Electronic debentures / Elektronisk gjeldsbrev
When applying for financial aid at "Lånekassen", one is required to sign a debenture (IOU). This is a very time consuming affair, and if you started the application process late, you can end up far back in the queue of applicants. This is usually true for most new students, who do not get sufficient information about the semester-fee to pay it before arriving at the University when the semester starts. Students attending their second year at the University have the option to pay the coming semester's fee almost as soon as the previous semester ends.
The usual process for signing the debenture involves "Lånekassen" to send it by mail, requiring you to sign it and finally send it back. If you are already late, this will not speed up your process of receiving your much needed financial support. Signing the debenture can also be done electronically, you can select that option when applying for your financial aid. Electronic signing requires a high level of security, and it is provided by only one alternative.
The solution is simple, and available to anyone for a one time fee of about 100NOK. What you need is a players card from "Norsk Tipping" (norwegian betting), "Tippekortet".
"Tippekortet", purchasable by anyone at most places that offer the services of "Norsk Tipping", is eligible for upgrading to a smartcard. The smartcard can be upgraded and used with an USB reader, which you can order free from the store at the buypass homepage(https://www.buypass.no/bpwebstore/init.do), when you have acquired a players card.
Together, this combination can be used to log in, and sign your electronic debenture, which will end up in your mailbox at altinn.no as soon as possible after you have payed the semester fee.
I did this upgrade 2 years ago, and have used it ever since. It's simple to use, it saves you the hassle of mailing letters and it shortens the time the whole process takes by about one week. Concerning the question of how robust this solution is; Buypass has been selected to supply ID-services for "ID-porten", which is a big project handled by Difi (Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT). Difi is a department that works towards development and renewing the IT-solutions used by the public mass and works to coordinate common solutions, among them altinn.no and MinID.no.
Investing in this solution will take some effort the first time, but the way of doing it has not changed in the past 3 years, and I don't expect it to change significantly in the years to come either.
Finally
So I set up a wordpress for myself, finally! Maybe I'll use it, and maybe I won't.