DIGITALIZATION
Digitalization is the use of digital technology in different areas of life and society. It is the replacement of analog functions with digital functions. The biggest enabler of Digitalization is the technologies, and the era of Digitalization may have been thought to have begun decades ago when consumers were able to acquire the first computers in their homes. Although the Internet was still an unknown concept to the general public at this point, it was possible to manage certain everyday functions through Digitalization. Examples include word processing and spreadsheets with personal computers, as well as new dimensions of payment. In the early 1990s, banks in Finland introduced vending machines that allowed customers to pay their bills, and there was no longer so often the need to visit the bank’s checkout. Earlier, at the turn of the 1980s, the first comprehensive patient information system was introduced in Finnish health care, which led to a decrease in the processing of paper patient data. Digitalization is not only about electrifying operations or replacing people with machines, but also a way of thinking and leading things.
DIGITALIZATION IN MY FIELDS OF PROFESSION
Here I will present some things and examples of how technological development and digitalization have been reflecting in my own workplaces and tasks during my own career. My own continuous work history is about 16 years long. I worked in commerce for eight years, after which I have worked in information technology for eight years. I’m also studying to be a personal trainer in near future.
Eight years selling groceries
When I started working at the hypermarket at the checkout in 2006, for example, the use of cash was significantly more common compared to today. Cash was withdrawn from the withdrawal machines when entering the store, and a chip payment terminal was an unknown concept, let alone other digital payment methods, except for the traditional debit card. When paying for purchases of more than EUR 50 by card, the customer had to show an identity card that was manually verified by the cashier to verify that the buyer was the card holder. In my early days, the checkout system resembled a typewriter with a screen without modern graphic features. When I worked in the same hypermarket between 2006 and 2014, there were a lot of reforms and changes towards the modern direction. The cashier systems were renewed and made friends with chip payment terminals, which allowed the reading of the magnetic stripes of the cards and the checking of identity documents to be largely abandoned, and the checkout was made smoother. At the same time, cashier work became more efficient as certain recurring waiting times could be minimized or even eliminated. During my career, an online store was opened for the same retail chain, which allowed customers to shop online for specific product groups. Since my career in commerce, many more reforms have emerged. Self-service checkouts have been in use in shops for years, which has made it possible to reduce the number of cashiers at least in part and speed up the customer’s visit to the store. Customers’ payment methods have been added to e.g. Mobilepay and paying with a digital debit card for your phone. Many stores have digital price tags and signposts that allow the customer to navigate to the product they are looking for or retrieve price information.
Next eight years in the field of information tecnhology
For the past eight years, I have worked in the field of information technology, where digitalization is the foundation of the whole operation and, in a way, an intrinsic value. We are at the heart of the development of digitalization to enable our own customers to carry out their core functions in the best possible way. The operations of our organization’s customers cover, for example, the organization of public health care and education. These sectors, too, have undergone some really significant changes over the years.
In health care, patient information and other electronic systems have evolved a lot. Other systems can be connected through interfaces and information systems are integrated. During my own IT career, one of the great developments has been the development and deployment of mobile functions. An excellent example of this is the teleworking model that is now widely used. Thanks to VPN and mobile broadband connections, many tasks in many fields can be done regardless of place and time. The development of mobile networks, fixed internet connections for consumers, terminal equipment technology and cloud services, among other things, has opened opportunities for different ways of working. The internal resources of organizations can be accessed from anywhere, as long as internet access is available. Meetings can be arranged virtually, and data can be read remotely from sensors and systems. The opportunity has been used for years to arrange remote appointments and remote care in the health care and welfare sectors, for example. In certain situations, it is possible to supervise patients in healthcare and, for example, to direct them to take medicines independently without physical contact or meeting between the medical staff and the patient.
On the school side, digitalization has been used in the implementation of e-learning environments, and not all learning material is even available in traditional printed form anymore. When my primary school had a few new fancy PCs after the mid-90s, schools now even have their own personal laptop or tablet reserved for each student. The corona period also brought distance learning, on which teachers arranged virtual lessons for pupils at home. Nowadays, for example Youtube, Spotify and many web services are a part of teaching tools in some lessons and situations. The coherence and availability of data has been one of the key themes for a long time. When comprehensive electronic systems can be utilized as well as possible to support and improve the organization’s operations and goals without forgetting the best possible service for the customer, digitalization is at its best. This has required and will continue to require new ways of thinking in order to identify and refine new opportunities for action into new operating models. Different sensor networks and the Internet of Things will certainly take on more ground in the future. This is going to be the future of almost every industry. The development of high-speed mobile networks and nanotechnologies is part of the background to many existing and future new digital technologies. The automation of various functions will increase even further in the future. At the same time, certain tasks manually carried out by man will be reduced. This will make the organizations’ operations more efficient, and the costs of many traditional operations and traditional business activities, such as premises, will be reduced or disappear altogether. Digitalization has enabled easier networking in both civil and working life, thus driving globalization forward. The amount of information is constantly increasing, we just have to know how to process and utilize it.
