Digital future: TUM is revolutionizing administration with electronic seals!

Digital future: TUM is revolutionizing administration with electronic seals!

With the introduction of the TUM Trust Center platform, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has taken a significant step towards digital administrative processes. These digital services are now available to all university employees and students. The platform revolutionizes the way official documents such as degree certificates and course certificates are managed.

Previously, the Graduation Office and Academic Records had to print, sign and mail around 7,000 certificates each semester. Thanks to the new system, these documents now have an electronic seal and are available online. According to TUM reported The team has already automatically sealed over half a million documents and saved numerous working hours in the process.

Increased efficiency and cost savings

The aim of introducing the TUM Trust Center app is to optimize and accelerate administrative processes. The traditional paper-based processes involved multiple steps: printing, signing, distributing, verifying and copying. This approach often led to delays of weeks as numerous signatures had to be obtained. The app allows users to receive, verify, sign and distribute documents securely and legally.

Additionally, several modern security measures are integrated into the platform, including RFID-based authentication and multi-factor authentication. This ensures robust protection of sensitive data. Not only is the solution cost-effective, but it also avoids processing data on US servers, which is another key advantage.

Legal framework and developments

Electronic signatures have developed significantly in recent years. The legal framework and security infrastructure have been gradually created to facilitate use in various business areas. Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014, known as the eIDAS Regulation, came into force in 2014 and has been fully applicable since July 1, 2016. This regulation aims at technical and legal harmonization in the area of ​​electronic signatures, seals and time stamps.

With the help of the eCard strategy, the federal government promotes authentication and qualified electronic signatures using chip cards. With the increasing use of electronic signatures, electronic commerce, particularly in e-government and e-business, could be significantly promoted. Such developments contribute to the performance and competitiveness as well as to the modernization of the German economy and public administration.

However, the successful introduction of these technologies requires an interdisciplinary understanding of legal, mathematical and technical aspects. Information on the legal framework for technicians as well as the current status of technical research for lawyers and business economists is now available. In a publication by Federal Office for Information Security Examples of practical applications are shown.