e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

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citizens’ access to information is consistent with Finnish attitudes even prior to the use of IT in the public administration. Finland has been traditionally at the forefront in providing a legal basis for public access to information, the first step towards effective public participation in policy making. Legislation on access to public documents dates back to the 1950s. 48 240. In more recent times, increased citizen participation and easy access to public databases have been central points of official papers and government action programmes. 49 The Finnish central government has been active in stressing the need for citizen involvement in policy making, in particular in its early stages (agenda setting). The 1998 government Resolution on High-quality Services, Good Governance and a Responsible Civic Society set out the government’s aims to “create possibilities for the active participation of citizens”. Key Points - 37 x Finnish initiatives to improve online access to information and to facilitate e-engagement continue a longer-term trend of valuing openness, transparency and citizen participation. They have been enabled, however, by legislation which defines legal rights and responsibilities, as well as values such as agency responsiveness. x The diffusion of information and increasing interest in e-participation are the two main trends identified by the OECD survey. It seems that, after a pioneering phase devoted to the increased diffusion of online information, more attention is going to be given to eparticipation. Very few OECD countries have as yet begun to experiment with eparticipation. Finland provides some of the leading examples to date. 4.3.1 E-engagement at the national level 241. The Act on the Openness of Government Activities, which came into force in 1999, has ensured greater public access to documents. The goal of this important reform was “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”. This act makes public authorities’ responsiveness to citizens’ requests for information a basic principle. 242. This Act represented a major achievement in defining the right of access to information in official documents, and it has paved the way for the development of e-engagement, as it increases the potential for disseminating information in electronic form more widely than in the past. In fact, far from being a substitute for traditional means of information, electronic methods of collecting and providing information have integrated traditional ones, increasing the possibility of information and data sharing. 50 243. As new ICTs began to be considered a major driver for a comprehensive renewal of the public administration, electronic access to public information and participation in policy making have been receiving greater attention by the government. A number of pilot projects have been developed both centrally and within individual ministries and agencies (for example, see Part 4.4.1 for a discussion of the 48 Publicity of Official Documents Act, 1951. 49 See the Standpoint of the Ministerial Steering Group on the Reform of Central Government, Ministry of Finance, Public Management Department, 2001. 50 This was further promoted by the Act on Electronic Services in the Administration, 2000. 88
new government portal www.suomi.fi). The government-wide projects are under the authority of the Ministries of Finance and of the Interior. x In 1997, the MoI launched a development project, The Participation Project, which ended in spring 2002. It was based on the programme of the first and second Lipponen governments, and its objective was to increase citizens’ ability to participate in and influence municipal affairs. It also aimed at publicising the administration and increasing its openness. The core of the Participation Project is the municipality, a central actor in society. x As part of the JUNA initiative, the MoI launched in 2001 the Public Access Terminal and Citizen’s Electronic Transaction Project. This project aimed at reducing the digital divide for both electronic services and information provision by “promoting the versatile and systematic acquisition of public access terminals suitable for making electronic transactions. These terminals are located in government offices providing public services and in public places where there are people.” 51 x In 1999, the MoF launched the project, “New Information Technology and Citizens’ Possibilities for having an Influence on Decision Making”, which ended in 2000. The project looked at best practices in public administration Web pages in Finland and abroad and made proposals on how to improve it so that, in the future, the most relevant information would be the most visible and easiest to find. The project had also planned and started pilot projects aimed at improving citizens’ possibilities for giving feed-back and for influencing decision making at the planning stage. x The first pilot project initiated by the MoF in 1999 was an online open discussion forum called “Share your views with us” (www.otakantaa.fi). This forum features a series of policy issues that citizens are invited to discuss with civil servants and with ministers in special online sessions. Started as a one-year pilot project, the discussion forum has been extended to act as a common platform for all Finnish ministries to “hear the citizens”, and its administration will rotate among ministries for a one-month period each (in late 2003 the forum will become permanent with the appointment of an editor-in-chief and a permanent staff). The forum concentrates on issues in the early stages of preparation in ministries so that citizens can give their views when their input can contribute to developing policy options. Civil servants’ active participation in the discussion shows that emphasis is given more to debate than to answering questions or making comments. The MoF is in charge of defining the basic principle of the forum and of running and maintaining it, but in the future ministries are expected to share responsibilities for its functioning. A private technical supplier is in charge of the forum’s technical functioning and for any technical assistance needed during discussion. x The Finnish Youth Corporation Allianssi and the Ministry of Education have created a Web site (www.valtikka.net) which serves as a discussion and information forum for social issues. Civil organisations, individual citizens and civil servants are all invited to participate in forum discussions. The aim of the project is to increase young people’s involvement in civil society and in policy making in areas affecting their lives. The project also aims to encourage debate and the exchange of ideas among citizens, experts and civil servants. Marketing campaigns have been put forward to promote young people’s involvement in the project (i.e. posters, postcards and banner ads). 51 See Public Access Terminals Provide Access to Electronic Public Services, Report on the Terminals and Citizens’ Electronic Transactions Project, 2001. 89
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OECD e-GOVERNMENT STUDIES e-GOVERNM
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Secretariat wo
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4.2.5 Managing multiple service cha
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This report provides a first compre
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Finland could reinforce citizen sup
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Technical issues have been recognis
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The central government, however, la
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E-government has helped improve pla
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OVERALL ASSESSMENT The first phase
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6. The constitutional independence
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6. As the first OECD report of its
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Box 1.1. E-government co-ordination
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x The central administration does n
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2 THE CASE FOR E-GOVERNMENT 25. The
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Key Points - 4 x Public administrat
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40. As a result of these earlier go
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is illustrative. An online transact
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Health care 50 29 21 Unemployment 8
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Page 94 and 95: 255. At the end of 2002, the curren
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Page 126 and 127: 372. The OECD report on the Finnish
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Page 130 and 131: 5 NEXT STEPS 385. In May 2003, the
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Figure 6.3. Finnish electronic citi
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430. For both municipalities and KE
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6.3 Case study 3: The citizen porta
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tourism, immigration and emigration
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Key Points - 60 x The citizen citiz
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7.2 Appendix 2: Reports, strategies
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x Public Management in Finland (200
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ought together government, civil so
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freedom of choice and availability,
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499. The Ministry of the Interior c
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decision requires it to provide net
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522. Contrary to former reports by
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x By comparison, the term Web site
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7.4.2 List of acronyms AFLRA: The A
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7.5 Appendix 5: Methodology 7.5.1 D
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2. Responses are not included in ov
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8 BIBLIOGRAPHY ACCENTURE (2001),
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JUSSILAINEN, M. (2003), “Knowledg
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OECD (1992), “ICCP Reviews of Inf
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“GOVERNMENT RESOLUTION ON HIGH-QU
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VISTI, S. (1998), “Electronic Ide
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