Method of Approach

To achieve high conclusiveness of digitally signed documents and to realize their integration into practical use, their complete life cycle ranging from generation of the document, generation of the signature, presentation, communication to archiving and later use will be taken into account in a comprehensive way.

The requirements for archiving digitally signed documents will be systematically deduced from document and business process analyses, from market and system analyses, legal analyses and from security and conclusiveness analyses.

In consideration of existing standards, technical components and interfaces as well as organizational concepts of public key infrastructures will be specified. This will also include the integration of document management and archiving systems as well as the prototypic implementation and integration into the information systems of the health care system and public administration.