e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

“backbone” of the government network infrastructure. The unit is looking at overall inter-ministerial
network needs, that is, the “kernel processes” needed by all ministries and agencies. In the future, it hopes
to add workflow and document management to current services such as e-mail. To do so, it is working on
interoperability standards. While the agencies are independent, an official in the unit noted, “Things are so
complicated and they cost so much that it is more reasonable to co-operate.” (On improving the internal
efficiency of government, see Part 4.5, “Back-office changes”.) In addition, the Government’s Information
Management Unit is also working on providing assistance to ministries to ensure interoperability standards
between different levels of government.
134. Guidance need not all be top-down. The JUNA project, which ended in 2001, focused its
attention on the need to increase co-operation between different levels of authorities providing public
services. The project played a special role in monitoring the advancement of electronic information and
service delivery and in setting guidelines for electronic services. (On JUNA, see Appendix 3, Part 8.3.6)
The MoF is also launching an eGIF-type operation, as in the United Kingdom, with development of and
agreement on government-wide standards.
Key Points - 22
x There is continued need for assistance in developing common standards – this seems to be
an area where co-ordination initiated by the centre might help. Standards are important for
improving interoperability, as they facilitate the elimination of technical barriers to
services integration and can bring major efficiency gains by realising economies of scale in
common government back-office processes.
x By proposing to license the electronic certificate for other smart cards, Finland is
broadening the potential user base for the FINEID card and increasing the attractiveness
of this authentication standard for both public and private service providers.
3.4 The “digital divide”
135. Access to ICT and, in particular, the Internet remains a major barrier to e-government. Finland
has a high level of Internet and telecommunications connectivity, however ICT access is not the same
across the country. Statistics Finland has made several reports on the access to and use of ICT in Finnish
society as part of the project, The Finns and Information Society, which was based on panel surveys from
1996 to 2001. 21 The results suggest that there are large generational, family-type and regional differences
with regard to access to and possession of information technology (Figure 9). In addition, the Information
Society Statistics, a yearly publication of the statistical institute of the Nordic countries, has recently
provided comprehensive data on ICT penetration in Finland. Internet access still differs along a number of
variables:
x Age: In 2002, 63% of the population had access to a computer at home. While this figure is
about 59% for those below 30 years old, it is as low as 25% for those over 60. With regard to
use of the Internet, 62% of the population can access the Internet somewhere, but this figure
is as low as 19% for those over 60. 22
21 Statistics Finland (2000), Environmental Attitudes.
22 Nordic Information Society Statistics (2002).
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