Cryptomathic Blog

International trade is based on the concept of trust. In situations where there isn’t some established trust, the trading parties get their respective banks involved and use various trade finance products like Letters of Credit to ensure that both sides adhere to the terms of the trade as laid out in the contract. This trust fuels global trade and countries where it can be strengthened generally tend to become the preferred trading partners over time. The focus on trust in international trade brings us to the topic of this two-part series. This article focuses on how eIDAS can help establish trust between trading partners world across the EU and worldwide.

Globalization has continued its inexorable march over the last decades. The movement of everything from capital, labor, ideas, goods, and services across borders has made the world a smaller place. International organizations create the rules that define and guide interactions between people and nations. In parallel, we are seeing another revolution - digitizing our economy at a breath-taking pace.

A Forrester Research survey found that documents with electronic signatures reduced the error rate by 80% and improved productivity by as much as 85%. Such statistics highlight the potential disruptive power of technologies such as eSignature and eIdentification in transforming digital businesses.

The need for social distancing and the fact that most office workers are now exclusively working from home has led to profound changes in the business world. While the move to digital was already underway in many countries, the recent crisis has provided a new impetus. Many countries already had the underlying regulations and framework for digital identification and signing in place, and they are finding it easier to make the shift. Those that did not are scrambling to catch up. 

The European Union is leading the way in the move towards the creation of a single digital market. There are many advantages a digital business has over its more traditional counterparts that are only amplified when such businesses are allowed to operate seamlessly across multiple markets. 

If SMEs are the backbone of an economy, professional service providers are the ones who grease the cogs of that machinery. Notaries, accountants, insurance agents, consultants, etc. provide value-added services that are indispensable to the operations of a business in the 21st century. In a previous article, we touched upon how eIDAS can be leveraged for professional service providers.

The European Single Market has made it possible for large companies and small businesses to freely access one of the biggest unified markets in the world.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of any economy. In the European Union (EU), SMEs represent 99% of all businesses and account for an astounding 85% of job growth. Providing the best environment for these SMEs to thrive and prosper thus becomes vital for any country. The EU has a tradition of promoting entrepreneurship and leads the pack regarding ease of doing business, access to finance, a strong legal framework, a robust regulatory environment, and a variety of other support structures.

The last few years have been exciting for all stakeholders involved in the implementation and use of the eIDAS toolbox. Some important milestones have been reached, and new initiatives are taking off. However, to significantly increase the uptake of eIDAS-enabled services, a three-pronged approach is needed to bolster the main growth drivers. This approach is based on the feedback received from the various respondents in a recent ENISA survey and its accompanying report.