Appendix 3: Country Reports on Life Events

Denmark

The following country report is based on an interview with the Agency for Digital Government. When Denmark is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

Working with and describing life events is prioritized in Denmark as it is perceived as value-creating. In prioritizing between life events, Denmark broadly focuses on the question of what is required to relocate oneself and establish a life in another country. This involves considerations of what is relevant for an individual to know when a major event in life happens, and they need to interact with the authorities in some way. To be able to navigate digitally and communicate with authorities in Denmark, the first step for all individuals is to acquire a personal identification number (CPR number) and a personal digital ID (MitID). From there, it varies depending on the individual situation.

Denmark has progressed significantly in digitalizing life events for its citizens, and efforts to establish services for people moving to Denmark for study, work, etc. are ongoing. However, there are barriers in the digital infrastructure between countries before the cross-border flow becomes more seamless. Since the late 1990’s, efforts have been made to digitalize Nordic societies, but progress has taken many different directions in each country. Since the mid-to-late 2010’s, it has been emphasized that digital systems must become usable across borders. However, some infrastructure still needs to be updated to achieve a more seamless approach to digital collaboration.

Denmark has a focus on ensuring interoperability between new Danish digital systems and other countries' systems. This is perceived as crucial to avoid creating new incompatible systems that continue to complicate data sharing between countries. Denmark makes continuous efforts in developing its digital infrastructure to improve the work on life events, and there is considerable collaboration between national agencies in this regard. Denmark has a well-developed and well-established digital infrastructure (MitID) which is used to access to all public digital services in the country.

Denmark sees advantages in utilizing the eIDAS2 regulation and the international digital identity wallet to enable better cross-border digital interaction. Furthermore, Denmark has a substantial amount of technical and infrastructural collaboration with other countries. Collaboration on specific life events across countries (e.g. with Norway) has been put on hold due to the complexity between authorities and the cooperation between Danish and Norwegian authorities. Thus, there is no bilateral cooperation on life events, though it has been discussed.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: Establishing seamless services for people moving across borders (e.g., from Norway to Denmark) remains complex. While Denmark has made significant progress in describing life events for its own citizens, aligning these with services in other Nordic countries involves infrastructural and legal considerations — although frameworks such as the Nordic agreement on population registration facilitate information exchange in cases of intra-Nordic relocation.

Procedural challenges: To address this issue, infrastructural and system updates are necessary to facilitate better cross-border service usage. Furthermore, there are specific procedural barriers that complicate the work with life events. For instance, the requirement of a CPR number for digital self-service, as well as for other purposes, poses a significant challenge. This issue is further compounded by the necessity for physical attendance in various matters. In addition to these specific barriers, there are varying levels of technological maturity and interest between countries, such as functioning identity matching solutions. Additionally, there are general challenges with implementing policies and technical solutions in the business sector, where progress has been limited.

Cultural challenges: Cultural barriers also complicate the management of life events in Denmark. For instance, the varying attitudes towards digitalization between different sectors and populations can hinder effective implementation of new solutions. The digital divide affects those less familiar with digital platforms due to language, cultural reasons, or trust issues, meaning that not all services are practically accessible for all. Refugees and newcomers from paper-oriented systems especially struggle with trust in digital government services, causing delays and complications in service provision.

Future outlook

In Denmark, digital services play a crucial role and are already the status quo at the national level, serving as the primary means for citizens to interact with authorities. Regarding cross-border access, Denmark has some existing infrastructure that enables foreign citizens to access some Danish digital self-services, and an existing Identity matching solution that enables the connection between CPR number and foreign eID, establishing access to Danish services that require a Danish CPR number. However, identity matching remains a challenge in relation to upcoming implementations of EU-regulations such as eIDAS2. Denmark is working on an integration of the national broker infrastructure with the Danish eID-gateway, which will broaden the access to cross-border digital services. Ongoing efforts with the Single Digital Gateway regulation (SDGR) and the European Unique Identity Wallet (EUIDW) are expected to address many of these challenges, though not entirely. Denmark is particularly focused on the movement towards implementing and using a national digital wallet across EU countries, aiming to provide a reliable and secure means of digital identification for individuals throughout Europe.

Denmark actively participates in various Nordic-Baltic Digital Initiative (NOBID) working groups as well as EU working groups. Furthermore, Denmark is working on national implementation of infrastructures with a 'cross-border by default' mindset. This approach ensures that future digital solutions are designed to facilitate seamless interaction and cooperation across borders from the outset.

