Latest news and thoughts

Today we released a completely rewritten the .ID web app that introduces a new look and feel and a lot of new features for our web users. Our focus in this version is to make the complex signing process easier, faster and more secure.

Blockchain is being used in experiments in many different fields. However, outside of the financial realm, the most impactful of the cases using the technology is self-sovereign identity. It presents the idea of Decentralized Identity or DID, which is closely related to self-sovereign identity or SSI. National digital identities have a limited capacity of scalability, whereas DID seeks to bring digital identity to the international level. DID is one of the solutions that could bring us to the next era of being online. This article discusses the idea behind DID while technical implementations might vary.

Within the last 4 articles of my blog series I have learned a lot, Agrello has grown and I hope I have given a hint of a new perspective to our readers on how the internet influences our activities. We have learned what are digital personas and how to protect and secure the personas that should link to a real person. This article will summarize the findings and make suggestions on how to inject trust into the World Wide Web.

The last article explained the mechanics of legally valid and provable consent by electronic means. However, the methods explained in the previous article require diligence from the parties to make sure that the consent is legally solid and representable. Current article explains technological methods, that assure trust by default. I must mention right away, this article is not meant to be deeply technological, thus some use of terminology can be arguable in scientific context.

E-signatures are now a common practice worldwide. Simply a link to a place where you can review your document and draw up a signature is sent to your email. However, have you ever thought why and how it actually works? Everyone could just draw whatever signature in the computer, then claim they did not sign this document. Or can they?

You know how critical it is, as a rental manager, to offer a fast and easy booking process. That's why many tend to forget lease agreements so that guests have one less obstacle to cross. Fortunately, that's not an issue anymore for electronic signature applications. With the digital signature solution, legally binding documents can be produced.

I set out to collect people’s thoughts on a popular topic called digital identity and I was happy to learn that most people seem to agree with digital identity being more than just two entities communicating with each other. Like most people, I believe it means so much more. My thoughts went further, thinking about what connects digital identity to our real selves? In search of insights triggered by my thoughts and curiosity, I came across a short article from 7 years ago published by some MIT scientists. In this article, the authors presented a digital persona theory that pretty much answered most of my questions. However, it also raised ethical concerns on current social networks. To explain what ‘digital persona’ means and how it relates to digital identities, I put together a thought experiment, so please bear with me.

We are pleased to announce that today we release the public Beta version of Agrello Delta Token (DLT) integration with .ID services. This integration enables users to access .ID premium services using DLTs in addition to conventional payment methods. It is a step further on our roadmap to create more value for our token holders community.

Digital revolution has opened up an immense array of opportunities for mankind, but during the pandemic, I got reminded that this revolution has not reached most crucial and life-saving areas of our lives. This is the start of blog series that offers new perspectives for discussion, I would like to explore more insights on how useful and beneficial IT has been to us, while at the same time, making us vulnerable to new and unknown threats. Finally, I would like to dive deeper on digital inventions that are not yet properly harnessed. Could these inventions take us to the next stage in the digital revolution?

After the successful ICO in 2017, couple of years of hard work followed. By 2019, however, it was clear that the effort was encountering friction from customers as well as technological challenges. For the Agrello team, there was an elephant in the room and it needed to be addressed...

The year 2020 was one to remember. I'd like to give you an overview of what happened this year and how far we have come in developing one of the safest identity-based digital signature solutions in the world. On behalf of the entire Agrello team, we believe that the .ID digital signatures will soon shake the world and send signing papers back to the stone age.

As mentioned in the previous chapter of our story, by the end of 2018 we were on the threshold of changes. It was clear that Agrello needed some alterations to regain the energy and focus on building a great product. Many things were re-evaluated and tough decisions were made. Addi Rull, one of the founders of Agrello, explains what was going on in the company at that time and how the necessary changes were carried out…

Paperwork is challenging in every way possible. But when it comes to creative people, such as entertainers, musicians, creators and media professionals, paperwork is an unwelcome stress factor. There's a simple way to do it. Go digital, right now!

Long waited .ID update for iOS users is finally available. We are really proud of it and want all iPhone owners to grab their smartphones and update the .ID app to 2.0 now! The new .ID version 2.0 for iOS introduces a brand new design language to the mobile app. In addition to the new features and functionalities, we wanted to strengthen our core mission: providing trusted identity-based digital signatures for everyone.

After a successful funding, the real work started. It brought all the great and not so great things together. It was hard work, difficult decisions to make, tough lessons learned but on the other hand, it was rewarding, energising and filled with new discoveries and opportunities. Here are some of the lessons we learned...

The standard way to deal with job contracts is to sign a slip of paper with ink on the dotted line. For this reason, the "onboarding" of workers is also one of the few administrative tasks still mostly focused on paper.

Our first story described how the founders got together but getting something going involved a slightly different set-up.

Education organisations are facing an increasing demand these days to do all the online paperwork, improve service for students and their parents, and be compliant. The .ID digital signature solution allows organisations in education to become paper-free. The solution is affordable, automates the process of enrolment and enhances communication between parents, educators, and administrators of the school.

In the healthcare sector, the safekeeping and protection of patient data is important. The need for administrative efficiency and improved record data management can be attributed to the growing use of digital signatures in the healthcare sector. In countries all over the world, laws are passed mandating the confidentiality of patients' digital medical records.

Our new Android release brings a groundbreaking innovation in the digital signatures field by introducing digital identity based visual signatures. Now your handwritten signature can be a part of your digital identity and your digital signatures are not only protected by the toughest cryptography but also your unique handwritten signature.

It has been three years since the creation of Agrello. A lot has changed and we have gone through some major transformations during these years. We have faced many difficulties and struggles, we have pivoted our business. It has been a roller coaster with its ups and downs. After diligent and profound customer research, we have found a market potential in the identity-based electronic signature market. There are still many mountaintops to cross but we are steadily moving forward on this path of ours developing a sustainable and needed product for the digital world. We would love to share our story with you!

In the construction industry, the mobility of specialists is quite dense. For each new construction site and each new project, the team of specialists can vary. It is therefore extremely important to keep the employment contracts in order. Before starting work, the work contracts must be properly drawn up.

How much do you have to sign papers to go somewhere to do that? Sign a paper in the bank, for example. Or you've got to sign the documents when you rent a car. Signatures often appear at school, at work, at hotels, when checking in. The list keeps moving on and on. More often than we realize we do, we sign contracts. Now imagine that you're doing it from your mobile in your pocket, remotely.

Depending on the size of your law firm, the processes to streamline and the budgets they have, the focus of innovation process might be different. One of the most convenient processes to streamline as a law firm is the signing process of agreements. By introducing electronic signing every lawyer will step up their game and make a difference. First of all, lawyers will provide added value to their clients, who will no longer have to chase signatures on physical paper. The signing software will do it, digitally, securely and globally. All that within minutes.

Small starting businesses are always full of different challenges the first few years. It is quite usual that great deal of small business owners hesitate when it comes to managing sensitive data in the cloud, such as contracts and various agreements. This is where .ID comes in. The .ID solution is dedicated to building a highly secure digital signature platform. The main goal of .ID is to offer easy-to-use functionality while remain affordable for startups as well as for small businesses.

Those who have experience working as a freelancer most probably have been in a position where they thought "I wish I have signed that contract"? Well, signing contracts in so many reasons is often seen as irrelevant or somewhat even inconvenient. Of course, it is always easier to just trust the client relation and go with the flow. Until the moment where hard work comes unrewarded. In this blog post I would like to share 3 good reasons how .ID digital signatures would benefit your next project.

.ID Android new release introduces a brand new design language to our mobile app, in addition to the new functionalities to strengthen our core mission: to deliver trusted identity-based signatures to everyone.

People are becoming more and more electronically fit if not even bionic. We take digital for granted so much that we do not even notice the threats around the virtual world. Being a victim of cybercrime can be very damaging, both financially and emotionally.

We have been running on beta for some time now. During this time, we have offered our advanced electronic signature app .ID free of charge.

When I was a kid in the 80s, the year 2020 was something that my favorite sci-fi books wrote about. You know: the utopian society, teleportation booths, flying cars, orbital homes etc. This year has been anything but the things I, or my favorite authors either, imagined. Yet, here we are now. And, perhaps, thanks to this turmoil, some things will be re-evaluated, re-envisioned, and improved by orders of magnitude.

