This February 15, the 2nd European Signature Dialog (conference was held in Vienna, during which electronic signatures and their certification providers.
From left to right in first row: Moudrick Dadashov (CEO SSC, Lithuania), Reinhard Posch (CIO Austrian Federal Government), Michael Butz (CEO A-Trust, Austria), Alfonso Carcasona (CEO Camerfirma, Spain), Danilo Cattaneo, (CEO InfoCert, Italy); in the second row: Jorge Alcobia (CEO Multicert, Portugal), Pascal Rogiest (CEO LuxTrust, Luxembourg), Kim Nguyen (CEO D-Trust, Germany), Jere Vento (COO Avaintec Oy, Finland)
This February 15, the 2nd European Signature Dialog (ESD) conference was held in Vienna, during which electronic signatures and their certification providers from Austria, Germany, Finland, Italy, Lithuania and Luxembourg discussed the issues related to the harmonious implementation of the rules for electronic identification, authentication and trust services (eIDAS) at the national level. The Associated European Trust Centers founding document, approved by the ESD conference includes the following guidelines: enable harmonized cross-border transactions; increase awareness about eIDAS in order to foster and accelerate the digital transformation of European economy; promote personal data protection; empower European solutions for guaranteed data-security, and develop a European “cloud” infrastructure, based on local infrastructure and European law.
According to the Austrian A-Trust CEO Michael Butz, ESD shall constitute a steady think-tank of the major European trust service providers. „Together we can achieve fair conditions and harmonized policies for digital signatures and take the next important step in Europe’s digital signature history. Europe needs clear answers to the future challenges of digitization, and we are very pleased to have this powerful joint voice. Together we want to make Europe a strong player in authentication and cybersecurity," Mr. Butz said.
Also, Lithuania’s Skaitmeninio sertifikavimo centras CEO Mudrikas Dadašovas, who represented Lithuania, said: "As the reliability of eIDAS regulation is ensured by a number of 'bodies' and 'trust service providers', we know every chain is as weak as its weakest link. The synergy that the “European Signature Dialog” creates, along with existing schemes like Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Decision No 768/2008/ of the European Parliament and of the Council, leads us to a harmonized system of requirements to all involved 'bodies' and the level of market surveillance of products never available before.“
"As early as July 1, 2016, when the eIDAS regulations were introduced, it became clear that there was no understanding of how this regulation should be implemented at the national level, since each of the EU member states had implemented the previous Directive 1999/93/EC taking into account their interests,” says Mr. Dadašovas. He believes that, for mutual trusted eIDAS services reconciliation across Europe, it is necessary to pay attention to the existing differences – and to eliminate them.
Introduced from July 1, 2016 in all 28 EU member states, the eIDAS regulation regulates the services of electronic signature and electronic printing, the certification of the authenticity of Internet sites, time stamps, verification of the validity of electronic signatures, as well as their long-term security and registered delivery services. The regulations cover both qualified and unqualified certification services, and oversee the suppliers of these services.
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