Finland

The following country report is based on an interview with Digital and Population Data Services Agency. When Finland is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

Finland is currently working on making its national and local life events more web-based and accessible for domestic users. In developing digital services and products Finland’s main principle is to create zero-touch services. The aim of this principle is to reduce the need for administrative tasks on citizens' part as digital services are built to operate on behalf of citizens without their active involvement. This type of service is considered resource-efficient for both citizens and authorities, as it reduces their involvement in administrative processes.

Finland makes efforts to comply with EU legislation on developing and implementing a European e-ID to enable better cross-border collaboration on digital services. Moreover, Finland engages in identity matching programs with Estonia, matching IDs between citizens moving across the countries’ borders, and holds bilateral agreements with Estonia and Sweden, allowing cross-border movement and information exchange. They are also part of the Nordic movement agreement facilitating data exchange among Nordic countries.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: The work with life events presents certain legal barriers in the Finnish context. Harmonizing laws and policies across different countries is a very complex and time-consuming process and requires political decision-making. According to the interview, political processes can be time-consuming, as evidenced by the decade-long effort to enable automatic data exchange within Finland.

Procedural challenges: According to the interview there are also experiences procedural barriers that complicate management of life events. As a newcomer, physical presence at the tax office is required to register and get a personal identity number. Individuals from Nordic countries have other privileges during this process than individuals from outside these countries, making the process smoother for Nordic citizens. Another challenge is the existence of silos within and between countries and agencies, which hampers effective data sharing and collaboration.

Cultural challenges: I have changed this sentence to this: From Finland’s perspective, the Nordic countries are seen as being at the forefront in terms of technical capabilities and user-oriented digital services. While this strong position offers many opportunities, it may also present some challenges when aligning approaches and timelines in broader cross-border collaboration.

Future outlook

The role for digital services in simplifying cross-border life events: Finland utilizes the Nordic movement agreement to facilitate a better flow of information across the Nordic borders, reducing the need for end-users to provide repeated information when entering Finland. Finland is also active in programs like Real Time Economy which is part of Smart Government initiated by the NMC to facilitate business operations and reduce administrative burdens. Digital solutions are viewed as a crucial component in running a successful business in Finland which is why Finland prioritizes engaging in these types of programs.

Initiatives aimed at enhancing digital cooperation for cross-border life events between the Nordic countries: Finland stresses the advantages of using identity matching between countries to create better access to health and social insurance benefits across borders. Additionally, Finland views the NMC and the use of bilateral agreements between countries as initiatives that have the potential to enhance digital cooperation for cross-border life events.

Iceland

The following country report is based on an interview with Digital Iceland. When Iceland is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

In Iceland locals and foreigners, who have an Icelandic ID number, are treated equally. Once the ID number is acquired, there is practically no distinction between the person moving to Iceland and an Icelandic citizen. When it comes to cross-border identification however, it is not possible to use an Icelandic ID to access services in other countries and this complicates the process for cross-border users.

In Iceland cross-border life events are not yet politically prioritized but are still in proof of concept. However, there are emerging projects that focus on cross-border health data and how to make it compliant with Icelandic standards. Data sharing in the health sector still remains non-functional but efforts are made in the sector towards enabling better collaboration on data sharing. They also highlight the importance of safeguarding data protection in the digitalization of services with an understanding that different types of data have varying vulnerabilities. Therefore, they usually prefer to leave the decision of sharing data across borders to individuals.

Iceland emphasizes developing and implementing EU-wide digital identity solutions to enhance cross-border service access. They believe the EU-wallet will be an effective digital tool in accomplishing this. Furthermore, they stress the importance and benefits of enabling the use of the home country e-ID on a cross-country basis to enhance cross-border service access. The current lack of cross-border digital ID recognition complicates the process for foreigners trying to register for services.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: Iceland faces different judicial barriers that complicate the management of life events. In an Icelandic context, the main challenge is not the GDPR legislation itself but rather the contrasting interpretations and attitudes of data protection officers in different national agencies. To Iceland, achieving a shared understanding among data protection officers to facilitate more effective data sharing is a significant hurdle at present.

Procedural challenges: There are procedural barriers in Iceland that cause difficulties when administering life events. Significant silo thinking within the government is a barrier that makes cross-departmental data sharing challenging. Furthermore, data tends to be distributed and often locked within various systems, complicating data accessibility and exchange between agencies. Because different agencies use different systems, gaining access to these systems can be further complicated by differing data architecture and data setups.