“We signed it. It’s done.” This is how many of us have felt after signing a contract, a feeling of relief, finality and security. Once signatures are there, we are committed to what we agreed. In other situations, however, signing can be a nuisance – a formality that we have to do, although we do not really want to. Think of all kinds of application forms, acceptance documents, invoices, bills, cheques etc. Sometimes we sign so much that we do not even remember what we signed.

This week we roll out Google Docs add-on for .ID. It is a brand new tool in .ID product family that allows our users to seamlessly integrate advanced electronic signatures with popular document editing app. It is a next step in our journey to bring high-end digital identity based signature services to the masses.

BREAKING NEWS Star Wars with Mark Hamill to return in 2021! Star Wars fans have obtained a copy of the letter apparently signed by Mark Hamill himself claiming that he will return to the epic saga in 2021. Not many details have been added so far, but if proven to be true, it will definitely bring a lot of fans back to the theaters next year. Stay tuned!

I remember the day I learned about Agrello. I was instantly intrigued by the vision of making ‘intelligent contracts’ with a human-readable interface. What is not to like about that? Well, that sort of stuff is great for techies; they are the only ones who are not intimated by its complexity. I held on to that thought for a while as it reassured me that Agrello was on to something different and impactful.

The current situation most of us are living is a painful reminder of how unpredictable the future is; being able to ‘adapt’ is a critical determinant of success. If nothing else, this experience confirms our need to rely on electronic means of exchange and trusted interactions to keep businesses running. I am referring to payments, e-self-serving, online ID verification, digital ID with trusted authentication, and digital signatures. Fortunately for us at Agrello, a significant part of the Estonian economy rests untouched thanks to the general digital adoption by Estonians and the government-led programs that guided us to this level of digitalization.

What if Transferwise (or pick any other bank or financial institution of your choosing) announced that 170M of their user accounts have been stolen? Would you still trust them with your hard earned money? Makes you think twice, doesn’t it…

Any tech startup probably knows about Slush event. And there’s a reason why, of course! On of the biggest tech events out there. This November we were very excited to take part in it ourselves in beautiful city Helsinki.

We are very proud to announce that with many months of recent developments we have some huge updates to our product. User authentication and digitally signing documents are now way more advanced. First of all, the whole Agrello application interface has now a new look and feel. And most importantly, we have renamed the app to simply .ID to make it more recognisable worldwide.

Here is another example of a like-minded Estonian company looking to change the norm and practices. IPOhub is an Estonian start-up based in Tallinn. It was founded in 2017 by Founders Aleksander and Volli Kalju and provides an investment platform for individuals, agents and companies. With it’s innovative and out-of-the-box approach IPOhub has created something great! IPOhub announces the release of the first pan European platform for investors who wish to find, research and invest in companies across the 16 growth markets.

On the 23rd of May The Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to Finland and the Baltic countries H.E. Mr Bonny Haufiku visited Agrello Office in Tallinn. The Republic of Namibia is looking for cooperation opportunities with the purpose of digitizing the public and private sector services. The Ambassador of Namibia visited Estonian ICT companies in order to attain the experiences we have in Estonia. In addition to Agrello, also Thinnect, Blockhive and SK ID Solutions introduced their technologies to the Ambassador.

Food products supply chain is a rather complex use case. The process from a farm to a store shelf or restaurant kitchen takes time and often involves a long supply chain, where food products are handed from one party to another for storing, processing, or delivery. Without an active and reliable end-to-end monitoring solution, such supply chain can’t immediately react to adverse changes in handling conditions, and problems are only observed on the receiving end. Any break in the process, and decayed food product on a store shelf or in a restaurant kitchen goes to waste and creates compliance and reputational risks.

Are you struggling with creating a contract? Or are you wondering if you have all the important aspects covered in your contract, whether you are renting out your real estate or offering your services to customers? Agrello can now help you out with this!

Legal foundations for digital signatures have existed since late 1990s. Technical implementations particularly took form of electronic signatures and became widely adopted in the due course. Whilst providing a convenient method for non-material transactions, they have since been hacked to expose user data and abuse the system, and even denied legal effect in material cases.