eIDAS for SMEs: Electronic Identification and Trust Services supporting Business in Europe
From 29 September 2018 onwards, the European Union’s Electronic Identification and Trust Services Regulation (eIDAS) will apply directly in its entirety in the European Union. Now it is up to businesses as well as European citizens to take advantage of this revolutionary way of using electronic identification throughout the EU and doing business across borders. The eIDAS for SME pilot helps SMEs to discover eIDAS and how it can benefit their businesses, such as by creating more efficient business processes. The pilot includes webpages, webinars, a checklist and many other useful material.
Via the eIDAS for SMEs page, you can download a general guidance document, checklist, discover a learning programme and dedicated information for the financial services sector, online retail sector, transport sector and professional services sector.
The European Commission has commissioned a study and a pilot to lead eIDAS for SMEs, a cutting-edge campaign focusing on the power and potential of eIDAS, particularly for cross-border trade and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Through a hosts of videos, infographics, sector-specific use cases, an interactive training toolbox and a series of cutting-edge, exploratory webinars, SME leaders, policymakers and other digital experts are invited to discover and learn about the latest developments and emerging opportunities of electronic identity (eID) and trust services.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) supports the implementation of eIDAS with the eID, eSignature and eDelivery building blocks
- The CEF eID building block is a set of services (including software, documentation, training and support) provided by the European Commission and endorsed by the Member States, which helps public administrations and private Service Providers to extend the use of their online services to citizens from other European countries. This is realised through the mutual recognition of national electronic identification (eID) schemes (including smartcards, mobile and log-in), allowing citizens of one European country to use their national eIDs to securely access online services provided in other European countries.
- The CEF eSignature building block helps public administrations and businesses to accelerate the creation and verification of electronic signatures through a service offering including The Digital Signature Services (DSS), the Trusted List Manager, DSS Conformance Testing (maintained by ETSI) and Technical specifications and associated standards (maintained by ETSI).
- The CEF eDelivery building block is a network of nodes for digital communications. It is based on a distributed model where every participant becomes a node using standard transport protocols and security policies.
The eIDAS Regulation (Regulation 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market) sets a framework for electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European single market. It is a milestone to provide a predictable regulatory environment to enable secure and seamless electronic interactions between businesses, citizens and public authorities.