The Role of Digital Certificates in EGoverning. The Case of the Romanian Regulation and Surveillance Authority

The implementation of electronic governance related projects implies user authentication,accounts activation and personal data verification. Certain public services, particularly thoseinvolving financial transactions or statements, require a high security level. The use of the PKI technology and, consequently, of digital signatures, constitutes the most viable solution, meeting the required security standards, protecting, on the one hand, the signatory’s identity, and, on the other hand, the integrity of the transmitted message. Due to the use of the digital certificate, the development of online public services is now possible, especially since it meets the requirements of security standards, but also because it is highly trusted by users. This article intends to analyze the impact of the digital certificate on the improvement of communication between state authorities, including specific transactional relations, and also to consider its influence on security improvement of dataflow. The study demonstrates that the digital certificate is closely connected to the information society, directly determining the dynamics of the development of new applications that provide a better interface between the state and its citizens