For Finnish Students

Familiarize with the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA). What are the services you use personally and in your family? Get a European health care card.

As I am working while I study as a Master of healthcare I am not using that many KELA supports. I do have two children so I get child support with my wife. I already have European health care card.

Access to your own health care data provided by OmaKanta. How did you access?

I access to Omakanta with 2-step vertification using my bank account to validate myself in.

Look how much pension you will get if you retire at 63 years, or 68 years (Keva).

I have looked for my Pension. My pension age is 67y and 6 months minimum. The pension will be around 2.7-3k – ofcourse I cant know what my life will be in the next 35 yearish.

Visit e.g. digital shops like eBay, Amazon, Booking.com, Trivago and evaluate the prizes to local shop prices, and information adequacy to the consumer. Is the chosen service reliable?

I visited eBay. The prices vary alot. It feels more like a online fleemarket and I cant compare with local shop prices. The information of the products are just a scratch what we have in our local shops. Also you get served. I would say that the service is reliable but not as reliable as visiting in local shop. It can also be that i am not so familiar ordering from ebay so it feels harder to buy from there even tho there would not be any reason to doubt the service.

Find one service/application from your own field. Explain reasons for your choice and your user experiences.

I opened my employers app. It is a application to evaluate the need of healthcare for individual and time appointment. I think it helps a lot to make appointment to see doctor or nurse.

Digitalization and digital gap; what are the risks and challenges for those people, who do not use virtual services?

First with Digitalization. If someone isn’t using virtual services they will be left out totally from digitalization. In worst case scenario society will consider them as outcasts and those people wont be able to get any support. It can affect on every aspect of life. You can’t use bank services, you cant verify yourself and use public services. People with difficulties understanding IT and digitality might drop out from working enviroment. Employers want elastic employees who can do vast amount of different task and most of the (atleast) high end working places involve ability to work in digital enviroment.

 Do the Digital Competence Test 

I got myself to lvl 7 in the pyramid (1-8). I feel it matches my skill level.

My Self reflection

The Mirror of Subjectivity: Studies, Kela, and the Digital Transition

It is a fascinating phenomenon how the human mind works when tasked with examining a subject from one’s own perspective. When we begin writing, we often unconsciously construct a narrative that feels like the only “correct” answer to us. This became clearly evident to me when reflecting on the significance of Kela (The Social Insurance Institution of Finland) support in my own life. I wrote my response by mirroring it against my own financial and life situation, feeling that my explanation was exhaustive and truthful.

However, upon moving on to read other students’ blogs, I experienced a sort of social awakening. I noticed that what for me was a minor supplement—or even an unnecessary support—was a matter of survival for someone else. This observation sparked many thoughts about how limited our own bubbles often are, and how rich—and sometimes harsh—the reality revealed behind others’ writings can be.

The diversity of opinions and experiences is a strength, but it can also be confusing. For example, in my own text, I stated that the support I receive from Kela is nearly insignificant and that I could manage well without it. That was my honest truth. Then I read another student’s post, where she stated directly that studying would not be possible for her without every single euro paid by Kela.

This contrast gave me pause. It demonstrates the vastly different starting points from which we strive toward the same degree. For one student, studying is a choice supported by personal savings or work; for another, it is a path out of financial hardship, paved by social benefits. Finland and Kela do a tremendous amount of work to ensure that people have equal opportunities to educate themselves and succeed regardless of their background. It is great to live in a country where the goal is that no one’s intelligence or potential should go to waste simply because there isn’t enough balance in their wallet.

Even though the system provides a safety net, it does not do the work for us. As I noted, everyone must give their best. Finnish society provides the platform, but the race must be run by the individual. The idea that “the sky is the limit” is beautiful and inspiring. It holds a promise of meritocracy: if you work, study, and invest in yourself, you can achieve anything.

However, this mindset requires the support of the very structures that Kela and tuition-free education represent. Without them, the sky would only be the limit for those who can afford to buy the ladder. When the basics are in order, an individual’s own motivation and ability to take responsibility for their learning take center stage. It is a balance between societal support and individual duty.

Digitalization has changed the way we see the world and act within it. It has opened doors we didn’t even know existed. Through computers and the internet, the entire world’s knowledge and services are literally at our fingertips.

Accessibility: We can handle banking, order food, manage government affairs, and study directly from the home couch. Someone is always reachable; some service is always open.

Global Networking: Distances have vanished. A student in a remote town can draw knowledge from Harvard’s open lectures or discuss with a peer on the other side of the planet.

Efficiency: Tasks that previously required hours of queuing or travel are now handled in minutes.

But as with all great transitions, digitalization has a flip side. You aptly wrote that those who can harness the power of technology open countless doors for themselves. But what happens to those who cannot keep up with the ride?

Not everyone has the same capabilities or resources to jump on the digitalization train. This creates a new kind of inequality known as the digital divide. If a person is unable to use electronic services—whether due to age, illness, lack of skills, or financial situation—they fall hard and fast.

When public services move to “digital first,” those who cannot use strong authentication or navigate complex web forms are left outside of society. They become invisible in a system designed to optimize efficiency, rather than human interaction. This is a major challenge for supervisors, leaders, and society as a whole: how to ensure that technology serves humanity, and not the other way around?

This reflection also connects directly to e-leadership and the expertise emphasized in Master’s (YAMK) studies. In the modern era, a supervisor must be able to recognize the different starting points of their employees—just as I recognized the differences between students in the Kela discussion.

In remote work and digital environments, a supervisor must be even more perceptive:

Acknowledging Individuality: Who needs more support with technology? Who thrives when given the freedom to handle things independently behind a screen?

Maintaining Humanity: Digitalization allows us to work from the couch, but it can also isolate. A leader’s task is to build bridges and ensure that no one from the team “disappears” into cyberspace.

Promoting Equality: Ensuring that everyone has the necessary tools and skills to succeed, so that the famous “sky” is truly the limit for everyone, not just the most technically gifted.

In the end, it is a matter of perspective. It is easy to judge a system or praise technology through one’s own experience, but true wisdom comes from listening to the stories of others. The Kela discussion taught me that a safety net is only “unnecessary” for those who aren’t falling at that particular moment. Digitalization, on the other hand, is a massive resource, but it requires constant observation so that we do not create a world where success depends solely on the ability to master codes and applications.

Finland gives us the opportunity, technology gives us the tools, but human connection and understanding each other’s situations is the glue that holds the whole thing together. Only in this way can we ensure that when someone tries their best, they have a real chance to reach their goals—regardless of whether they start their journey with Kela’s support or without it.