Digital signatures in Hamburg Service: Seamless application submission in specialist procedures

As part of a digitalisation project, Hamburg Service – an operational organisational unit – has integrated electronic signatures directly into the administration’s specialist systems. The aim of the project is to enable the submission and processing of official identity documents without any disruption in the specialist systems OK.EWO (registration and resident registration) and Paula.GO (ID card and passport matters).

Citizens can sign their applications electronically directly at the office. The captured signatures are transferred directly into the specialist systems without any media breaks and processed there.

Project scope and solution implemented

As part of the roll-out, a total of 215 Delta USB signature pads and the signoSign/2 signature solution were implemented and integrated into the existing IT landscape.
Procurement and awarding of the contract took place via Dataport AöR, the central IT service provider for public administration, as part of a tendering process compliant with public procurement law.

Seamless digital signature in the administrative process

The key benefit of the project lies in the end-to-end digitisation of the entire process: from the application and signature through to further processing in the specialist system.
The previous process involving paper printouts, manual signatures and subsequent digitisation is completely eliminated. Instead, the signature is applied directly at the workstation in the service area – entirely digitally and without any media discontinuity.

Extended document display on the signature pad

The Delta USB signature pad enables A4 documents to be displayed in full directly on the device.

Citizens can view documents in their entirety before signing and scroll within the display to conveniently review even lengthy content. This ensures that the signature is based on the complete document information.

Functions of the signoSign/2 signature software

The signoSign/2 software supports the entire process of electronic document processing and signing in an administrative environment. It enables the creation, editing and signing of PDF documents, as well as their automated processing within the digital workflow.

Key features include:

• Support for advanced electronic signatures
• Opening, editing and signing PDF documents
• Manual and automatic detection of signature fields
• Automatic placement of defined signature positions
• Rule-based control of digital workflows
• Automated email dispatch of documents
• Secure capture of biometric signature data

This means that the electronic signature is integrated as an integral part of a fully digital administrative process. Citizens can view documents in full before signing and scroll through the display to conveniently check even lengthy content.

Legally compliant electronic signatures

signoSign/2 generates legally compliant electronic signatures in accordance with ISO standards and the European eIDAS Regulation.

The integrity of the signed documents can be verified at any time without the need for additional software or technical systems. Validation takes place directly on the document itself.

Project outcome

The introduction of electronic signatures has significantly accelerated and simplified the entire application process.

At the same time, processing has been fully integrated into the specialist procedure without any media discontinuity, thereby eliminating manual intermediate steps and ensuring seamless digital processing.

The combination of signature hardware and integrated software enables secure, efficient and fully seamless application submission and processing directly within the specialist procedure.