InfoCert (Tinexta Group) , the largest European Certification Authority, presents the results of an environmental impact study of its TOP® platform (Trusted Onboarding Platform™) , the onboarding solution that allows the complete digitization of identification and signature processes.
The analysis was conducted by Spinlife , a spin-off of the University of Padua, an expert in environmental sustainability paths for companies, and verified and validated by the CSQA Certification Body.
Spinlife has carried out a life cycle analysis study (LCA) comparing the Traditional Onboarding service with that of Digital Onboarding, with reference to the representative operation of opening a current account by a user.
The objective: to compare the environmental impacts between the traditional operation without TOP®, which involves moving the user to the designated place for the operation itself, general consumption linked to the operational maintenance of the headquarters and the use of printed paper for signing and keeping contracts, and the digital operation with TOP®, characterized by a totally dematerialized process.
All the data analyzed for the two types of service come from scientific literature, from InfoCert itself and also from the contribution of a large international banking group, which for years has been using InfoCert's TOP® platform for digital onboarding of customers for online current account opening.
Based on these data, the analysis followed a "cradle to grave" approach , thus considering all environmental impacts starting from the primary production of materials and energy, up to the use and end-of-life phases.
The results have shown that the adoption of TOP® , by completely eliminating the use of paper and the need for travel at each stage of the process - thanks, for example, to remote identification and digital signature - reduces the kg of CO2 equivalent overall by up to 86% compared to the traditional method.
CSQA performed the verification aimed at certifying the compliance of the study with the main international reference standards, in particular with the requirements dictated by ISO 14040/14044 , for the assessment of the environmental impacts linked to the life cycle (LCA) of the TOP® digital service.
"The study certifies that the TOP® platform, and therefore the Digital Trust services on which it is based, represent a strategic solution not only for process efficiency, but also for the achievement of sustainability objectives", says Carmine Auletta, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer of InfoCert (Tinexta Group) . "Thanks to the fruitful collaboration with CSQA and Spinlife, we are now the first provider able to enhance the environmental impact of processes based on Digital Trust solutions and to be able to provide TOP® customers with a carbon footprint reduction certificate valid for the purposes of the sustainability report and towards ESG audits".
"We are facing one of the first cases of application of the LCA method to quantify the environmental impacts of a Digital Trust tool" - says Marco Omodei Salè, CSQA's Innovation Manager. "The application of the LCA method is also essential to support the communication of the environmental values linked to the service, the verification certificate issued by CSQA adds greater authority to the project strongly desired by Infocert".
“In the paths of digital transformation, digital trust services take on more and more value for the productivity of companies and for the positive environmental and social impact. Their qualification, according to the eIDAS regulation, is an essential factor", - says Bruno Bernardi, Director of the Digital Services Area of CSQA - "capable of guaranteeing secure electronic interactions between citizens, businesses and public administrations and increasing the security and effectiveness of electronic services and e-business and electronic commerce transactions in the European Union."
Prof. Alessandro Manzardo, Spinlife co-founder declares: “Digitization should not be mere technological evolution as an end in itself, but should also make a concrete contribution to environmental sustainability. It was possible to demonstrate this thanks to the LCA study which objectively measured the environmental impacts: a scientific approach that InfoCert has in its very nature and that Spinlife gladly supported".