Cultural challenges: Cultural barriers can also cause complications when managing life events. Some agencies are protective of their data and reluctant to share it which can lead to internal cultural barriers that prevent an effective data flow between agencies. Another cultural barrier is the digital divide that Iceland faces, especially for those less familiar with digital platforms due to language, cultural reasons, or trust issues. This means that all services are not in practice accessible for all. Refugees and newcomers from paper-oriented systems especially struggle with trust in digital government services, and this causes delays and complications in service provision.

Future outlook

Iceland acknowledges the potential for simplification of services by digitalizing services but also stresses the need for backup physical services to complement digital solutions to ensure inclusivity among different types of users. Iceland has a national digital portal (Iceland.is) with a digital mailbox for public entities to communicate with individuals in Iceland. This portal is meant to simplify communication processes with national authorities as all correspondences are gathered in one place making it more convenient for end-users.

Iceland emphasizes a need for harmonized standards and technical requirements for data exchange across countries to enable identity matching and simplify life events. They expect to have a pilot project for identity matching and data exchange by 2025. Additionally, Iceland points to the benefits of having “check-in/check-out” mechanisms between countries such as in Nordics to enable easy mobility for people living and working in different countries and ensuring accurate population register information.

Latvia

The following country report is based on an interview with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. When Latvia is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

Latvia adopts a centralized approach to working with life events where ministries coordinate and monitor the prioritized list of life events comprehensively. Life events are managed by different ministries: Citizen life events are handled by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, and life events related to businesses are managed by the Ministry of Economics. The ministries are supported by the competent authorities to ensure that life events are created and managed as comprehensively as possible.

In Latvia there is good support on services on life events for cross-border users, as easy access to information and services is provided in English. In their experience, cross-border clients, especially in the tax agency, can access necessary information and services easily and do not have any disadvantages compared to domestic users.

The Cabinet of Ministers on 22nd of October 2024 supported an annual informative report on the implementation of the Single Digital Gateway Regulation in 2023, including an action plan. The action plan consists of tasks related to the improvement of cross-border services (including those related to cross-border life events) and implementation of the system to exchange data, aiming towards streamlining the handling of services (including those related to cross-border life events) between EU member states.

Latvia is part of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation for information exchange on cross-border services related to some life events. The countries collaborate on the implementation of a system that allows them to exchange data aiming towards streamlining the handling of services between countries. Latvia also engages in bilateral projects with Estonia.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: Certain legal barriers complicate the management of life events in Latvia. Changes in national laws or EU regulations require updates in life event system data to meet new standards. However, data is not always consistently updated among authorities in accordance with these new requirements, leading to outdated information. Therefore, monitoring life situations and ensuring information accuracy is sometimes hindered by regulatory changes and inconsistent actions by authorities.

Procedural challenges: Some procedural barriers can also cause difficulties for Latvian authorities when managing life events. Duplication of information sometimes occurs, causing additional work for Latvian authorities in cutting down on unnecessary information. Efforts are underway to monitor the information flow to prevent data redundancy. Another procedural barrier is perception issues with some competent authorities not feeling responsible for managing life situation information until recent policy changes.

Cultural challenges: Certain cultural barriers are also evident, especially trust issues with national digital systems. Latvian authorities face challenges in experiencing a lack of trust in the national systems from some Latvian citizens, leading people to prefer on-site services and physical receipts and confirmations even for digital submissions. Therefore, some citizens still prefer or require physical access to services, despite the availability of digital options. As Latvian authorities seek to cater to all different groups within society, they ensure that all public services are accessible both digitally and physically. Providing public services both ways cause a substantial amount of administrative work among Latvian authorities, which can be a barrier that complicates effective management of life events. This issue is identified and in order to solve it systemically, the Ministry of Smart Administration in cooperation with municipalities created Unified Customer Service Centres of the State Administration, including more than 200 centers where digitally inactive persons have an opportunity to receive public services digitally with assistance of centers employees.

Future outlook

Latvia utilizes eIDAS-identification for many services to streamline their digital service provision but faces complaints about availability from cross-border end-users that do not wish to use local eIDAS identification tools. It provides identification with a qualified high security electronic identification means (Latvian eIDAS node). Module also includes identification with a qualified means of electronic identification - SMART ID (local solution) and other EU countries eIDAS nodes. So cross-border users have an opportunity to use their local, for example, Estonian eIDAS solution to access services linked to life events.

