KELA
In Finland, the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) forms a part of the social security system. Other parts of the system are wellbeing services by counties, unemployment funds and pensions (Kela, 2023). Our household is mostly using the reimbursements for medical expenses and medication costs. The digitalisation of health care services has been a time and a nerve saver.
Additionally, as I have travelled around the world, I already have the European health care card. On my travels I have seen what happens when you don’t have a health and / or travel insurance and things go wrong. That might be something you never recover from financially. I luckily have always had the access to the health and travel insurances, and I have had the means to pay for the insurances.
OmaKanta
OmaKanta is a digital service that allows you to access and control your own health data and it’s a tool for health professionals in transferring information between institutions (Kanta.fi, 2026). The transfer of information between the doctor’s office and the pharmacy is fast and it is possible to request certain medications immediately after the visit. There is no longer a need for a separate certificate, as prescriptions are in digital form and the customer can also check them in the OmaKanta service.
Upon entering the portal, the system requires the explicit acceptance of data tracking cookies before allowing entry to the login screen. To cross the secure barrier, I utilized my banking credentials. Once logged in, I was presented with a list of available services such as prescriptions and other health data. This access helps me manage my health information efficiently.
KEVA
Looking much further into the future, I logged into the KEVA service to evaluate my pension situation. Based on the information provided the system calculated my pension amount and the age I’m able to retire. As I’m not able to retire at the age of 63, the system didn’t provide me with the information I was looking for. Based on the life expectancy calculations the absolute earliest age of retirement is 67 years and 8 months, which I will reach 1st of February 2060. If I’m still in working condition, I can stretch my retirement age to 70 years, which is the maximum age of retirement.
I choose not to state the exact figures of my pension calculation due to privacy. Furthermore, because I am highly skeptical about the future of state-funded social security for our generation, the specific projected amounts are less relevant to my long-term survival strategy.
Digital marketplaces
To evaluate marketplaces both for new and used products, I chose two main marketplaces for a person in the creative industry. The first is Thomann and the second one is Tori.fi. Both stores are digital marketplaces, with exemption for Thomann, which has one music store and the main warehouse in Germany.
| DIGITAL MARKET PLACE COMPARISON | |
| Tori.fi (Local peer-to-peer) | THOMANN (Global E-commerce) |
| Hyper-local pricing | Global pricing |
| Sells mainly second hand items | Sells mainly new items |
| Local pick-up or delivery | Global and fast delivery |
| Prone to informal scams | Highly reliable and secure return policy |
Comparing the prices of these two platforms is challenging, since they sell different types of products. Thomann is a global e-commerce platform selling mostly new gear, while Tori mostly sells second-hand goods. They still serve a purpose when it comes to finding anything specific. While Tori might offer something relatively closer, Thomann is so fast in delivering, most of the time it is faster to get the product all from Germany than waiting for “torikaupat”. Torikaupat is a dismissive expression for the situation when either party in a transaction fails to deliver the product or otherwise messes up.
Field-specific application
One of the most important digital platforms I interact with is Teosto’s digital platform for performance reports (Teoston esiintymisilmoituspalvelu). I chose to highlight this platform becausecause it serves as an example of how creative work translates into business revenue.
Whenever an artists’ song is performed or used in some way, they get paid. By submitting accurate performance reports, artists can ensure they receive fair compensation for their work.
Digitalisation and a digital gap
While digitalisation streamlines processes and enhances efficiency it introduces a systemic threat by dividing the population into the digitally connected and the digitally disconnected. The digital gap is a term used to describe the divide between those who have access and ability to use digital technologies and those who do not (CEDEFOP, 2026).
In creative industries not having the digital skills and resources makes it difficult to participate and even survive in the industry. If the artist doesn’t have the skills to use all the tools available, the person would need a team of people. Having this kind of professional team around is a rarity and the estimates on who is signed to a major record label with a professional team, according to various sources, varies between 0.4% and 1% of all the highly skilled, professional musicians (The Metalverse, 2026). The independent music economy is fragmented and the more you must rely on others, the less control you have over your work. On the other hand, the more you have skills and resources to use, cheaper it gets and the more you can control your work.
Making and releasing music is no longer just about physical art of playing an instrument. It has become a complex matric of different digital software, publishing platforms, social media, data analytics, marketing and sales. Lacking digital skills makes artist’s work more expensive and difficult.
Conclusion and self-evaluation
Completing this assignment has clarified my understanding of the importance of digital skills in the creative industries. By taking the Digital Competence Test, I was able to assess my own strengths and areas for improvement in communication, information gathering and online security.
I learned that digitalised working environment requires far more than basic computer skills. It demands proactivity and updating knowledge on data privacy and cyber security. Digital skills are not a passive skill, but a skill that needs to be actively developed and maintained.
I commented on:
- https://blogi.savonia.fi/millaraatikainen/digi-citizen/
- https://blogi.savonia.fi/mhartikainen/digi-citizen/
- https://blogi.savonia.fi/joelhagstrom/2025/09/10/digi-citizen/
References (APA7)
OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT. OpenAI GPT-5.5 -model. [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com. Accessed for the purpose of this task, May 2026.
Google. (2026). Gemini (3 Flash version). [Large language model]. Accessed for language check, May 2026. https://gemini.google.com
CEDEFOP. (2026). Digital gap / digital divide. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-glossary/glossary/digitale-kluft
Kanta.fi. (2026). MyKanta. https://www.kanta.fi/en/mykanta
Kela.fi. (2023). Social security in Finland. https://www.kela.fi/social-security-in-finland
The Metalverse. (2026). How many bands are actually being signed to record labels in 2026 https://www.themetalverse.net/bands-signed-to-labels-2025/
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