RISKS OF DIGITALIZATION
Young people are generally skilled users of digital tools and systems. Many have lived much of their lives in the age of digitalization. Running basic errands has become easier in many areas of life, for example thanks to new electronic systems in health care and e-services provided by other authorities. Many traditional services are now available electronically, and thus more comprehensively and easily for the majority of the population, whether it be ordering a passport or renewing a prescription for medicines. It should be remembered, however, that some citizens have a lack of skills in terms of digitalization. In this case, progress in the implementation of services can also bring inequality. Digitalization is one fundamental factor in increasing people’s vitality, so it should be increased and developed according to people’s needs. However, work is being done on the prerequisites for digital expertise and the use of digital services at the state level. As has been said, there is more and more information everywhere and the amount of information is increasing.
Although digitalization has brought many good things, it has some negative sides also. For example, we can influence on lots of things more and more, like our own personal data, via web services and devices connected to networks. But, criminals and those who don’t have the right to access sensitive information, have the possibility to access them, if we are not careful and don’t act carefully with many kinds of digital tools and information.
Digitalization and security
Data protection and information security are an important part of digitalization. People’s personal data and data related to the business of organizations are stored largely in electronic formats. There is still a lot of information also in physical form and in human knowledge. Sensitive and confidential information must be kept secure and only viewed and altered by the relevant people and entities. Examples include patient data and classified business information. Data security means maintaining the availability, confidentiality and integrity of information. In short, the right and valid information must be available for those who has the right to access it – when it is needed. The processing of data can only be carried out by those who are entitled to do so. In addition, the information must not change unintentionally or, for example, in the event of a data breach, or this must at least be detected. Security can be implemented with the help of technically different hardware and software. Examples include firewalls and hardware and operating system security software, as well as identifying users of systems and services with usernames and passwords. They all have a role to play as part of data security. However, the weakest link in information security in general is human beings and operating models. No technical security component in itself guarantees information security. People need to behave safely and carefully with information and other people. Examples of this include the confidentiality of sensitive information known, the careful and proper use of electronic systems, but also the monitoring of the environment from the point of view of general physical threats. Information security, as well as information security and informational behaviour and activities can be influenced very much by educating people. For example, it is possible to prevent and eradicate the phishing of identity theft, which has been constantly featured in the media, by increasing people’s skills and knowledge. Data protection is part of the constitution’s guarantee of privacy. The aim is to ensure the proper and appropriate processing of personal data by different organizations and individuals. Personal data is information on the basis of which an individual can be identified directly or indirectly.
GDPR
In the age of digitalization, more attention has been paid to data protection, for example through the introduction of the GDPR. The GDPR is a law regulating the processing of personal data, which was introduced in all EU countries in 2018. The purpose of the act is to promote data protection, data protection rights and to better respond to the data protection issues and challenges posed by digitalization and globalization. The new law has brought with it better and clearer individual rights to the processing of their own data. These include, for example, the individual’s information on the data processed and its purpose of use, requesting that the data can be changed and deleted as necessary, and objecting to, restricting and transferring the use of their own personal data to another organization. The organization processing personal data is required to provide a legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as the controller’s legal obligation or the consent of the data subject or a joint agreement. The processing of data must always comply with the law and data protection principles. Data protection principles refer to the appropriate, secure, confidential and transparent processing of personal data for the data subject. The amount of data shall be collected or the necessary quantity and for an appropriate purpose. The information shall be updated whenever necessary.
Pros and cons of GDPR from my point of view
I think that improved data protection is a good thing. The new regulations have had to be introduced in many daily activities, both for people and for information systems. It has contributed to further planning and work through the implementation of regulations and obligations, and possibly slightly slowed down the use of some systems or access to information. For example, the processing of our own children’s health data, which in certain cases became more complicated to a level that caused wonderment. However, data protection and trust are absolutely key to enabling us to feel responsible for our own issues and entitlement to influence them.
MY SELF-EVALUATION OF THIS CHAPTER
For me, this is the first time for creating a blog. I think that in the future I will make more use of my findings on the basis of this doctrine. Going through the substance was a good experience for me in bringing the overall picture of digitalization back to me. It was also nice to notice that building a blog is not very challenging.
Last but not least, I commented these two blogs:
DIGI SOCIETY
Digi Society