Electronic Signatures for Public Procurement across Europe

Abstract

The PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) project is a large scale pilot under the CIP programme of the EU, exploring electronic public procurement in a unified European market. An important element is interoperability of electronic signatures across borders, identified today as a major obstacle to cross-border procurement. PEPPOL will address use of signatures in procurement processes, in particular tendering but also post-award processes like orders and invoices. Signature policies, i.e. quality requirements and requirements on information captured in the signing process, will be developed. This as well as technical interoperability of e-signatures across Europe will finally be piloted in demonstrators starting late 2009 or early 2010.KeywordsSigning ProcessMajor ObstacleQuality RequirementData SecurityScale PilotThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.