity service that enables access to the web and mobile applications with strong authentication techniques. WISeID supports online Know Your Customer (KYC) onboarding, One Time Password (OTP) and digital certificate login, and an innovative “hands-free” secure login based on QR-Codes which users can read using WIShelter SafePass mobile application without even having to type any password.

Additional security services include digital signature services for documents. WISeID implements standards such as OpenID Connect and OAUTH2, that can be easily integrated by customers to enhance the security of their cloud applications. WISeID can also be combined with Microsoft Active Directory, facilitating integration with corporate applications. WISeID is based on the WISeKey/OISTE Root of Trust and integrates innovative blockchain technologies to distribute the identity attributes and build federated ecosystems.

The pilot project seeks to benefit the emerging ecosystem of Digital Nomads selecting Seychelles as their workplace. Digital nomads are people whose job allows them to work from home or any part of the world. These people are usually freelancers, who offer services to clients. So, just as long as they have Wi-Fi, digital identities and a laptop, they are able to work anywhere, anytime.

Mr. Benjamin Choppy, the Principal Secretary of DICT said, “The Government of Seychelles is driving key projects for eGovernment that will benefit both our citizens and the local business community. We have entrusted WISeKey in leading the pilot project of what may be the next generation of Digital Identity.”

“WISeKey has a clear commitment in the development of eGovernment services and the universalization of the electronic identity to secure the digital life of people using the internet. We are proud to have the Government of Seychelles as one of our key partners in this area,” said Mr. Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey.

About WISeKey

WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.5 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.).  WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.

Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

About Seychelles
With a population of about 98,500, Seychelles is a group of 115 granite and coral islands 4 and 10 degrees south of the equator and lie between 480km and 1,600km from the east coast of mainland Africa in the western Indian Ocean. Seychelles, is one of the world’s very few places whereby its natural beauty is still pristine and untouched by mankind. With Tourism as the pillar of its economy, Seychelles welcomes more than 300 thousand visitors yearly.

In May 2012, Seychelles’ first submarine cable; the Seychelles East Africa System; landed in Seychelles spearheading the country’s ICT developments. As at 30^th September 2020, Seychelles’ penetration per 100 for Mobile Cellular and Internet Access services were 186.42 and 116.28 respectively.

About DICT
DICT is a government entity within the Office of the President with its main functions being:

• Providing information systems which will support decision-making in government and delivery of government services in terms of efficiency and effectiveness; and
• Developing and enforcing frameworks (legal, regulatory, policy and otherwise) that will enable pervasive and affordable access to electronic means of communication nationally.

In its endeavor to assist the Government in the computerisation process of Government Departments for the delivery of online E-Services, DICT has developed a central Government E-Service Portal, accessible on the internet, whereby E-Services offered by Government are made available. DICT continue to drive projects for Seychelles’ eGovernment with modern and efficient e-services.

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