• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it

2

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

3

China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation

1

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it

2

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

3

China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation
Techelectronic signatures

Adobe Trumpets Need for Digital Signature Standard

By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 8, 2016, 8:23 AM ET
Kevin Winzeler
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Amid all the angst over Brexit, you may have missed a significant milestone the European Union recognized on July 1. That’s the day that the EU officially adopted a common framework for handling and recognizing electronic signatures, the Electronic ID and Trust Services (aka eIDAS) regulation.

Virtually every big name in digital document management and e-signatures is rushing to capitalize on this development, one many experts believe will simplify cross-border e-commerce activities across Europe. What might not be so simple: Businesses are faced with evaluating at least two emerging standards related to eIDAS and broader, worldwide adoption of digital signatures.

The latest is the Cloud Signature Consortium initiative founded and fronted by software company Adobe (ADBE), which sells one of the better-known e-signature applications called Adobe Sign (formerly EchoSign). Its declared mission is to create an “open standard” for securing transactions on mobile devices.

At its launch in late June there were 13 academic and security organizations on board. The organization anticipates developing specifications for accommodating certain types of transactions—such as approving large loans or applying for social security benefits—by the end of the year, said Lisa Croft, director of product marketing for Adobe.

“The idea is that it’s a collection of professionals working toward a standard,” she said. This would enable companies that operate in multiple geographies to invest in digital transaction systems that interoperate across them, while maintaining a high level of certainty that the right people are “closing” certain details—that contracts are secure. “The business itself doesn’t have to do anything to benefit,” Croft said.

Adobe processes more than 6 billion digital signatures annually, for customers like Diners Club, Jones Lang LaSalle, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Verizon (VZ).

So what’s raising eyebrows? The specification that its new consortium is pushing will exist alongside the xDTM Standard, a broader initiative for digital transaction management started more than two years ago. That effort represents more than 300 organizations, including Adobe e-signature rivals and partners like DocuSign, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), and SAP. Its board includes representatives from Visa, the U.S. Postal Service, NBC Universal, and FedEx. One of the people listed among its advisers is former Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen.

“With our global business we have a very diverse group of customers,” said Wiebe van der Horst, senior vice president of global process and enterprise architecture for BASF Group, which is an xDTM supporter. “Digital transformation will be vital for us to become more efficient internally, but also to be faster and better in our interaction with customers.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily technology newsletter.

Forrester Research estimates that more than 700 million digital transactions could be settled with e-signatures by the year 2017, growing quickly beyond that year. Another projection suggests there could be a whopping 450 billion digital transactions handled daily around the world by 2020. So far, North America has been the biggest market for adoption, but eIDAS will inspire deeper adoption across Europe.

Clearly, both the xDTM Standard initiative and the Cloud Signature Consortium have an agenda—promoting specific security and software approaches advocated by the tech firms that are their members.

Adobe certainly has plenty of experience at this sort of thing. Over the past decade, its PDF format has become a de facto standard for sharing digital documents viewable across a wide of computing platforms. Its decision to start its own organization, rather than joining an established organization that has been rallying the e-signature cause for more than two years, is somewhat perplexing. Whether it accelerates or slows adoption remains to be seen.

Update, July 8, 2016: An Adobe spokeswoman said the Cloud Signature Consortium will include other e-signature software company that want to become members. “Unlike DocuSign’s xDTM, which is more of a best practices guide, the Consortium is working on a true technical standard that defines a common architecture, building blocks, and communication protocols for cloud-based digital signature transactions. The Consortium is made up of experts that represent a cross-industry effort, as opposed to partners, which makes up a large majority of xDTM’s membership.”

 

About the Author
By Heather Clancy
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Presidents aren’t supposed to pick winners, former White House ethics lawyer says. Trump keeps choosing Dell
PoliticsDonald Trump
Presidents aren’t supposed to pick winners, former White House ethics lawyer says. Trump keeps choosing Dell
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 7, 2026
6 hours ago
Palantir CEO Alex Karp with his arms outstretched while making a point on stage.
NewslettersEye on AI
Palantir CEO Alex Karp is wrong about the threat Anthropic and OpenAI pose to most enterprises. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have something to lose
By Jeremy KahnJuly 7, 2026
7 hours ago
Scott Wu, in front of a blue background, sits in a gray chair and speaks to a person out of frame.
AIProductivity
Cognition CEO says tech companies got ‘carried away’ with token leaderboards and should measure employees on output instead
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 7, 2026
8 hours ago
Tech worker walks to office
SuccessJobs
AI start-ups are snubbing entry-level talent in favor of Silicon Valley men with top degrees, research shows
By Emma BurleighJuly 7, 2026
10 hours ago
South Korean law targeting ‘fake news’ takes effect, but journalists say it discourages critical reporting and can lead to self-censorship
AsiaSouth Korea
South Korean law targeting ‘fake news’ takes effect, but journalists say it discourages critical reporting and can lead to self-censorship
By The Associated Press and Kim Tong-HyungJuly 7, 2026
11 hours ago
Trump is building a helipad with ‘carved granite’ White House seal to handle new presidential choppers
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trump is building a helipad with ‘carved granite’ White House seal to handle new presidential choppers
By The Associated PressJuly 7, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
Success
Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi worked from midnight until 5 a.m. as a receptionist to pay for her Yale degree—and she says ‘respect went up’ because of it
By Preston ForeJuly 6, 2026
1 day ago
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
AI
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 5, 2026
3 days ago
China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation
Asia
China’s birth rate just hit its lowest point since 1949—and Trip.com cofounder James Liang thinks that’s a threat to innovation
By Nicholas GordonJuly 7, 2026
19 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 6, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 6, 2026
2 days ago
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Success
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
4 days ago
The man who ran Bernie's campaign says Democrats are still making the same mistakes with Democratic Socialists, and they should laud Mamdani's win
Politics
The man who ran Bernie's campaign says Democrats are still making the same mistakes with Democratic Socialists, and they should laud Mamdani's win
By Catherina GioinoJuly 6, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.