Latvia proposes working on common approaches to life situations across borders through a dedicated group of members from the Nordic-Baltic countries. It also suggests mapping experiences with the work on life events across countries and evaluating these based on common criteria to streamline cross-border services. Latvia points to EU benchmarks which provide a similar tool for mappings and evaluations but recognizes the advantages of having a comparable system at the Nordic-Baltic level.

Lithuania

The following country report is based on an interview with the State Digital Solutions Agency. When Lithuania is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

Lithuania faces great challenges in providing digital services for cross-border users that otherwise do not cause challenges for domestic users. In their experience, eIDAS and online authentication systems lack functionality, leading some institutions to reject the unique identifiers assigned to foreigners. Therefore, foreigners are often required to have face-to-face encounters with authorities and are therefore treated unequally to domestic users. Thus, domestic users have a smoother experience compared to cross-border users, who face additional challenges and inconsistencies.

In Lithuania, as part of a national strategy, efforts are currently being made to establish useful categories or life events for sorting all services and procedures. Another digital initiative currently being undertaken is rebuilding and updating the main gateway, introducing new content. Until now, procedures for services on life events have been listed in either life events or categories. This division of procedures occasionally leads to misunderstandings among users which is why the State Digital Solutions Agency wants to develop a single list for future use to ensure a better user experience.

Lithuanian agencies try to align with the Single Digital Gateway Regulation (SDGR) in close collaboration with Nordic-Baltic countries on best practices. In building its new e-service page, the State Digital Solutions Agency has examined other EU countries’ pages to draw experiences from other ways of providing information on life events. The goal is to digitalize every step of services related to life events.

Identified challenges

Procedural challenges: There are various procedural barriers that cause difficulties for the management of life events in Lithuania. First, there are organizational challenges with different authorities using varying administrative styles and systems resulting in differences in the services provided. It also challenges collaboration between agencies. Second, users oftentimes face problems in completing certain processes digitally and are consequently required to visit offices physically to complete the process. This can be frustrating for users as it prolongs procedures and puts additional manual work on them. Third, as different identification codes are provided to cross-border users (that have not yet obtained residency) by various institutions, information provided by these users sometimes gets lost in systems. This is a great challenge because it puts additional strain on cross-border users.

Cultural challenges: Cultural barriers are also present in the work with life events. Insufficient information on services and life events provided in English is one barrier that hampers foreigners’ ability to understand and use the services effectively. Therefore, better and more comprehensive information provision in English is needed to improve service accessibility and user experiences for cross-border users. Another cultural aspect that needs to be addressed is the need for a mindset change within ministries and local offices to adapt to providing both e-services and better legal processes for foreign individuals in English.

Future outlook

Lithuania sees significant benefits in digitalizing services related to cross-border life events. This includes initiatives to provide comprehensive information and digital services in English to improve accessibility for cross-border users. Digitalization has the potential to streamline processes and minimize the need for physical interaction, thus simplifying administrative procedures.

Lithuania emphasizes developing interoperable technical systems for data transfer to improve user experiences and to facilitate better Nordic-Baltic and EU-level cooperation. They propose working on common approaches to life situations across borders through dedicated groups of members from the Nordic-Baltic countries. Furthermore, Lithuania suggests mapping experiences with the work on life events across countries and evaluating these based on common criteria to streamline cross-border services.

Norway

The following country report is based on an interview with the The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir). When Norway is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

In Norway they do not differentiate between cross-border and domestic users on any of their seven prioritized life events. The only life event that differs between these groups is that cross-border users need to acquire a personal identity number upon arrival in Norway to integrate smoothly. Norway also takes cultural aspects into consideration when working with cross-border life events (e.g. death and inheritance) as they can create certain differences in life events between domestic and cross-border users which affects how these life events should be handled.

Life events are defined in the Norwegian governments’ digitalization strategy which runs until 2030. The strategy includes seven life events that are closely followed and managed by Digitaliseringsdirektoratet which has delegated the task to different agencies. The work on some life events is already considered complete, while the work on others (like starting and running a business) is still in progress. Furthermore, Norway is working on a national initiative for better data sharing across Norwegian agencies to break down silos between these. This project is expected to be completed by 2027.

