by Jim Minihan, Document Magazine
06-12-2008
Sometimes, events are such a long time in coming that they seem to not exist one moment and then suddenly, after years of promise, they appear as if they have been there all along. So it seems to be with the paperless office. Not that I think this long-awaited technology has officially arrived, but there is no longer much left in its way. The ability to sign a document that represents a transaction is just another impediment starting to crumble.
Increasingly, organizations come to understand that the documents they use to conduct business are not only created electronically but distributed and used electronically as well. In fact, users prefer the speed and convenience of electronic and no longer make the “conversion” to paper. At the same time, they are also learning that conversion to paper is no relief for having to maintain the electronic version of their records. Records management policies will provide no reprieve when they are driven by regulatory compliance that view electronic originals as more important than paper. The holdout issue for those that insist on the need for paper, however, is the requirement of a signature. How else can a formal transaction occur? they will ask. But this reasoning is starting to meet the classic definition of an excuse a reason not good enough.
Understanding the Medium
Previously, we discussed the basics of electronic signature and the many forms it can take. They can range from nothing more than your name typed at the bottom of an email to a bit-mapped picture of your signature, to the use of a digital signature issued in the context if a sophisticated public key infrastructure (PKI) intended for such purpose. Each has its use, but it is the value and seriousness of the transaction that ultimately defines which should be used based on the need for more or less integrity. However, the more important factor is to deal with the common belief that the only problem created by clinging to paper and ink is the resulting need to manage the paper, something we have centuries of experience with. After all, paper is tried and true... but so it was with rotary telephones and ox-carts. While companies have grappled with the common hurdles of paper production, such as the overhead expense, glitches in efficient operations, customer convenience and possibly your system architecture, it is now possible that even a signed piece of paper will not hold up in court in favor of its electronic counterpart.
Under the revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (updated to address electronic discovery), a number of cases have already occurred where a signed paper document is bypassed in favor of an electronic one. An example is an instance where a portion of a hospital’s medical record was modified. A signed nurse’s record on paper indicated a certain course of events in treatment. But the electronic system that generated that record had additional, relevant information and was allowed into the case in spite of the existence of the signed paper. More and more, electronic documents are becoming a preferred medium and, in some instances, are considered a more valuable and reliable representation of a record than even a signed paper document.
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