The Nordic-Baltic work on e-ID, NOBID, is being coordinated by the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment in Norway (Difi). The main objective is to link up the eID systems of the eight different countries so that, for example, Estonians can access Swedish services with their national e-ID. The type of services covered will include company registration, exchanging depositions, the tax authorities and health services.
The final target is for citizens of the eight countries to be able use their national e-ID for almost all public services in all of the Nordic and Baltic countries within the next couple of years. The work has progressed at an impressive pace - the technical side has already been tested and works, and public services are starting to sign up. Sweden, Norway and Latvia have led the way, opening up their digital services to users with an Estonian eID. Norway was first to launch an actual service – allowing Estonian students to log into Studentweb and apply for places at Norwegian colleges and universities.
Project Manager at Difi, Tor Alvik, is pleased with progress but stresses that the real work starts now: “The technical side is not complicated. Much of it is ready. The real work lies in getting all of the official bodies in the various countries to join in and open up their services. Our job is to turn the political vision into a reality,” he says.
NOBID would like all public services to be accessible by the end of 2020.
Read more about the project on norden.org.