DIGI CITIZEN
KELA, OMAKANTA & KEVA
I visited Kela, OmaKanta and Keva websites. All of them required strong identification, when logging in.
Kela is very familiar institution from the time I studied and from the time I was on maternity leave. Today my family receives child benefit, that is paid once a month based on the number of children. I applied a European health care card. The process was very easy and the card will be sent to me within few weeks.
OmaKanta has become famous for most of the Finns from Covid-19 -certificates. I don’t remember using it before this fall, when I downloaded my own corona passport. It was interesting to see that I can see all my health and medical information from the same place. At OmaKanta it is also possible to authorize organ donation. No need for paper forms anymore.
I visited also Keva’s site. Keva is Finland’s largest pension provider and it administers the pensions of local government, State, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kela, Bank of Finland and new wellbeing services counties employees. From this page I could not see my pension because I work for private sector. I used pension calculator at https://www.tyoelake.fi/elakelaskuri/ It seems that I can only retire at the age of 66. If I work two years more, my pension will grow almost 20%!
DIGITAL SHOPS
eBay is a global marketplace that connects millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. It’s basically possible to purchase everything from eBay, electronics, fashion, sporting goods, books…Just name it!
I browsed some items from eBay and I think there’s just too much options to choose from. It would take hours to compare prices to find a best available solution. I prefer smaller and domestic web shops.
Amazon started as a bookstore, but nowadays sells almost everything from electronics to food. Company operates at the moment in the USA, UK, Canada, China, Japan, France, Germany and Sweden. Deliveries are possible for some items also to Finland.
Amazon strives to be the most customer-centric company in the world. It was nice to keep this in mind when browsing on Amazon web site. Amazon prompted to log in to receive best customer experience. I created an account, and it was quite simple to do. Front page was full of different kind of items and one new and a bit surprising thing was that Amazon shows products inspired by my own browsing history. For me it was books about service design, inspired by the course I studied one month ago.
Both Amazon and eBay show me as a reliable web shops based on their popularity. On eBay it’s possible to check background and feedback given to the seller. Also payment solutions seems to be reliable. Especially PayPal payment transaction service is safe to use. It’s possible to have money back from PayPal if you’ll never receive your order or if product is damaged. I use PayPal every time when I make online purchases abroad.
I have used booking.com many times to book holidays here in Finland and abroad. I think the service is easy to use and sometimes offers good deals. I always compare prices between booking.com and original accommodation and choose the cheapest one. Sometimes it is booking.com and sometimes it is the original place. I have never had problems with bookings, not even abroad. I see booking.com as a reliable service and will use it also in the future.
SYKE APPLICATION
I chose application called Syke to be presented. I downloaded this app one year ago to support my fit for summer project. Syke includes training and food programs, and you can also add feeling of the day and information about your sleep (quality, amount). Training programs must be purchased from the shop. There are hundreds of different options from running to stretching. Programs cost 5 to 30 euros but there’s also some free of charge programs. Training programs include videos and written instructions so it’s easy to make exercises. Food instructions are simple and easy to understand. Correct diet supports workout and results will be faster.
Overall, this application is easy to use, training programs are easily accessible on mobile phone and always with you. Results are also easily seen, and you can modify what things you would like to follow. It is easy to get fit for summer with help of this application!
DIGITALIZATION AND DIGITAL GAP
Digitalization has taken a huge leap during Covid-19 pandemic. My way of working changed rapidly when I moved my office to home in spring 2020. I’ve been working remotely since then and lots of things had to be organized differently. I have somehow managed to do my work and reach my targets. It has required creativity and of course help of digital systems. I think that my digital skills are at good level. I wonder what the situation is for those who are not in the same situation, for those with poor digital skills.
I think all services go online at some point. The most familiar online services might be banking and different web shops. During Covid-19 pandemic we’ve created lots of new services such as remote-doctor, remote-personal trainer, remote-school etc. To be able to use all of these requires digital skills. Risk is that if we don’t have traditional services on the side of virtual services, some of us will not manage. The elderly and people with special needs are group at risk to left behind. How can we guarantee same services for everyone in the future if the direction is to develop only virtual services?
DIGITAL COMPETENCE TEST
I took the Digital Competence Test and got result of 69%. Result was accepted and test found out my weak spots that were automation and storage. My strongest competences were self service and health. I’m very self-quided person and that shows also in my Digital Competence Test.
SELF-EVALUATION
This assignment was an interesting package of digi citizenship. It was interesting to read experiences from other student’s blogs and to think what kind of digi citizen am I at the moment. I’m also keen to see what kind of digital world we will have in the future when Covid-19 pandemic ends. What will remain and what will change?
My comments on these blogs: