The Driving Licence App is the first of many digital versions of public proofs of identification

twoday has developed the Driving Licence App which is first of its kind in the world. The solution is developed in collaboration with the Agency for Digital Government and the first step towards more digital versions of public proofs of identification. The collaboration is based on agile processes that have contributed to securing the groundbreaking solution.

The need

For years the public sector has had a strategy with the aim of all Danes being able to use digital self-service for a wide range of services. Today, more than 90 percent of the Danish population uses digital self-service. The Agency for Digital Government is taking its first step with the Driving Licence App towards digital versions of public proofs of identification.

The Driving Licence App for the smartphone is a voluntary supplement to its plastic counterpart and is only valid within the Danish borders.

Digitalization of the Danish public sector

The Agency for Digital Government was established in 2011 with the aim of developing the digital public sector in Denmark. Thereby, contributing to the mission of the Ministry of Finance regarding economic growth, productivity and a more effective public sector.

Digitalization of the driving licence is a great example of an initiative that makes a practical difference in everyday life and makes things easier for the citizens. However, it is a solution that contains personal data and the data privacy is of course of great importance.

Much focus on security

The great amount of focus on security reflects in the usage of MitID (the Danish National eID) and passport that the citizens are to use when creating the Driving Licence App. Furthermore, the Agency for Digital Government is working with external security agencies to make sure that there are no security holes in the application.

The question regarding the security has not only been of concern in the development process but is also reflected in the usage of the Driving Licence App. Of course, all data is crypted. The picture that is used on the Driving Licence App is scanned by the citizen alone from the image file in the passport of the person in question. At the same time the picture is solely stored on the phone of the citizen.

“Most citizens would like to use the smartphone as they always have it at hand. We see this in relation to many of our other solutions such as Digital Post that the vast majority is signing in through their phones. The Driving Licence App – and also the Danish Health Insurance Card App that was subsequently developed and introduced to Danes that are interested in it – is a natural extension of this behaviour.”

Adam Lebech, Deputy Director-General, the Agency for Digital Government

Results

The result of the collaboration is an accessible and secure Driving Licence App that Danes are able to have on their smartphones and use as documentation for driver's licence as well as proof of identification within the Danish borders. The Driving Licence App is a voluntary supplement to the physical driving licence. One year after its launch 1,6 million Danes downloaded the Driving Licence App. The Driving Licence App is used approximately 45,000 times a day.