The Review of the Trust Services Market 2020 published by the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT) reveals how the realities of the pandemic have led to the popularity of electronic signature and other digital transaction trust services in Lithuania. The use of electronic signatures has increased significantly, which is confirmed by both the data of the state information systems and the results of the survey of the Lithuanian population. At the end of 2020, the electronic signature was already used by more than a third (35%) of the population, and their use has increased almost 6 times in the last six years.
According to RRT data, the number of qualified electronic signature certificates issued to Lithuanian residents and valid in 2020 increased by 36.5 percent: 1,555,048 certificates were valid at the end of 2019 and 2,122,822 certificates – at the end of 2020. The number of users of mobile electronic signatures (when certificates are issued with SIM cards or Smart-ID app) grew the fastest, increased by more than 66 percent in 2020. RRT associates the growth of the use of qualified electronic signatures with a pandemic situation, when various activities have moved to the virtual space and the need for electronic signatures has become especially relevant for various groups of persons.
Last year, users of electronic signatures mostly signed using the Smart-ID mobile app (more than every second user – 51%), SIM card (almost every second user – 48%). Less often, they used an identity card (13% of respondents) and another smart card or USB cryptographic key (9% of respondents) to sign.
At the end of 2020, qualified trust service providers established in Lithuania and supervised by RRT provided 5 out of 9 types of qualified trust services available under the regulation, which is the largest range of services provided in one country in the entire Nordic and Baltic region.
Use of one of the most popular services – creation of qualified electronic time stamps – during 2020 increased more than 1.5 times and reached almost 92 million. In 2020, the number of validation services for newly qualified electronic signatures and qualified electronic seals appeared on the Lithuanian market totalled 27,410. With the growing importance of digital transactions, a qualified electronic seal should become an increasingly attractive solution for businesses that need to validate online transactions. The full Review of the Trust Services Market 2020 is published at https://elektroninisparasas.lt/rinkos-apzvalgos-ir-ataskaitos/.