On this website, the following terms are used :

• eGovernment application : any interactive public service using electronic means which is offered entirely or partially by or on the authority of a public administration, for the mutual benefit of the end user (which may include citizens, legal persons and/or other administrations) and the public administration. Any form of electronic service (including stand-alone software, web applications, and proprietary interfaces offered locally (e.g. at a local office counter using an electronic device)) can be considered an eGovernment application, provided that a certain degree of interactivity is included. Interactivity requires that a transaction between the parties must be involved; one-way communication by a public administration (such as the publication of standardised forms on a website) does not suffice.
  
  

• Concerned sector : sector to which the eGovernment application belongs to. This could be e.g. public procurement, tax, social security, employment, financial management, justice, education, transportation and logistics, customs…
  
  

• Application/Service Type : specifies the target community of the eGovernment application: A2A (Administration to Administration), A2B (Administration to Business) or A2C (Administration to Citizen).
  
  

• Abstract Description: Short description of the eGovernment application describing its goals / purposes.
  
  

• Application name : Name of the surveyed eGovernment application.
  
  

• Summary : see Abstract Description.
  
  

• Legal basis : Describes the legal basis (law, decree,…) for the eGovernment application and provides reference to on-line resources .
  
  

• Hardware requirement : specifies the hardware requirements applicable on the eGovernment application’s user side (e.g. smartcard reader/USB tokens) for the use of eSignature.
  
  

• Software requirement : specifies the software requirements applicable on the eGovernment application’s user side (e.g. OS/specific driver/middleware) for the use of eSignature.
  
  

• List of CSPs : List of the Certificate Service Providers currently supported by the eGovernment application.
  
  

For the purposes of this report, the qualifications are used in the following sense:

• Qualified signature : use of a qualified certificate in combination with an SSCD, as the notion is defined in the glossary above. Note that in most cases, the SSCD is not formally accredited as such, but its status is generally accepted.
  
  

• Qualified certificate : use of a qualified certificate in the sense of the e-Signatures Directive is required, but no requirement of an SSCD is presented.
  
  

• Advanced signature : use of a non-qualified certificate meeting the requirements of the Directive as presented in the glossary above.
  
  

• Simple signature : use of a lower level signature solution, meeting the definition of an electronic signature in the Directive, but not that of an advanced or qualified signature.
  
  

Each item points to the related classification.

For the purposes of this report, the qualifications are used in the following sense:

• Smart card: use of a smart card equipped with a cryptographic processor to store the PKI private key and to perform signing operations. Such cryptographic smart cards are also able to generate PKI key pairs on board, to avoid the risk of having more than one copy of the key. Smart cards impose the use of a specific reader on the workstation.
  
  

• USB token : use of a USB token equipped with a cryptographic processor to store the PKI private key and to perform signing operations (as smart cards). USB tokens do not require extra material to be installed at the workstation side.
  
  

• Virtual smart card : use of a HSM (Hardware Security Module) to store the PKI private key and to perform signing operations. This HSM is usually hosted by a service provider. The user must be strongly authenticated by the service provider before performing any signing operations. This virtual smart card concept is more and more proposed by mobile phone operators which are able to provide strong authentication process with their mobile users.
  
  

• software certificates : use of software solution (e.g. a file) to store the PKI private key. The signing operations are performed by the workstation. Such solution does not fulfil the requirements for secure signature-creation devices as defined in the eSignature directive
  
  

• user/password : use of a pair of username/passwords to perform signing operations. This solution can only be used to create simple signatures or authentication.

Each item points to the related classification.

For the purposes of this report, the qualifications are used in the following sense:

• XML : A data object that conforms to XML's (eXtensible Markup Language) syntax rules.
  
  
• PDF : Portable Document Format developed by Adobe
  
  
• Web Form : web page ( often XML formatted )
  
  
• Files : Document format other than XML or PDF
  
  
• ASCII : Simple ASCII string

Each item points to the related classification.

For the purposes of this report, the following sectors are considered :

• eProcurement : eGovernment applications belonging to Public Procurement.
  
  
• eVAT : eGovernment applications belonging to Value-Added Taxes
  
  
• eTAX : eGovernment applications belonging to Tax Returns.
  
  

Each item points to the related classification.