Digital corporate identity consists of the company’s basic digital information and ways to authenticate the company digitally. Authentication can be done using a digital wallet. The digital corporate identity includes the basic business data, such as
- name
- address
- domicile
- language
- business ID, possibly also LEI ID
- prepayment register entry and
- VAT ID
In specifying this basic information, the EU-level legislation (eIDAS2) currently in development, international standards and Finnish needs are taken into account. In addition to the company’s basic information, it is also important to agree on other information that the wallet can relay about the company if the company so wishes, to make the information available in other countries, as well. Examples of such so-called attribute certificates (credentials) include various official permits and certificates, and, in financial administration, the eReceipt.
With the help of the digital identity and wallet, the parties can be identified reliably. In the future, when operating online, a company could share information about itself that has been authenticated by a trusted party, thus being able to take various actions, such as signing agreements or verifying the reliability of a trading partner. The benefit comes from the fact that different organisations and the software they use understand the information provided by the company in an identical way, also in cross-border use cases. The information can be transmitted and authenticated in a machine-readable and real-time manner, which saves time and resources.
A digital identity does not replace the business ID or any other identification issued by authorities, but contains them to the extent necessary. Digital identity does not determine how information-sharing permits or authorisations should be issued. Nor does it eliminate the need for Suomi.fi authorisations, but it may strengthen the role of the service so that the authorisations would also cover situations not specified in advance, which is useful in a rapidly changing world.