Sealing the Future: Digitizing University Documents with the Qualified Electronic Seal

In the era of progressive digitization, universities face new challenges. The question no longer is whether to digitize document workflows, but how to do it in a way that is legally compliant and works across institutional and national borders. Our poster presents the implementation of the qualified electronic seal at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. This solution is based on the European Union’s eIDAS Regulation, which provides a legal framework for electronic trust services across the EU. This regulation has significantly advanced digital procedures not only for universities, but for all institutions in the public and private sectors. The electronic seal has transformed how official student documents are issued. We implemented a qualified electronic seal that can be easily applied to PDF files. It works with the main Electronic Document Management system used at the university, making it part of everyday administrative work. Authorized staff members can digitally sign documents, making them official, legally valid, and protected against any changes. Signed documents are recognized across all EU countries without the need for printing paper, scanning, or physical presence. Our case study shows how legal frameworks and international standards can accelerate digitization in ways that technical solutions alone cannot achieve. The outcomes of our project: faster certificate issuance, reduced paper usage, and a fully digital workflow that is legal across an entire continent.