Intesi Group wins the CSC Interoperability Event 2026: the value of an award
Excellence, teamwork, and a forward-looking vision for remote signing in Europe
Intesi Group adds a prestigious achievement to its track record as a key player in the Trust Services landscape. During the CSC Interoperability Event 2026, held in Bucharest on March 17–18, the team composed of Francesco Barcellini, Daniele Ribaudo, Marco Monacelli, and Viky Manaila won the interoperability testing contest.
This success is even more significant given the strategic role of the Cloud Signature Consortium (CSC) at the international level.
Founded in 2016, the CSC promotes the standardisation of highly secure, compliant cloud-based digital signatures. Since its inception, Intesi Group has been a leading contributor: a founding member, it actively participates in defining technical standards and guiding the organisation.
“The CSC brings together industrial, governmental, and academic organizations from around the world, united by the commitment to building a secure and interoperable digital signature ecosystem. We are honored to be part of it. Its primary reference is the rigorous requirements of eIDAS, the European Union regulation on electronic identification and trust services, which has inspired both the CSC and our work from the very beginning and continues to guide us in shaping the future of European digital identity”, said Viky Manaila, Trust Services Director at Intesi Group and President of the CSC.
The Consortium was established to define a standard for remote signing, to which Intesi Group contributed from the early days through to the latest CSC API version 2.2. What makes this standard even more relevant today is its growing importance within the European regulatory framework: over the past year, the CSC standard has been referenced among the possible standards for remote signing via the EUDI Wallet – the European Digital Identity Wallet – giving strong momentum to development activities and community interest.
In Bucharest, interoperability put to the test
The recent CSC event in Romania brought together EUDI Wallet providers, Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSPs), and technology innovators from across Europe: 18 organizations participated, 13 of which were directly involved in testing sessions, including Intesi Group and other leading Italian players.
“The Bucharest meeting achieved its objective: taking an important step forward in promoting interoperability within the European digital identity ecosystem,” explained Francesco Barcellini, Head of Qualified Trust Services at Intesi Group and member of the CSC Technical Committee.
“When a new standard is developed, the only way to verify its robustness is to bring together companies that have built solutions based on it and subject them to interoperability testing to validate their implementations. This was the goal of the Romanian event, and thanks to everyone’s contribution, it was fully achieved.”
The format chosen by the organizers was intentionally collaborative: following a “everyone tests everyone” approach, each team evaluated the others’ solutions, with a compatibility matrix measuring interoperability levels both during and after testing, transparently showing who was ready and who still had work to do.
A complex challenge
For Intesi Group, the tests carried out by participants focused on its remote signing solution, which has been significantly updated to keep pace with the evolution of the standard, from its original 2016 version to the new one currently being finalized. In addition, the update is designed to enable integration with the upcoming EUDI Wallet.
This was a deep and complex effort, requiring the balance of two key needs: ensuring full compliance with the new standard while preserving compatibility with services currently provided to Intesi Group customers.
“We were ready to handle the complexity of the Bucharest test, not because we had specifically prepared for the contest, but because we had already spent months developing a production-ready remote signing solution capable of meeting market expectations. The contest was therefore a natural testing ground,” said Daniele Ribaudo, Digital Signature Product Owner at Intesi Group.
During the testing sessions, the team demonstrated both responsiveness and technical strength. Marco Monacelli, Senior Software Developer and PKI Expert at Intesi Group, described the experience:
“In these situations, no one arrives with a perfectly ready solution: these tests are actually the best opportunity to fix what can still be improved. We made micro-fixes—small adjustments to what had already been developed. At the same time, the foundation of our solution proved to be extremely solid. As more and more green checks appeared next to our solution in the compatibility matrix, many participants wanted to test it. I’m proud to say we handled the challenge brilliantly.”
The win: the culmination of months of commitment
At the end of the two-day event, Intesi Group was named the winner of the CSC Interoperability Event 2026. This recognition rewards the team’s outstanding performance and its commitment to promoting the CSC API ecosystem. As those who experienced the event emphasized, it is also the result of a winning combination: team spirit, specialized expertise, and deep knowledge of their remote signing solution.
The feedback received after the announcement—from clients, prospects, and other industry players, both directly and via corporate social media—exceeded all expectations. It confirmed both the strategic relevance of the CSC standard and Intesi Group’s reputation as a leading reference point for remote signing in Europe:
“There is growing awareness of our development capabilities and the quality of the solutions we bring to market, inspired by technical excellence and responsible innovation,” added Marco Monacelli.
Beyond the podium: the value of shared experience
While the victory is the most tangible outcome, the four Bucharest participants agree that the value of the experience goes far beyond the podium.
“The best memory, beyond winning the contest, will be the stimulating and collaborative atmosphere that quickly emerged among all participants. The shared mission was to assess the robustness of the new standard, and during those two intense days of work, many interesting ideas emerged—some even unexpected. A true ideas lab!
Credit also goes to the organizers: our sincere thanks to certSIGN, and especially to its Research & Innovation Director George Gugulea, from the entire Intesi Group team”, concluded Daniele Ribaudo.