DIGI CITIZEN

Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, is important for making sure Finland’s social security system works well. This system is designed to make sure that everyone, families and individuals alike, has a decent standard of living by lessening the gap in incomes. I think most people use or have used Kela’s support in different life situations.

OmaKanta is a helpful online service in Finland that allows individuals to access their personal health information. Through OmaKanta, people can view details about their medications, vaccinations, and medical records. It’s a convenient way to keep track of your health-related data and stay informed about your medical history. Users can also check upcoming appointments, receive electronic prescriptions, and securely communicate with healthcare professionals. OmaKanta plays a key role in empowering individuals to actively manage their health and well-being.  I also can check my childrens health records in OmaKanta.

Logging into OmaKanta involves using strong electronic identification methods, such as online banking credentials or a mobile certificate.  I use bank codes to logg in to service. I haven´t had any problems to use this service. I use Oma often, so it has become familiar to me. 

Keva refers to the Pension Fund in Finland. Keva is responsible for managing the pensions of local government employees, such as those working for municipalities, joint municipal authorities, and other local government employers.

Keva plays a key role in administering and safeguarding pension assets, ensuring that eligible individuals receive their pensions in retirement. The organization manages pension contributions, investments, and the overall pension system for local government employees in Finland.

Keva provides a digital platform that allows users to review their pension records, assess the accrued pension to date, and estimate future pension amounts through a convenient pension calculator.

I accessed the digital service using my banking credentials and reviewed my personal information. Keva’s calculator shows that I can retire earliest 67 years and two months old. My target retirement age is 69 and five months. Talking about pensions may be private, but there’s a big difference between retiring at 67 and 69:  My pension will grow almost 20%.

My task was to visit digital shops such as eBay, Amazon, Booking.com and Trivago and assess prices against local shops. In addition to comparing prices, I paid particular attention to the adequacy of information and the reliability of services. Examining user experiences and reading customer reviews provided valuable information on how well services meet customer expectations. In addition, I looked at the clarity of the websites and how comprehensively they provided product information and delivery terms. Comparing local prices helped me to understand how competitive digital shops are compared to physical shops. Ultimately, my goal was to get an overall picture of which service offered the best value for money and a reliable customer experience.

The prizes of digital shops are usually cheaper than the prizes of usual local shops. This is because of self-service. The information available to the customer may be limited, but it varies depending on the online store.

In my opinion, Booking.com and Trivago offer information well, but eBay and Amazon don’t always offer information clearly. The quality of some international digital shops isn’t always good.

Healhvillage.fi is a Finnish online service that provides reliable health information and support for various health-related questions. It is part of the Klinikka health services, aiming to offer easy-to-understand information about health and illnesses. The website covers different health topics, including self-care programs, articles, tests, and quizzes, helping people better understand their health and providing support for self-care.

Healthvillage.fi’s interactive self-care programs are a notable feature, offering guidance and exercises for various health issues or conditions. While the service does not replace professional health advice or diagnosis, it serves as a valuable source of information and support alongside traditional healthcare.

I use the health village for client and patient counselling, personal professional development and induction. I mostly use Naistalo to support breastfeeding counselling. The website has a wide range of material for mothers and professionals. The Healthvillage website is informative and varied with a clear structure. The information on the website is based on up-to-date researched data produced by professionals. This increases the reliability of the site.

Still it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional for serious health concerns or questions.

The aim of digitising services is for customers to use e-services whenever the need for care allows. In this way, service resources can be better targeted to clients in need of care. (Kyytsönen, Aalto & Vehko 2021, 4.) Mastering the use of the internet as a starting point for using e-services (Vehko, Lilja, Parikka, Aalto & Kuusio 2020, 187; Kyytsönen ym. 2021, 4). Using e-services always requires strong identification for example bank IDs (Valvira 2022).

I read an article where Vehko et al. (2020) highlight differences in access to the internet and strong authentication among different population groups. The survey found that almost all people of working age had access to the internet, but the proportion was slightly lower among people from a foreign background. More marked differences were found in access to strong identification. Among the population as a whole, 98% said they could use strong authentication, while only 88% of the population with a foreign background said they could use strong authentication. Differences also emerged by age group, with young people having greater access to strong authentication compared to older people. In order to avoid digital exclusion, the study suggests that more attention should be paid in the future to groups with lower access to strong authentication and a greater need for guidance on the use of e-services. (Vehko ym. 2020, 187.)

Kyystönen et al (2021, 5), in their report on e-services in social services and healthcare, point out that not all citizens have access to the internet and the necessary skills to use digital services. While reading this article, I wondered whether the ethical issues of digitalisation and strong identification are related to the challenges of technology or to people and humanity. In my opinion, there can be many reasons why a person does not have access to the internet, such as lack of funds to purchase equipment, sensory impairment or other health conditions that prevent access to the internet.

Brennan et al (2020, 31-32) state in their article that digital services need to be clear and easy to use in order to enable people with sensory, motor, speech or cognitive challenges to use e-services and remote technology.

I think these are aspects that an organisation should consider at the beginning of the e-service procurement process. This is also where I think the end-user experience of the service becomes important. In order to make services truly user-centric, end-users should be involved in the design of services from the very beginning. In addition, a person’s digital skills or lack of literacy or language skills, for example, can be a barrier to using the internet. These are, in my view, situations where people are unintentionally excluded from digital services. I therefore think that organisations should stop and think about how they can offer help to digital service users who are at risk of being excluded from online services.

I believe that with professional guidance it would be possible to create a safe environment for learning about digital services, for example as a workshop activity, but this would require more resources, which are already in short supply in the health sector. Guidance could also help to assess a patient’s or client’s access to, or ability to use, e-services before recommending them for use. On the other hand, there are also situations where not using e-services may also be a conscious choice on the part of the individual. I believe that this must also be taken into account when developing services.

The digital skills test was interesting. My strength was information and safety. This holds true because in my daily life, I am cautious about the services or applications I choose to use. I’m happy to see my safety is so high in my ratings.

My weakest areas were communication and production. Solving digital problems and exploring new ways to utilize technology is not my forte. There is lot to learn,  even if I´m using different digital systems daily.