KELA
I checked out some Kela’s services I have been using. Thanks to digitalization, I have been able to use Kela’s services remotely for oven ten years. Other interesting thing is my pension, that’s only a few years away from this moment 🙂
KELA: Services used by me and my family
I’ve paid the healthcare fee for students in higher education, so I’m able to use the Finnish Student Health Service. I’ve also enjoyed the cheap prices of meals in some lunch restaurants. I have two children, so Kela pays us child benefit. I already have European health care card, and it’s renewed automatically every two years. It’s quite important to have it, this is said about the card in Kela’s website: “If you have a European Health Insurance Card, you should receive medically necessary treatment when you travel or stay temporarily in another EU or EEA country, in Switzerland, Great Britain or in Northern Ireland. Medically necessary treatment means treatment that cannot wait until you return home.” I find it like an insurance for traveling.
I accessed to OmaKanta via my mobilephone. I logged in using my online bank user identifiers, using Suomi.fi e-Identification. I’ve used OmaKanta to access to my Covid-19 certificate of vaccination.
I checked my possible pensions via https://elaketietosi.keva.fi/laskurit/vanhuuselake, and it’s quite clear that employees are encouraged to stay in working life a bit longer. The amount of pension will increase almost 20%, if I continue working form the age of 67 years and 3 months (the lowest age of pension) to age of 69 years and 10 months (the target age of pension).
ONLINE SHOPS
The example stores and sites have been familiar from many years ago, although I have never bought anything from them or through them. I’ve visited all of these.
Traveling
Trivago is a kind of travel search engine through which you can search for accommodations around the world. Trivago can therefore be used to browse the offerings and prices of other booking sites or hotel sites. Trivago also has accommodation and price information to search for through the Booking.com mentioned in the example. With a single search, it is possible to search for a large number of results and get price data compared from a range of different service providers. Sometimes, when looking for trips to these services, the price of accommodation according to my search criteria has become even higher before booking than the first results page suggested. For example, it has not been possible to use all the details, for example in terms of meals or other additional choices, in the front page search, which is why only closer to the actual booking situation has the final price been revealed in its entirety. For me, it has been a bit confusing and laborious, so that’s why I’m not into searching for trips from the services. The pricing is certainly right and the operation is reliable, as both of the companies mentioned in the example are long-term operators. I still think, that by using search engines, it is many times possible to find a lower price for accommodation compared to booking hotel accommodation directly from the hotel’s own website, for example.
Buy almost anything
Amazon originally started out as an online bookstore. Since then, the product catalog has expanded enormously, and you can buy electronics and cosmetics from Amazon. Amazon also offers video streaming, among other things. Through Amazon, products can also be sold by outside operators. When I compared the prices of some of the last electronics products I bought, Amazon’s prices were competitive, and even cheaper than I had paid for them elsewhere. The fact is, however, that electronics, for example, have long been a highly competitive sales article. Today, a price-conscious customer can easily find their products at competitive prices through search engines by searching for price information. For example, large electronics chains operating in Finland have been able to pedal the prices of their products as low as possible due to large volumes of purchases and sales, so the existence of traditional stores is justified from the point of view of the service, for example. When buying from online stores, I prefer mostly domestic companies, as I feel that the complaints and after-sales related to the product are clearer for the consumer. In addition, when ordering products to Finland from other parts of the world, for the total price of the product must take into account any additional taxes and customs duties.
My own choise for service / online shop:
Fitnesstukku.fi
I chose the online store Fitnesstukku, which sells sportswear, accessories and supplements. As a long-time sports enthusiast and a future personal trainer, Fitnesstukku’s range includes the product groups that I use every day. There have long been several online stores selling similar products on the market. In my opinion, Fintesstukku has long distinguished itself from many other competitors on its clear and functional websites, which are also visually good-looking and work brilliantly on mobile devices as well. The product catalog is comprehensive and pricing competitive. The products I order have always been delivered according to order and quickly. In addition, the payment options are comprehensive and flexible. As a current student, I have also been able to take advantage of Fitnesstukku’s student discount.
DIGITAL GAP
There has been talk of phases or levels of the digital gap tied to different eras. The first theme of the digital gap was generally access or no-access to the Internet. The second-tier digital gap has focused on digital skills and incompetence. The level 3 gap encompasses digitalization and the benefits and impacts of the use cases it brings. A large part of the services have shifted and continue to become digital, which is why users of the services have also had to learn how to use many services in a new way digitally. For the majority of people, this does not cause problems, because competence is at a good level, and the purchase of the necessary equipment today is not a threshold issue, for example because of prices. The use of digital services is not generally device-dependent either, as most services can be used on both traditional workstations and mobile devices, such as phones. With the exception of developing countries and sparsely populated regions, access to the Internet is becoming a foregone conclusion in much of the world. However, there are groups of people for whom the introduction and use of new technologies or devices is not possible or as easy as it is generally thought to be. An example is the elderly, who may have been at retirement age when the internet started to be talked about. Such a digital gap affects, among other things, access to information, education and decision-making concerning them. If a person or group of people is at risk of being excluded from digital services, there is a risk of being in an unequal position compared to other users of the services. Many services only work digitally. Many services operate both digitally and traditionally, but the timely and appropriate use of digitalization has clear advantages, financially too. Everyday examples include paying invoices and using remote appointments when renewing a prescription. Nowadays, using a traditional invoice costs more with service charges than, for example, paying an online fee made in an online store or an e-invoice received from an electricity company. The prescription of medicines is easy and fast in the e-distance service of a company providing new healthcare services, and you do not need to go to the doctor because of this relatively small procedure. In both examples, the user of the service saves time and money, but also nature. In the future, digital competence will be a certain kind of citizen’s obligation. Guidance and training are needed at the moment to bridge the gap for those who are at risk of being trapped in that dark abyss.
MY DIGITAL COMPETENCE
I did a digital competence test, and here is my results-picture. Said in brief, I think I have pretty good digital knowledge and know-how.
SELF-EVALUATION AND COMMENTS ON OTHER STUDENTS’ WRITINGS
This chapter’s contents are relevant and mixed with important parts of digitalization. Lots of familiar things for me, but also something new. Digital competence -test has blocks of different areas od digitalization. It was a funny one.
I commented on these blogs:
Digi citizen
DIGI CITIZEN
DIGI CITIZEN