KELA

Throughout my life, I have utilized the services of Kela in several life situations, and still continue to use them. Perhaps the most significant role that Kela had in my life was when I was a primary student. Back then they granted me my primary income (student benefit). I also worked during my studies, and received some support from relatives, so I managed through my study times without the student loan. Another example of my use of Kela are private sector health care fees, as Kela has sometimes paid a part of them.

I have also familiarized myself to Kela from a professional side. I worked for years in the municipality making decisions on basic social assistance (perustoimeentulotuki) and supplementary social assistance (täydentävä toimeentulotuki). I sometimes forwarded our clients to apply for Kela benefits, they might be eligible to. As social assistance was a last-resort financial benefit, clients were directed for primary benefits, such as unemployment benefit from Kela. In my current workplace, a reception center for immigrants, I still occasionally advice clients with regards to Kela benefits.

Looking through Kela’s website, I realized there are many forms Kela of support, that I am not familiar with. I was reminded of how good and comprehensive social support network we have in Finland. I also found Kela’s page easy and intuitive to navigate.

I already had an European health care card. I ordered it about ten years ago for a trip aboard, and ever since Kela has been sending me a new one regularly. I haven’t had a need for it yet, but it’s always good to have as a back up.

OMAKANTA

I accessed Omakanta through my computer. As I had just recently logged into another service with my online bank credentials, I didn’t even need to authenticate myself, but got straight in. I have used Omakanta multiple times in my life and have found it to be a very useful service.

PENSION

Keva’s online service wasn’t able to tell me, how much pension I have currently earned. According to the website, the reason could i.e. be, that pension matters are handled by another pension provider. I googled, how to know my own pension provider, and quickly found a way to check this in the service Suomi.fi. I was informed of my own pension provider, and was able to log into their service to see my pension. They told me how much pension I had earned so far. I was also able to calculate my estimated pension based on the year of my retirement. According to the service my earliest age of pension will be 67 years and 9 months. Overall, I found the process of seeking information regarding pension very easy and quick. It’s good to know for the future, where I can find this information.

COMPARING ONLINE AND LOCAL SHOPPING

I compared a couple of products between Ebay and a Finnish shop Stadium.fi. With my brief comparison, I found that Ebay can be more pricey than a local Finnish online store. It also seemed, that Ebay didn’t always communicate the total price very openly, until proceeding to checkout. The final price on Ebay was also shown in local currency (i.e. dollars) and I had to convert it separately.

The same sneakers, that were sold in Stadium.fi for 74,99 euros (vat, delivery and free return quarantee included) I found on Ebay, price initially displayed as 43,83 euros. As I proceeded further, delivery costs and VAT were added, making the price 110,63 euros. With a 30-day return quarantee, the price would have totaled to 116,88 eur.

I also compared a refurbished, excellent-condition mobile phone price between Ebay and a local shop. Ebay sold their phone for the price of 747,68 euros, but with delivery and import fees 955,15 euros. In a Finnish online store, the price of the same refurbished phone was 857,84 euros, including delivery. Again, the Finnish option was better, but perhaps ordering inside the US would have been significantly cheaper. Also, it wasn’t possible to compare between the conditions of the phones, as both were just listed “excellent condition”.

I also compared a couple of Helsinki hotel rooms between Booking.com and the hotel’s own website. In the first comparison, Booking.com offered a cheaper price for the same deal. However, the hotel’s website booking offered a bit longer cancellation time. In the other example, the hotel’s own website offered a cheaper price than Booking.com. In this case, the hotel’s website didn’t communicate very clearly, whether a free cancellation would be possible. However, it wasn’t possible in the more expensive Booking.com offer, so it could be assumed, that the hotel’s website wouldn’t offer this, either.

My overall experience of comparing prices showed, that a customer should always do some research, to find the better deal. Certain online services seem to communicate the details of the deals more openly, than others. It can be assumed, that the omitted information might be omitted for a reason. When comparing between services, a customer can become more aware of those, that try to omit some information. For example in the case of hotel rooms, one should always seek out, what’s the cancellation policy, and what exactly is included in the room deal.

SERVICE/APPLICATION FROM MY FIELD

My application of choice is Microsoft Teams, as it is an essential part of my daily work. My work in the reception center requires us to have a digital platform to manage our work. In addition to allowing instant communication with colleagues, Teams allows you to store files like excels for the whole team to access. Teams also allows you to assign tasks to team members and mark them as completed. Teams is also a great platform for team meetings.

DIGITALISATION AND DIGITAL GAP

In my work I have encountered the difficulty, that the digital transition can bring to some people, especially the older generation. For example, a lot of social assistance applications can either be submitted online, or by visiting the office in person. Unfortunately, the same people (like the elderly) who may have trouble with the online service, may also have physical restrictions with moving around, making it harder to physically visit offices. I have, at times, tried via phone to help these clients with the online service. Some elderly people can be hesitant and scared to even try to use these services, as their assumption is, that they don’t have the required skill. Some exceptions also exist. A great example is my late grandpa, who learned the computer in his old age, and was still sending me emails in his 90’s.

The world is moving to a more digital direction, and we can’t stop it. I think the elderly would benefit from making the digital services as easy to use as possible. Also, hand in hand instructions on how to use them. It would be great, if family members can also help their elderly relatives.

THE DIGITAL COMPETENCE TEST

I found the digital competence test to be interesting. Some questions were clear to answer. Some questions were a bit challenging to self-evaluate, and I would have preferred a test, where my abilities are tested for example, with multiple-choice questions.

The test highlighted that my strenghts are in my ability to search information, critically evaluate information, and also in using one self-services. According to the test, I’m also good at monitoring and protecting my personal information online. I don’t yet know much about automation or programming, but I’m interesting in learning more on it! I personally would like to develop my knowledge of legality and laws and on computers in general. I feel like this test highlighted, how much there is still to learn for me.

OVERVIEW

Doing these assigments and writing this text, as well as reading other’s great texts, has been an eye-opening experience. I have, yet again, been reminded of important topics related to all the possibilities and threats that we face in the digital world. I have tested out several online customer portals, and found them to be very useful. Still some ideas have arose, on how we could develop our digital customer portals even further.

Thank you for reading, and I wish everyone a nice sunny spring!

I commented on these posts:

DIGI CITIZEN – Katri’s Blog

DIGI CITIZEN – Tiina Kokkonen

DIGI CITIZEN – Satu’s site