IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Demokratia.fi summarises the eDemocracy web services maintained by the Ministry of Justice, namely otakantaa.fi, kansalaisaloite.fi and kuntalaisaloite.fi. Later in spring 2014, a fourth site will be added, lausuntopalvelu.fi, which is intended to streamline the consultation procedures and make it transparent and open to the public. The service will digitise the current consultation process.

The Ministry of Finance's open data programme has ended the use of information barriers and has created incentives and conditions for the opening up of information and the development of content and services. The data portal constitutes part of the implementation of this programme, and facilitates the finding and exploitation of information resources.

At the same time, a consultation regarding the definition of the measures needed to implement the new strategy was launched with the participation of all involved stakeholders in an open and interactive process.

The strategy called ‘A strategy proposal for the use of ICT in the Public Administration 2012-2020’ is the first of its kind. The vision of the strategy goes up to 2020, while the policy approaches and measures will run until the end of 2015. Its objective is for the central and local governments to better use technology and bring services and information closer to individual users, enterprises and the public administration. By the time the strategy finishes in 2020, services and data will be safely and easily accessible and available in various ways.

“We are planning to thoroughly study the Estonian X-Road. This is not just about the source code but also understanding the organization and agreements that create the frameworks for this technology. We are also hoping to test cross-border services,” Riku Jylhänkangas, Director of the Strategic Governance of the Finnish Public Sector ICT said in a press release by the Estonian Information System's Authority on Thursday.

In dem Verfahren sollte sich der Wähler durch eine Smart Card ausweisen, die Nummer des von ihm gewünschten Kandidaten eingeben und zweimal mit "OK" bestätigen. Weil dies durch die Benutzerführung offenbar nicht deutlich genug erklärt wurde, verzichteten viele auf das zweite "OK" und entfernten stattdessen ihre Smart Card – was dazu führte, dass ihre Stimme nicht gezählt wurde. Hinzu kam, dass in den vom Justizministerium herausgegebenen Anleitungen ein möglicher Abbruch des Abgabevorgangs auf ganz andere Weise erklärt wurde, was viele Wähler glauben ließ, dass sie ordnungsgemäß gewählt hätten, auch wenn dies tatsächlich nicht der Fall war.

The City of Melbourne and Finland-based multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company have conducted a trial using the tech company’s Scene Analytics artificial intelligence (AI) technology to develop a deeper understanding of waste disposal behaviour.

This will help the city tackle the issue of waste dumping more efficiently and keep laneways even cleaner, safer and free of garbage. To reduce the frequency of waste contractor visits to busy areas, the City of Melbourne has offered residents and businesses subscription-based access to the large-capacity compactor facilities. With the compactor in place, Council wanted to understand how the service was being utilised and how to mitigate illegal waste dumping, which can create safety and hygiene issues in the area.

Baku and Helsinki have discussed the development of cooperation with Finnish companies with experience in the smart industry and smart city sectors, Azernews reports.

The discussion took place during a meeting between Azerbaijan’s Deputy Economy Minister Sahib Mammadov and a delegation led by Finnish Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary of State for external economic relations Nina Vaskunlahti.

The MOU was signed by the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Miss Elizabeth Tse, and the Consul-General of Finland in Hong Kong and Macau, Ms Annikki Arponen.

"Renewal of the MOU signifies continuation of close collaboration between the two governments, particularly in areas such as e-government, cloud computing, wireless technologies and creative industries. The MOU has established a mutually beneficial platform to drive ICT development in both places," Miss Tse said.

The MOU was signed by the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Elizabeth Tse, and the Consul-General of Finland in Hong Kong and Macau, Annikki Arponen.

Difficult to understand why this public-private solution has not spread to more than some half a dozen countries (not a big source of income for banks of course - more a question of better customer service and taking responsibility for speeding up e-government. Technology vendors naturally try to sell a separate tool for every purpose - but endusers prefer familiar ones.

Estonia and Finland have established a nonprofit association titled Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) to develop the X-Road data exchange layer in information systems, which allows databases and registers to communicate securely, reports LETA/BNS.

The institute that is aimed at making data exchanges between the two countries significantly more effective will be headquartered in Tallinn.

A technical solution was completed this week which will allow for data exchange between Estonia and Finland via the X-Road data exchange layer.

"Preparations that have been underway for nearly a year have been completed by now, and along with developers, we have now reached the stage where we are anxiously looking forward to the exchange of the first data between the two countries," Andrus Kaarelson, director of information systems at the Information System Authority (RIA), said in a press release. "With the data exchange, we have created the conditions for implementing cross-border e-services."

The agreement is believed to be the first international agreement to be concluded using electronic signatures.

The agreement involves Estonia's assistance to Finland in adopting the X-Road system, the "backbone" data exchange layer that connects the different databases used by the nation's various online services, said a statement by the Estonian Government Office on Wednesday.

Finnish digital prescriptions are now valid in neighboring Estonia, thanks to an EU health data initiative.

After a two-hour ferry ride to the capital of southern neighbor Estonia, any Finnish traveler who forgets to bring vital prescription drugs now doesn't need to panic and buy an early ticket home.

They can just head to the nearest pharmacy in the tiny Baltic state's capital of Tallinn and, using their ID-card, obtain the drugs that had been prescribed in Finland.

Kaisa Sibelius, Project Manager at Forum Virium Helsinki and AI4Cities Coordinator, and Philipp Tepper, Sustainable Economy and Procurement Coordinator at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, explain how the European project, AI4Cities, aims to speed up and steer the creation of new breakthrough solutions in how AI can support cities’ climate action commitments.

What is AI4Cities?

K: AI4Cities is a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) project focused on procuring R&D of solutions that support cities’ transition to carbon neutrality via artificial intelligence (AI) and related enabling digital technologies. Based on this, two key domains linked to the cities’ strategies and carbon-positive goals have been pre-selected: mobility and energy.

European Cities Face Sustainability Challenges and More

While digital twin techniques have been applied successfully in manufacturing and construction, cities are so complex that they require more measuring and modelling effort. Moreover, since they are evolving all the time, it is not enough to simply measure and model cities only once. This article explores whether digital twin techniques can meet city planning needs and help them face their wide-ranging challenges – from sustainability to education, digitalization, infrastructure and healthcare.

Ossi Savolainen, the Regional Mayor of the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, shares what it takes to build smart cities that are citizen-centric and sustainable.

In Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the good doctor can manipulate space however he wants to—shift things around, create multiple versions of the city, and conjure alternative universes. This fantasy-like scenario is not as detached from reality as it seems.

As a result of this new legislative package which partly amends Finland's Act on Public Procurement of 03 March 2007, the competitive procurement of public contracts for the provision of goods, services and works will be handled increasingly by electronic means.