The 7th annual European Forum on Electronic Signature took place on May 30 – June 1, 2007, in Międzyzdroje, Poland. The honorary patronage of EFPE 2007 was assumed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Poland, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), and the Federal Agency of Information Technologies of the Russian Federation (FAIT).
Apart from Unizeto Technologies SA and the Szczecin University of Technology, the conference was co-organized by the National Clearing House SA (KIR SA) and the Polish Security Printing Works SA (PWPW SA) as first-time co-organizers. The Forum was attended by 154 participants from 22 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Spain, Lithuania, Moldova, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Italy. The EFPE is currently the largest international conference dedicated to PKI held in Europe.
This year’s leading topic of the EFPE were the development trends in e-signature-related services in Poland and worldwide. The speakers and participants of EFPE 2007 included representatives of the European Commission, ministries, government agencies and institutions supervising e-signature infrastructures in EU and non-EU countries, and representatives of science and business, who exchanged ideas and experiences related to theory and practice of e-document and e-signature during lectures, workshops, panel discussions and informal meetings, while establishing partnerships and business contacts. The conference also became a unique East-West co-operation forum on PKI.
In the course of sessions it became clear that the basic problem raised by most of the Forum’s participants is the lack of interoperability on international level, also between all of EU’s member states. Insufficient legal regulations and the need to ensure high level of PKI security as the key to building trust in e-documents with e-signature, and thus to the development of e-trade were also among the issues discussed at the conference. In that regard it has been assumed that one of the main topics of EFPE 2008, planned for June 04-06, 2008, will be related to the issues of unification and recognition of e-signatures and integration of e-signature-related services.