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Ordinance amending the Pittsburgh City Code, Title One: Administrative, Article VII: Procedures, Chapter 169A: Electronic Signatures to mandate the use of electronic signatures by City Departments.
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WHEREAS, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Pittsburgh and workplaces around the world shifted to telework, which entailed changing policies to ensure that productivity could continue; and,
WHEREAS, one of those policies was the shift to electronic signatures, which helped to increase efficiency, reduce waste, and decrease the likelihood of documents being lost in transit while awaiting signatures; and
WHEREAS, through nearly two years of using DocuSign to process contracts, the City has saved the following equivalents through the use of electronic signatures: 35,862 lbs. of wood (approximately 108 trees), 105,591 gallons of water (approximately 75 washing machines), 84,174 lbs. of Carbon (approximately 9 cars), and 5,826 lbs. of waste (approximately 96 trash cans); and,
WHEREAS, for these reasons, the City wishes to make permanent its shift to electronic signatures even as our workforce has returned to the office.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The Pittsburgh Code, Title One: Administrative, Article VII: Procedures, Chapter 169A: Electronic Signatures is hereby amended as follows:
§ 169A.01 ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES.
(a) In any written communication, consent, execution, contract, resolution, ordinance, application, or publication by or with the City, in which a signature is required or used, the Mayor or the Mayor's designee may generally or specifically shall authorize the use or acceptance of an electronic signature by any party.
(b) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in conjunction with the Director of the Department of Innovation and Performance shall promulgate regulations for use and acceptance of electronic signatures by the City of Pittsburgh.
(c) The City of Pittsburgh's regulations for use and acceptance of electronic signatures must ensure that all technological resources and vendors utilized in conjunction with electronic signatures provide commercially reasonably means of security, integrity, and authentication of electronic signatures and all data associated therewith.
(d) For purposes of the City of Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, where a hand-written or ink signature is specified, the use of an electronic signature compliant with this Chapter 169A shall have the same force and effect as the use of a manual signature using ink applied to paper.
(e) This Chapter 169A shall not be construed to conflict with any applicable state or federal law requiring use of a specific form of signature.