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(Fwd) electronic signatures for CAD
Forwarding <alt.architecture> message by [email protected]
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From: [email protected] (Tommy Petrogiannis)
Subject: Re: electronic signatures
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 94 17:08:06 -0500
Organization: SILANIS TECHNOLOGY
>On 5 Nov 1994 18:44:14 GMT,
>Aaron Rumple, AIA <rcet035.slvaxa.umsl.edu> wrote:
>Electronic signatures will not make for a paperless
environment. They will
>add to the lawyers generation of paper when you have to defend
yourself
>because your file became the basis of another project in which
you were
>not involved. Once you send a electronic/magnetic form of a
document you
>lose all control over who has access and what they do to your
files. You
>can protect yourself in your contract with your client and by
making
>hardcopy (more paper) the drawing of record. However, anybody
can and will
>sue if your title block, signature, etc. is found when
something goes
>wrong. It has happened.
>In short, an electonic signature is nice to protect what you
sent
>electronically, but I would not want it to replace my seal on
a paper copy
>that could be kept as a record. Forensics can detect changes
on paper but
>not on electronic files that have been transmitted around.
I have to voice the comments that our customers are saying
about our electronic approval software for AutoCAD. Many of
our customers are still archiving a paper copy of the
electronically signed original, however because ERA allows them
to sign in the same environment as where the drawing was
created (i.e. the electronic environment) it becomes a very
simple matter to know if the drawing that you are looking at on
your computer screen is the latest electronic approved
original.
Most companies today create their drawing on a CAD system, plot
those drawings for visual verification and sign those drawings
in the paper world. The minute those drawings are signed in the
paper world they become "originals" that must now be archived
and stored in some form of filing cabinet. If we did not need
to refer to those archived drawings life would be fine, but
unfortunately we do. Today you pull up a drawing on your
computer and hope that everyone followed proper procedures and
you are looking at the latest copy of the paper signed
"original" - you can never be sure because the drawing was
approved in a different domain than where it was created, and
the only thing linking the two domains (paper and electronic)
is procedures.
Our ERA system was first designed to be used by a large nuclear
generating facility and is now available to the public. What
we did was mimick the paper world as much as possible when it
came to approving a drawing. With ERA you now approve and sign
a document from right inside AutoCAD using a ball point pen
and a pressure sensitive digitizer. The key thing here is to
allow the approval of the drawing to take place in the same
domain as where the drawing was created (i.e. the electronic
domain) but still offer all the security expected in the paper
world (if not more), and still maintain the ability to generate
a signed drawing that can be used in the field or be archived.
This is achieved by doing the following:
The persons' signatures are not AutoCAD entities and therefore
cannot be cut and pasted.
The signatures are DES encrypted along with time stamp info
and information that
uniquely describes the current state of the drawing being
approved.
The signatures will not be printed on a drawing that has been
altered after the drawing
was signed.
All of the above plus a whole lot more are meant to facilitate
the creation of paper, but eliminate the need to go find that
paper afterwards - sort of producing a photocopy. The original
is in the electronic domain, while the paper becomes a
redundant copy. The benefits are HUGE. A drawing can now be
sent electronically from desk to desk to be approved. A drawing
can be retrieved electronically and by simply clicking on
VERIFY our customers can check to see if they are looking at
the drawing that was approved or if someone has accidentally or
maliciously altered an original rev.
We have had such great response to ERA product for AutoCAD that
we just announced at COMDEX our ERA product for MS Word so
that any wordprocessor type document can be approved in the
same fashion.
I apologize for rambling on, but I believe that we have really
solved the last issue required to achieve the ability of
creating, revising, and approving in an electronic domain. One
customer went from a 7 week typical approval cycle down to 8
days using this technology - how much is that worth don't
really know, but it makes a lot of sense. People don't realize
that they are performing electronic approvals every day. When
you walk up to an ATM machine and withdraw $100, by entering
your PIN you are authorizing the withdrawl to take place. The
question every company must ask, is how secure do I feel with
the technology. Can someone take my bank card and figure out
my PIN to forge my electronic authorization? Yes but it is
difficult - not impossible. Can someone forge my handwritten
signature? Yes but it is difficult - not impossible. What I
tell our customers is to use the electronic approval for the
projects where they feel comfortable - for many of them it is
the internal based procedures and projects that requires 80% of
the time and money and still use traditional methods for
high-risk projects. It seems to work for them quite well.
--
Tommy Petrogiannis
[email protected]
_ __o
______ `\<, Going slow just hurts too much.
-- O/ O Going fast gets me there sooner - so I can...
recover from the pain quicker
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