National domain name registries start using national electronic identity

Offering foreign citizens to use the same advantages as locals when managing their domains is the main aim of the new RegeID project. This international project is under the leadership of the CZ.NIC Association, the Czech national domain operator, and also brings together the national domain operators of Estonia, Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as the Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR), and the Dutch identity management company, Connectis.

According to the eIDAS Regulation, individual Member States have had an obligation to enable electronic ID card holders from other EU countries to log into their e-Government services for almost a year and a half. The mutual recognition of electronic identities also allows users to benefit from eIDAS in terms of non-governmental electronic services. The integration of eIDAS has already been supported via the EU´s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), for example in banking or cloud services. The CEF is an EU funding instrument that aims to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness. The RegeID project now opens the way for the eIDAS Regulation to be adopted into the new area of domain name administration.

“I am delighted that the CZ.NIC Association can help lead this innovative project. The RegeID project will enable the holders of Estonian electronic ID cards or of the Danish NemID for example to log on to our Domain Browser portal in an authenticated and secure way. We have already operated innovative, nation-scale projects with our mojeID application and we are now ready to take it to a European level”, says Ondřej Filip, CEO of the CZ.NIC Association.

Peter Van Roste, General Manager of CENTR sees this as a great potential in the area of electronic identification, and adds: “One of the goals of the CENTR organisation is to support the mutual cooperation of national domain name registries and at the same time to help members explore the opportunities the new framework offers to European businesses and citizens alike. This is one of the many reasons why we appreciate the RegeID project, which we also plan to actively promote among our other members.”