Physical licences will be no longer be needed by drivers in Denmark within the next two years, with a digital version to be introduced.
 
The driving licence is to become the first form of official identification to become digital, the Ministry of Finance has announced in a press statement.
 
Licenses will be accessible via an app, according to the announcement.
 
As such, a smart phone will be the only thing required to produce a valid driving licence. That situation that makes sense given that many in Denmark already use their mobiles for things like online banking and official documentation via the E-boks secure mail system, according to Minister for Public Sector Innovation Sophie Løhde said.
 
“Most people today have a smart phone, and it has become an established part of everyday life,” Løhde said.
 
“Mobiles have almost replaced wallets so it makes sense to put driving licenses into phones, so they are always to hand,” the minister added.
 
The digital driving licence will supplement, rather than replace, physical licenses and will be accessible via an app opened via fingerprint technology or secure login.
 
Although the pink plastic cards all drivers are required to carry today will not be made obsolete by the new digital version, administration can become more efficient through digitalisation, according to transport minister Ole Birk Olesen.
 
Application times for driving licenses are currently too slow due to their analogue nature, Olesen said.
 
“That’s why the government, in addition to making the driving licence digital, will also consider the possibility of making the application process digital in order to save time for both applicants and authorities,” he said.
 
The app is expected to be available by the end of 2020.