e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

328. When asked whether or not e-government has had an impact on administration structures
(including general organisation, hierarchy or reduction in personnel – see also Figure 21), partnerships for
public-private service delivery was the structural factor most frequently cited (64%). It is worth noting that
less than 20% of respondents felt that e-government activities had a significant impact on any structural
elements.
Public-private partnerships
329. The need to find alternative ways to finance e-government projects and to share risk is probably
two of the most important factors driving the development of e-government partnerships with the private
sector. In the TYVI project, for example, the objective was to develop a system that would be selfsustainable
in the long term (see Part 7.1). It is based on interaction between enterprises, data-collecting
companies (TYVI brokers) and administrative agencies/data users: firms send their information only once
over the Internet directly to a broker, which then forwards it to the appropriate authority or authorities. An
official from the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers pointed to the role of the private sector
in enhancing the development of e-government as a way to create an environment that suits enterprises’
needs and to improve public sector productivity.
330. The TYVI project has had the additional benefit of generating commercial activity through the
value-added exploitation of public data. While the TYVI brokers collect payment from the agencies that
use their data, in fact, most of their revenue come from additional services that they provide to reporting
companies (e.g. formatting raw data, providing different types of data reports).
331. In the case of the JULHA directory (see Box 3.1, part 3.2.3), the lack of start-up funds was made
up for by the willingness of a few key agencies to pay higher fees at the outset to have their information
listed in this government-wide directory. As additional agencies joined the project, the private-sector
contractor running the service was able to lower the fee and now has a sustainable revenue stream.
332. Public-private partnerships in Finland are not solely commercial in nature. They also tie into the
shared vision of developing an information society and commonly shared values of openness and
stakeholder consultation. As argued in Chapter 3, the development of the information society commonly
creates expectations among citizens and these will have an impact on the take-up of e-government and
online services. This is the one of the reasons why the Information Society Advisory Board (ISAB), with
high-level public- and private-sector representatives, has played such an important role in developing an egovernment
vision for Finland.
333. Problems regarding the setting of standards and the assuming of technological and market risk
can complicate the relationship between the public and private sector. In addition, the government’s
service commitment to close the digital divide will also necessarily mean that its orientation will be
somewhat different from that of the private sector. By initially attempting to “go it alone”, the FINEID
card (see Box 3.2 and Part 6.2) demonstrates that co-operation between public authorities and private
businesses is not always simple. In the end, however, the lesson has been useful. The MoI’s current efforts
to increase co-operation with private sector partners demonstrates an understanding that developing a
shared customer base benefits all parties.
334. There is still much room for partnerships in areas of overlap between the two sectors, such as
authentication and information services. Finland’s admirable ICT infrastructure, both private (i.e.
broadband and mobile networks) and public (i.e. public access points, personal register system, PKI
framework) can converge to add value and avoid duplication, for example, by developing synergy with the
banking sector for authentication and payment services. Another potential area for partnerships is the
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