e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

499. The Ministry of the Interior carried out two user surveys in 1999 and 2000 on the views of
citizens on services delivered by the public administration. The results indicated that citizens are more
familiar with electronic services provided at the local and regional than at the central level. Citizens
furthermore expressed demand for the following portal services: information about public sector
organisations and their services, electronic transaction services, organisations’ contact information, and
electronic feedback.
500. In December 1999, new legislation on the openness of government activities (the Act on the
Openness of Government Activities) entered into force. The goals of the reform were “to increase the
openness of government activities, to enhance the implementation of the openness principle relating to
these activities, to improve the possibilities to participate in the public debate and to influence the
management of common issues”. 74 As a consequence of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities,
the openness principle was extended (e.g. to state and municipal enterprises), access is given to all
preparatory documents (with secrecy exceptions) and legislative projects to increase the openness of
decision making. Authorities are obligated to make information about their activities available and
common provisions for secrecy are given to all authorities. ICT can obviously be used in several ways by
authorities to implement the Act. 75
7.3.8 Enabling legislation for electronic services and information management
501. In early 2000, the Act on the Openness was followed by an Act on Electronic Service in the
administration, which contained detailed provisions on the most significant requirements for the electronic
identification of persons and which gave electronic signatures the same legal effect in the administration as
traditional signatures. It also included some very broadly formulated provisions on electronic services,
making it possible to initiate, handle and serve notice on administrative issues electronically.
502. Regarding the availability of electronic services, the act stated that “an authority in possession of
the requisite technical, financial and other resources shall offer to the public the option to send a message
to a designated electronic address....” Regarding the accessibility of the authorities, it states that “the
authorities shall see to it that their electronic data interchange equipment is in working order and that their
electronic data interchange equipment is accessible, in so far as possible, also outside office hours”. The
provisions on electronic services were therefore very limited and dependent on the capabilities and means
of the individual authorities.
503. The 2000 report of the Information Society Advisory Board to the government, Finland as an
Information Society, summed up the central legislation related to electronic communication and electronic
commerce as well as some of the many projects in the area of e-government such as TYVI, the citizen
portal, the JUNA project, etc. Apart from proposals to prevent alienation as a consequence of the new
information and communications services, however, the report included no specific recommendations,
evaluations or goals on e-government.
504. In March 2000, a new policy decision of the Government on the Development of Information
Management of the State Administration replaced the 1994 decision. 76 The basis of the project was the
74 Ministry of Justice, More Information on Preparation, Clarification of Secrecy (www.om.fi/3470.htm).
75 Ibid., p. 3.
76 The decision document itself is five pages long, but there is a 16-page version in Swedish and Finnish which is
used here as reference since it also includes background and motivation. Finansministeriet. 2000. Statsrådets
Principbeslut om Utvecklande av Statsförvaltningens Informationförvaltning. Helsingfors.
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