….. stands for lean, efficient and customer-friendly administration. Public agencies are providing more and more of their services on the Internet and at the same time gearing these more and more towards the needs of citizens and businesses. What is the role of the electronic signature here? Quite simple really. It achieves a lot with little effort and ensures that e-Government does not reach its limits at the point where a signature is required under law. In the case of administration procedures in conjunction, for instance, with official applications, declarations or calls for tenders, it must, of course, be clear that an electronic message is authentic in terms of its sender and content. In light of this, there are many more cases in the world of administration than in private law where a signature is mandatory. This is why the electronic signature is faced with at least just as many important areas in eGovernment as in eBusiness or eCommerce, for instance.