Nordic Council tender pursues cross-border digital ID verification with Baltics

The Nordic Council of Ministers has published a tender for an analysis on identity matching and the population registries in the Nordic and Baltic region, which will examine how data sharing between registries in different countries can be improved to enable cross border identity verification.

The inter-governmental organization is seeking to identify key legal, technical and organizational barriers and assess how enhanced data sharing can support cross-border identity matching. The project titled “Digital identity and mobility: A Nordic-Baltic Analysis,” aims to analyze all Baltic and Nordic countries, including the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.

Nordic and Baltic Ministers of Digitalization are currently conducting a proof-of-concept, which shows that fully automated identity matching is feasible but comes with challenges.

“Population registries are central to reliable identity matching and to enabling cross-border digital public services in the Nordic-Baltic region,” says the Copenhagen-based organization. “Current multilateral and bilateral agreements in the region do not fully support automated, regular exchange of relevant registry information, which creates practical challenges for mobility and cross-border use of digital services.”

The project is worth 1.6 million Danish krone (approximately US$252,700) excluding VAT. The chosen contractor is expected to deliver a rigorous analysis, including expert and stakeholder interviews with national digitalization agencies, population registries, relevant ministries, users, and other Nordic-Baltic initiatives, according to the tender document.

Bidders can submit their offers by March 18th, 2026, through the Mercell e-tendering system.

The undertaking will be overseen by the Nordic Council of Ministers, which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, as well as the Nordic-Baltic eID collaboration (NOBID).

NOBID has previously published a report on the role of identity matching in creating cross-border digital identities. The research examined how citizens of multiple countries in the region can access public and private services across borders.

A large number of people are currently living, working, studying, or traveling between Nordic and Baltic countries and have already created one of the largest cross-border personal datasets, containing social benefits, health records, and more. However, there are still no EU-level cross-border processes to address situations where one person owns multiple eIDs. The goal is to introduce interoperability and digital mobility in the region.

The NOBID consortium has also participated in a large-scale pilot for the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, focusing on payment use cases.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cross border identity verification  |  cross-border data sharing  |  digital ID  |  interoperability  |  Nordic-Baltic eID collaboration (NOBID)  |  tender