Collaboration across the Gulf of Bothnia improves data flows

Thanks to long cooperation between Nordic authorities, finding online information on a Scandinavian company is easy. Collecting and bringing these data available, however, requires a lot of work. Current digitalisation projects aim at reducing the workload of both companies and authorities.

The Finnish Trade Register at the Patent and Registration Office (PRH) and the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) work together in developing common information models for digital services and benchmark each other for practical solutions.

During 2018–2024 the two agencies participated in Nordic Smart Government & Business (NSG&B) digitalisation programmes towards uniform standards for information exchange across the Nordic. Nevertheless, it will take years to reach the common Nordic vision of a real-time economy where orders, invoices, receipts, and reports are automatically copied to the administrative systems and transferred to the relevant databases.

“Standardizing processes take time. And a prerequisite for success is for companies to become more digital”, says Sara Söderholm, Acting Head of Collaboration and Information Supply Department of Bolagsverket.

Sara Söderholm and her colleagues look forward to developing the fruitful cooperation with PRH even further.

Swedish enterprises apply digital systems voluntarily

In 2024 nearly two thirds of Swedish enterprises submitted their annual accounts digitally, whereas only five per cent of Finnish companies use this option for the time being. Does the secret lie in the Swedish tradition of proceeding on the voluntary basis?

“We have worked for digital submissions since the service started in 2018. Maybe we can succeed without making it obligatory”, Söderholm says.

She gives credit to the general director of Bolagsverket, who has sought cooperation with other authorities like the tax agency and political decision makers. She adds that while in Sweden most company types can submit documents in digital format, to progress harmonized terminology is needed.

“Bolagsverket has been active in the semantic field already during NSG&B. We aim to expand the European model with financial terms and information. Unambiguous word definitions help information flow more smoothly.”

Digital identity wallets simplify information sharing

In the future, digital identity wallets will be used for identification, to sign documents and to prove certificates. 

In Finland, PRH coordinates a network to promote digital wallets of enterprises. Bolagsverket, together with Dutch authorities, will lead the EU pilot project WE BUILD (Wallet Ecosystem for Business & Payment Use cases, Identification, Legal person representation, and Data sharing) starting in September 2025. These developments have increased the importance of security further.

“Perhaps combatting economic crime will be a new area in our information exchange with PRH”, Söderholm says.

Text: Päivi Helander

Photos: Bolagsverket