Nordic and Baltic countries strengthen cooperation on digital identity and cross-border services

RIGA - Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development Raimonds Cudars (New Unity) is today participating in the meeting of the Nordic-Baltic Council of Ministers for Digital Affairs (MR-Digital) in Tampere, Finland, strengthening cooperation in the field of digital identity and cross-border services, the ministry informed.

The meeting is expected to endorse a declaration on promoting the development of the European Union's (EU) Digital Identity Wallet in the Nordic-Baltic region, as well as to discuss further cooperation on data management.

Cudars said that the approval of the declaration is an important step towards the Nordic-Baltic cooperation on digital transformation and connectivity in the region. It demonstrates the region's strong commitment to working together to promote the development of digital identity and cross-border services, providing residents and businesses with convenient and secure access to digital solutions, he said.

He is confident that this cooperation will strengthen the region's competitiveness and contribute to the modernization of public administration.

By the end of 2026, all EU Member States should ensure that their residents have access to at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet. To achieve this, national solutions need to be developed over the next year, certification requirements need to be defined and conformity assessment bodies need to be able to carry out the necessary certification, the ministry explained.

The meeting will also discuss cooperation within the framework of the newly established Nordic-Baltic Center for Artificial Intelligence.

The Nordic-Baltic Ministerial Council for Digital Affairs is a cooperation format that brings together ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Aland to promote digital transformation, data management and the development of cross-border solutions in the region.

As reported, Latvia has developed the first pilot app of the European Digital Identity Wallet, which was created by the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) for EUR 1.6 million.

The EU Digital Identity Wallet will be a mobile electronic identification tool that will allow citizens to digitally store identity documents such as driving licenses or education documents, to control personal data in detail when submitting them to different service providers, to prove their identity and to make payments in a secure way.