Norway is a part of the NMC’s project between the digital agencies in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Norway collaborates with the two countries on the larger DigiGovLab project which focuses on the sharing of population register data. It has also participated in the Nordic’s Smart Governments project that have been going on for eight years which facilitated information exchange between companies in Nordic countries. In this project Norwegian tax authorities and registries participated. However, the project terminated in spring 2024.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: There are some legal and regulatory complexities that affect the use of life event data in Norway. While machine-to-machine data sharing is well established across many national registers, including the Population Register, specific legal constraints may still limit digital exchange in certain cross-sectoral or cross-border contexts. These constraints can make it difficult to implement fully integrated digital life event services. For example, within the DigiGovLab project, revisions to population registry laws have been necessary to enable smoother cooperation between Sweden, Finland, and Norway.

Procedural challenges: Several procedural barriers are also identified. First, technological upgrades are needed for old systems managing certain life events to be able to administer these more efficiently. Second, organizational challenges, including silo thinking, pose a great challenge in the management of life events. There is a lack of prioritization from the political side and a lack of cooperation between important actors which hinders progress. Third, while certain cross-border services may involve physical visits, the Nordic agreement on population registration facilitates data exchange when individuals move between Nordic countries. For example, when a person moves from Norway to another Nordic country, they report their move to the new country, which then notifies the Norwegian authorities — eliminating the need for physical attendance in Norway. Requirements for physical attendance vary depending on the receiving country’s procedures.

Cultural challenges: Norway emphasizes trust and cultural differences between countries, even within the Nordics, as being a challenge. Norwegian directness contrasts with the more polite and correct demeanor seen in Sweden and Greenland which can potentially lead to communicative misunderstandings between countries. In the Norwegian experience, cultural aspects are often overlooked in the Nordics, but they play a crucial role in cross-border interactions and trust. Even small cultural differences can create significant barriers affecting cross-border collaboration.

Future outlook

Norway sees significant benefits in digitalizing the life event "moving" to streamline cross-border relocations as they view moving across borders in Europe as especially challenging. Digitalizing this life event has the potential to remove a lot of constraints currently experienced in the manual process where the same information is required to be provided manually to different agencies in different countries.

The public sector in Norway has had a great focus on providing electronic identities (eIDAS) for Ukrainian refugees to make it easier for refugees to access digital services in Norway. Another initiative being undertaken is taking steps towards harmonizing legal processes to enable the success of the DigiGovLab project, particularly on data sharing. Norway also highlights working towards better cooperation between Nordic-Baltic countries to facilitate cross-border movement and business.

Sweden

The following country report is based on an interview with the Agency for Digital Government. When Sweden is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

As Sweden is a decentralized country, the work with life events is split between agencies and integrated in different working groups. The country does not have a national strategy on life events, but it prioritizes certain life events that are viewed as especially important to citizens (e.g., death of a loved one). Even though Sweden’s 2017 national strategy mentioned the importance of life events, the notion of the concept has faded over the last decade. The Swedish Agency for Digital Government (Digg) recently published a report on the digitalization policy for the next 5 years. The report emphasizes the benefits of working with life events and aims to demonstrate to the government how life events can be worked with in a meaningful way.

The management of cross-border life events introduces several layers of complexity compared to the management of domestic life events in Sweden. The need for collaboration across multiple levels, trust in cross-border data exchange, and centralized coordination is crucial for addressing these complexities. While domestic life events are typically managed within a single administrative and legal framework, cross-border life events demand a more intricate and multi-faceted approach. Swedish agencies like Digg play an essential role in managing this complexity by providing a centralized, coordinating function.

Sweden has no national strategy on life events defined at present as operations are decentralized. Instead, life events are integrated in working groups between different agencies. As an example, eSam (a collaboration between big national government agencies) has been working with different life events such as “death of a loved one”.

Sweden engages in the Nordic DigiGovLab project with Norway and Finland which prioritizes the life event “death of a loved one”. The project has received support and positive feedback from the Swedish government.

Identified challenges

Legal challenges: Working with life events poses certain legal barriers in a Swedish context. Determining the legality of data sharing on life events between agencies and ensuring that data can be shared automatically is especially challenging. Moreover, conflicts between EU regulations and national laws create additional legal hurdles that complicate the management of life events.

