Good basic data for everyone

Public authorities in Denmark register various core information about individuals, businesses, real properties, buildings, addresses, and more. This information, called basic data, is re-used throughout the public sector. Re-use of high-quality data is an essential basis for public authorities to perform their tasks properly and efficiently across units, administrations and sectors.

Basic data is an important contribution to modernising the public sector. The public and businesses are provided a better and more efficient service, when data that has already been recorded is shared across institutions and is included directly in case processing. Furthermore, employees in the public sector will be less burdened by repetitive and routine tasks, and this, in turn, will release more resources for increased welfare in e.g. the healthcare and education sectors.

However, open and homogenous re-use of basic data also has great value for the private sector, partly because businesses use this data in their internal processes and, partly, because the information contained in public-sector data can be exploited for entirely new products and solutions, in particular digital ones. In short, basic data freely available to the private sector is a potential driver for innovation, growth and job creation.