In the first four months of 2012, the number of NemLog-in transactions has been increased by over 40 % compared to same period in 2011. This marks a trend in the right direction, i.e. towards the increased use of Danish public 'self-service solutions' online.

NemLog-in is a single log-in page for identifying oneself to the Danish authorities before using their online services; it acts as a common entrance to their respective portals. More specifically, when one wants to use an online service from public websites such as the citizens' portal 'borger.dk' or tax services portal skat.dk, they are redirected to the NemLog-in page. Once logged in, they will be automatically taken back to the initial website.

NemLog-in gives citizens an access to nearly 100 public self-service solutions online, and more options will be added.  The services covered range from tax information to reporting a change of address via borger.dk and ordering a new health card via the website of a municipality.

NemLog-in also received during the past four months more than 13 million log-in requests from people wishing to make use of the available eGovernment services. This is particularly relevant as 80 % of all communications between government and citizens/businesses are planned to become digital by 2015.

With the widespread use of NemLog-in and the NemID card, the public sector may gradually eliminate the large amount of PIN solutions for various public and private websites. It will be easier for citizens, cheaper for public authorities and safer, since NemLog-in is based on the internationally recognised Security Assertion Markup Language 2.0 (SAML 2.0) standard.

As part of the joint public efforts to digitise communications between public authorities and citizens, a 'law on digital self-service' is planned to be adopted in late 2012 with, among other purposes, that of making a number of digital self-services mandatory. NemLog-in and NemID are essential components in the digitisation process of Denmark’s public sector.

Background Information

NemID is a single sign-on solution that citizens use to log in to public websites and make online banking transactions. It is a key to public self-services online, while NemLog-in acts as the common keyhole. Through it, citizens get automatically single-signed on, even for other services that they happen to be connected to. Log-in is made using a NemID or an eSignature.

A new version of NemLog-in is expected to become available during the 2012, providing more functions to the public. Additionally, individuals and businesses will be able to assign rights to someone, to allocate power of attorney and in some cases, to digitally sign official documents.

NemLog-in has been established in cooperation between municipalities, regions and central government, and the Danish Tax Authority (SKAT) operates the service.

Further information:

• Original News Article - The Danish Agency for Digitisation (in Danish)
• NemLog-in (in Danish)
• NemID (in Danish)