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Nordics ally with Baltics to accelerate digital wallet roll-out
Baltic and Nordic countries work together on a common certification system to support digital wallet applications
The far-reaching and collaborative Nordic-Baltic digital wallet project is on course to begin its initial testing phase in April.
The project has launched in the wake of a joint declaration by participating governments to create a shared certification system that will smooth the path to the adoption of secure and cost-effective applications for the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI-Wallet), the initiative that forms a central part of the European Commission’s Digital Europe Programme launched in 2021.
The formation of the Nordic-Baltic coalition will accelerate the development of a common certification system in advance of the roll-out of EUDI-Wallets across the region in the fourth quarter of 2026.
As part of the cross-border collaboration, Nordic and Baltic governments plan to link the various national digital identity wallets to state-managed population registers, a process designed to enable “citizens” to digitally present to others on EUDI-Wallets using a jointly developed identity-matching mechanism.
At the wider European Union (EU) level, the fully functional EUDI-Wallet will serve as a mobile telephone application to store verified personal data for use in digital services throughout the EU, with each member state taking charge of its own application.
The accelerated nature of the cooperation forms part of a broader and shared objective on the part of Nordic and Baltic states to expand cross-border collaboration in core technologies, including digital and artificial intelligence (AI), to create a more open and interoperable area for citizens, public authorities and businesses across the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The multi-nation initiative is purposed to position the Nordic and Baltic-rim states as the first common region inside the EU to offer secure and reliable EUDI-Wallet service solutions that can be used across the EU.
Joint certification system
The first stage in the EUDI-Wallet project involves the development of a joint Nordic-Baltic certification system for digital wallets, a process that will require the removal by partner states of any administrative barriers that may impede progress towards identifying “multiple wallet solutions” in the development of the EUDI-Wallet offering.
The shared mission of delivering EUDI-Wallet services is tasked to digitisation ministers in each of the seven participating Nordic and Baltic countries. The actual testing of EUDI-Wallet services is expected to take between six to eight months, followed by a formal and simultaneous launch across all Nordic and Baltic countries in the fourth quarter.
The EUDI-Wallet collaboration is the latest in a series of cross-border advanced digital and AI technology projects between the neighbouring Nordic and Baltic states.
In an earlier joint initiative, rolled-out in Helsinki in October 2025, the same configuration of countries established a Nordic-Baltic AI platform that includes the New Nordics AI centre (NN-AI). The centre’s key mission will have a sharp focus on increasing the adoption of AI as a value-adding tool to enhance the competitiveness of state and private enterprises across the region.
The deepening momentum for cooperation within the critical areas of AI and digital will help propel the Nordic and Baltic states to achieve their shared goal of becoming Europe’s most sustainable and integrated economic region by 2030, said Jarkko Levasma, the director general of the Public Sector Information and Communications Technology unit, which operates as a division of Finland’s Ministry of Finance (MoF).
“In the area of cross-border and national data exchange, the EU’s common digital identity wallet is one of the most visible areas of future development,” said Levasma. “It can enable ease and speed of business processes. The digital wallet also offers the possibility to combine different services in one place, which reduces unnecessary paperwork and saves time.”
Cross-border use
The development of a common certification system is regarded as pivotal to supporting the delivery of secure and cost-efficient EUDI-Wallet services at a level that can provide optimum capacity to ramp-up cross-border usage of digital services across the Nordic and
The upward trajectory in cooperation between Nordic and Baltic governments, and in the technology space, is focused on building a digitally integrated Nordic region, said Karen Ellemann, the secretary general of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Founded in 1952 as the official organisation for formal inter-parliamentary cooperation among the Nordic countries, the Nordic Council has in recent years served as an important innovation hub for digital-related technology projects between the Nordic and Baltic countries.
“A digitally integrated region has the potential to greatly benefit the Nordic and
Funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers for Digitalisation and managed by the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency, Nobid operates as a collaborative structure to promote digital integration in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
Read more about digital identity
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- Inside Singapore’s national digital identity journey: Singapore’s national digital identity system has evolved from providing single sign-on to e-government services to pandemic-related and digital document capabilities in recent years.
Nobid’s core composition diverges from the Nordic Council’s traditional focus on political and security cooperation among the Nordic states. The project’s partners not only include Scandinavian states Iceland, Norway and Denmark, but also Germany, Italy and Latvia. Directly linking to the EUDI-Wallet initiative, the six partner countries have developed a large-scale pilot service for cross-border identity matching that is currently being tested in
The high degree of cross-border partnership exhibited in the EUDI-Wallet initiative is mirrored by increasing Nordic and Baltic collaboration in the area of AI. The launch of the NN-AI, a project tasked to promote the use and development of AI across the region, emerged from an initial cooperation agreement between national AI agencies in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland.
The NN-AI centre will serve as a platform to promote cooperation, provide expertise and support policy development on AI across the Nordic and Baltic-rim states. Given how quickly AI is transforming societies globally, there is a clear cost associated with the region falling behind, said Ellemann.
“We have in the Nordics and Baltics both a responsibility and a unique opportunity to take the lead in responsible AI,” she said. “What is most pleasing and productive is that we are doing it together as collaborating neighbours.”
The first significant step to creating the New Nordics AI centre was taken in 2025, when Nordic Innovation, the agency within the Nordic Council of Ministers responsible for promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness in Nordic businesses, established a pilot project to examine the potential for Nordic and Baltic collaboration in AI. The pilot project was based on recommendations from the Nordic Council’s Ethical and Responsible AI policy document, presented in 2024.
“The New Nordics AI centre is a milestone for the region,” said Sindre Bornstein, Nordic Innovation’s director. “It is a concrete step from vision to action that answers the call from Nordic AI experts for a common structure that strengthens national priorities and regional cooperation. We will work as partners to both make responsible AI our greatest strength and our global competitive advantage.”
