DHX is a standardised technical and organisational solution which enables institutions to exchange documents based on a distributed principle. Documents move directly from sender to receiver. The target group of DHX is mainly the public sector institutions.
DHX relies on the X-Road version 6 as a transport-level infrastructure.
The owner of the protocol is the Information System Authority (RIA), who coordinates the future development of the protocol.
DHX:
- is intended for the safe and cost-efficient organisation of the public sector’s document exchange;
- is based on X-Road version 6.0;
- uses a standardised message format (metadata transported with the document, a so-called ‘capsule’ version 2.1).
Automatic document exchange in Estonia
The automatic document exchange in the Estonian public sector began in 2006. Due to unsatisfactory internet connection, it was difficult to send documents from one document management system to another. This why the state decided to create a central solution – the document exchange centre, where documents would be temporarily stored in such situations. The document exchange centre was used by all ministries and agencies in their area of government, county governments, agencies, and inspectorates, but also most of the local governments, educational establishments, and other institutions of the public sector. In 2009, the European Consortium for Electronic State Awards announced the document exchange centre as a good service and strategic initiative practice.
A transition to a new means of document exchange began in 2017, and by the beginning of 2019, a new distributed solution for document exchange, or a document exchange layer DHX, was implemented. This enables documents to be transported between agencies directly from sender to receiver. The initial document exchange centre was closed in 2019.
The development of both the initial document exchange centre and the new distributed solution of document exchange is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Last updated: 08.01.2026
