It is generally assumed that addresses form up to 80% of the digital solutions used by a modern society. Access to accurate and up-to-date information on Denmark's addresses is therefore of great value to Danish authorities, to businesses and to citizens. To ensure that the entire community has access to the same information about Denmark's addresses, all address data is registered in one place, namely in the Danish Register of Addresses. Since it is the municipalities that determine road names and addresses, it is also the municipalities that register the associated data. The rules also ensure that data is standardized, of fairly uniform quality and that they can be accessed anywhere and without payment. In connection with the "address program", which was completed in 2018, the state and municipalities have decided to improve the quality and timeliness of address. In connection with the address program's data washing project, the municipalities have improved data, so that address data now lives up to the Address Act. This means, among other things, that all addresses have an access point and that all road names have a road name location. Personal data - for example, about who lives at the address - is not included in the data contained in the address register. Such information is recorded elsewhere, eg in the CPR, and is protected by law.

Myndigheder har inden etablering af Vandløbsreferencen brugt forskellige metoder til at stedfæste vandløbsdata og på forskellige streger, som kan have forskellig kvalitet. Der har vist sig behov for ét datasæt med geografiske vandløbsstreger, hvor alle myndigheder tilkobler data. Dette giver mulighed for udveksling af de samlede vandløbsdata på tværs af organisationer (myndigheder og private aktører (f.eks. entreprenør, byggeprojekter mv.) Vandløbsreferencedatabasen indeholder en koblingstabel, der holder rede på, hvilke dele af vandløbsmidterne der indgår i hvilke vandløbsreferencer. Ved hjælp af koblingstabellen kan vandløbsreferencens geometri til hvilket som helst tidspunkt beregnes. Ved at benytte vandløbsreferencer benytter man altså samtidigt også den nyeste, aktuelle geometri for vandløbsmidter i GeoDanmark.