Procedural Challenges: Several procedural barriers are also evident. First, Sweden experiences difficulties in re-activating personal identification numbers for individuals returning to Sweden after living abroad. This is a critical barrier since the personal identification numbers gives access to important services in both the private and public sector such as creating a bank account and a bank ID. Second, Sweden’s decentralized services mean that various agencies hold different responsibilities and data which complicates cross-agency and cross-country data sharing. Third, there is a lack of automatic administrative procedures, meaning that many administrative processes are undertaken manually.

Cultural challenges: There are also cultural differences that can influence the management of life events. In Sweden, strong reliance on personal identification numbers and established verification processes means that information from other countries is sometimes met with caution. Ensuring the authenticity and reliability of digital wallets and data from other EU countries remains an important factor in building trust and facilitating seamless cross-border cooperation.

Future Outlook

National agencies successfully provide optimized services within their own domains, but cross-agency collaboration on services is lacking and needs to be addressed. However, Sweden leverages e-IDs and digital gateways for potential improvements and better collaboration on data sharing. Furthermore, Sweden recognizes the importance of international collaboration due to limited national resources in small countries.

Sweden stresses working on regulation to employ cross-border ID matching and building trust models as especially important steps for better digital cooperation across countries. Various pilot projects (e.g. eIDAS regulation) are undertaken to build up cross-border trust. Efforts driven by the Nordic DigiGovLab project between Norway, Finland, and Sweden are also made to set the tone for future cooperation between countries. Finally, Sweden highlights two distinct opportunities: first, exploring the potential of AI to enhance digital solutions; and second, organizing hackathons where Nordic technical experts can collaborate across borders, exchange knowledge, and develop hands-on digital solutions for life events in participating countries.

The Faroe Islands

The following country report is based on an interview with Digital Faroe Islands. When the Faroe Islands is mentioned it should be understood as reflecting the views and experiences of the interviewed individual(s) from that country.

The Faroe Islands make no differentiation between domestic and cross-border life events. If a foreigner has a social security number (p-tal), they are treated the same as citizens. The Faroe Islands have as an ambition to reach all citizens nationwide with their services, regardless of the population concentration in each region. They seek to develop services that are the same for all citizens regardless of where they live.

Being seriously ill is a critical life event for many Faroese citizens, because they will need treatment across borders. The Faroe Islands specifically focus on streamlining the Faroese p-tal with the Danish CPR number. This will improve health data sharing between the two countries and make it easier for Faroese citizens to access health services in Denmark – and the other way around.

The Faroe Islands collaborate with the other Nordic countries which makes it easier for people to move between The Faroe Islands and the other Nordic countries without having to go through several administrative processes. However, since they are not part of the EU, moving to the Faroe Islands from other EU countries is not as smooth a process and it requires different kinds of permits. The Faroe Islands hope to address these barriers in the future and have developed their e-ID in compliance with EU data protection regulations with the aim of enabling its use in other EU countries in the future.

Identified challenges

Legal barriers: Compliance with EU data protection regulations is necessary for e-ID development and usage, but the Faroe Islands' exclusion from the EU complicates the process for moving to the country from EU member states, requiring specific permits.

Procedural barriers: The Faroe Islands face certain procedural barriers that complicate the management of life events. First, physical presence is required to move into the country and to register certain life events like obtaining a p-tal. Digital services are not available for these procedures which complicates the process. Certain processes like getting married or claiming social benefits require manual submission of documents which prolongs the process. Second, the use of different IT-systems in municipalities leads to inconsistencies in services, such as the need for e-ID for institutional waitlists in some areas but not in others. This lack of streamlining of administrative processes also complicates effective management of life events. Third, health insurance exemptions for residents working in other Nordic countries require submission and verification of proof from those countries' healthcare systems, which causes administrative burdens on the resident’s behalf.

Cultural barriers: There are also cultural barriers that complicate the management of life events in The Faroe Islands. The country’s small population size makes dealing with cross-border illness and health issues significant, leading to complexities in managing temporary Danish CPR numbers for individuals traveling to Denmark. Having a separate ID system from Denmark thus complicates integration and cross-border services.

Future outlook

Identity matching and e-ID sharing are emphasized as being crucial elements in simplifying life events and reducing identity fraud. However, The Faroe Islands struggle with utilizing these elements and hope to be able to use identity matching across borders in the future to access and benefit from digital services in other countries. Efforts to enhance data sharing are also being made as more effective data sharing would improve the quality of services in various sectors (e.g. health and tax).