Digi citizen services
Kela – My most used service from Kela is a Kela Card, which I mainly use in pharmacies and medical appointments to get reimbursement for the medical costs. I also own European Health Insurance Card, which I have used during my trips if I have needed some medical treatment. Kela offers many other useful services to families, students and in case of sickness or unemployment, but I have only used some services regarding my studies. As a student I have used a study grant benefit and with my current higher education studies I have used OmaKela to pay the healthcare fee.
OmaKanta – OmaKanta is quite familiar to me. I usually use OmaKanta when I need to check my personal health records, renew medication prescriptions or access electronic health certificates such as COVID Pass. The service is very easy to access through Suomi.fi e-Identification and I mainly use Mobile certificate or my own Bank credentials to access OmaKanta.
Keva and Ilmarinen – I went to Keva site to check my pension details. However, it seems after logging in that my pension details are available through Ilmarinen as I have not been working in a public sector. I logged in to Ilmarinen, using Mobile certificate, and was able to check my pension record, retirement age and calculate the estimated pension. Referring to the old-age estimate report, my minimum retirement age is 67 years and 5 months as my target retirement age is 69 years and 7 months. This means the service is not even allowing me to calculate my estimated pension if I would plan to retire at 63 years.
Digital service review: Travel Agents vs. Hotels own applications
Since I have worked in the hotel industry for quite a long time, many accommodation service platforms, such as Booking.com and Trivago, are relatively familiar to me both through my personal experience and my work. I find these services to be mostly reliable. However, it is important for customers to carefully review their booking details, as some information like pricing details and cancellation policies are not always the easiest to interpret. Generally, the prices on these platforms align with those offered by the accommodation providers themselves, although the lowest rates are often found through the hotel’s own booking channels.
I personally prefer to use hotel companies own booking channels and application. One very familiar application for me over the years have been the IHG app, which is a mobile application for IHG Hotels & Resorts. The applications allow you to book and manage your reservations easily and gives you real-time information about your bookings. Now there is also possibility in some hotels to use application for check-in and check-out and even use your mobile as a digital room key which make the hotel experience even easier. It also has a special discounts and benefits for members.
Digitalization and digital gap
Digitalization has changed the way we handle our everyday tasks and many of the services are available nowadays only through digital platforms. While digital services offer convenience and efficiency, they can also create challenges for those who are less familiar with technology. I feel this has impacted mostly to older generations. For older individuals it might not be that easy to access different online systems and applications and they might not have enough knowledge to use the devices needed. It has also become more difficult to have in-person service which makes accessing the services more difficult.
Some individuals might also lack access or do not have the necessary tools to use various digital systems. For example, not everyone can afford to purchase the latest technological devices or smartphones. This can also have a significant social impact as many people stay connected with others mainly through digital applications and may in worst cases lead to feeling of isolation.
Digital Competence Test
This was the first time I made the Digital Competence Test and it was interesting to see what the results would be. I got the total score of 71% and level 5 – Advanced. This means I’m able to perform many different tasks and guide others in doing the same as well as solve most problems on my own.
The highest competence scores I got from Self-Service, which means I prefer to use and benefit from self-service solutions online and feel safe doing so. The results are spot on as I prefer using online solutions and services rather than calling or handling everyday tasks in person. I believe this is very common for people nowadays and many who have grown together with digital improvements will get high scores in this area.
The lowest competence scores I got from Automation. This means my ability to create or modify digital solutions have space for improvement. I can agree with this result too since I’m not very familiar with different kind of automation processes. However, I feel this course has been a great development opportunity for me in this area.
Below you can see my Digital Competence Test results.
Self-evaluation
With digitalization most services have moved online. These include many everyday services, such as banking, healthcare or government services that are essential in daily life. Some cases it is still possible to have face-to-face service but the opportunities for this have decreased significantly in recent years.
In the future, both service providers and individuals should pay attention to how these services can be provided to everyone in a way that makes them easy to use and accessible to all. I believe that it is important to consider different age groups and individuals regardless of their financial status when developing the services. I was also surprised to notice that many services such as Kela e-services and OmaKanta were only accessible in Finnish and Swedish even though there are many English-speaking individuals using these services in Finland as well. Development must be able to meet the needs of individuals in a way that no citizen is left out of these essential digital services, and we should help one another to learn and keep up with the digital changes.
Here are the blogs I visited and commented on: