Kela, OmaKanta and Ilmarinen
KELA is familiar to me, as I am sure to all Finns. I have received study support from Kela during my studies, maternity allowance, parental allowance, sickness allowance and nowadays child allowance for my minor children. My mother receives a pension and my daughter a housing allowance. I do not already have a European health care card. Getting it was straightforward and took less than a minute. I’ll get it in two weeks.
Logging in to OmaKanta is familiar. I log in there with my bank credentials. At the same time, I can also take care of my mother’s and the rest of my family’s affairs with their consent.
My pension matters are not taken care of in Keva. I logged into Ilmarinen and found an estimate of my pension there. According to Ilmarinen, I could retire at the age of 66 years and 9 months. If I continue to work until the age of 70, I will receive a full pension. Continuing to work has a big impact on the pension. I am satisfied that I have paid a voluntary pension insurance contribution to receive a better pension in the future.
Digital shops
I’m a little cautious when dealing in digital stores and I only use digital stores that I know to be reliable. I read reviews and familiarize myself with the digital store before making a purchase decision. I usually only use Finnish digital stores. I prefer buying from local stores, because I think that by only using local services, the services will remain in your locality. I buy from a local store, even if the price of the product is more expensive. Ebay and Amazon are not familiar to me. The selection seemed wide and the price level was affordable in both. I would still prefer to order from a domestic digital store if I can’t find the product in a local store. Booking.com and Trivago are familiar to me. I think they are easy because they offer a wide selection in one search. Both have good discounts, although their advertising of the lowest price is not always true in my opinion.
Online services in my field – Booking.com
Booking.com is a good platform for the digital trading of accommodation services. It provides a convenient basis not only for the buyer but also for the seller. The seller prices his own product and can make changes to the prices according to demand. You can upload many images to the service, making it easier for customers to make a purchase decision. Booking.com has some not-so-convenient features and some updates must be approved by Booking.com. Overall, Booking.com is good and offers a global marketplace for companies at a reasonable price.
Digitization and digital gap
Digitization brings excellent opportunities, but also threats. If a person does not know how to use digital services, he is in danger of being excluded from many things. It is also difficult to take care of personal matters if you do not have digital skills. This affects older people in particular and creates inequality in society. In working life skills, digital skills are already basic skills. If digital skills are weak, it is more difficult to work in many jobs and requires effort to learn new programs. Keeping up with digital skills requires constant vigilance and learning new things.
The digital competence
The digital skills test was interesting and so were its results. I was surprised that the communication, safety and information were quite similar in my test. However, my strength was communication. It’s natural for me to cooperate, interact and participate in networks. Production was my weakest area, and that didn’t surprise me. Solving digital problems and exploring new ways to utilize technology is not my forte. The test results could be used to strengthen one’s skills by developing weaker areas.
My Digital skills
Self-assessment
These assignments gave me an overview of various digital applications. I got to know new applications and discovered new things in already familiar applications. These tasks gave me the courage to do business in foreign digital stores as well. Reading other students’ blogs and experiences in the digital world was interesting. I am a strong supporter of local stores and I encourage my close circle to do business in them, so that the services can be secured in my locality. I also want to know how to use different digital environments and stores naturally.
I visited and commented on:
Sannas blog https://blogi.savonia.fi/vidgrensanna/digi-citizen/
Pavels blog: https://pavelgol6.wordpress.com/digi-citizen/comment-page-1/#comment-2
Hi Tiina! Good text, well written. I agree with you about the gap digitalization causes and I think it is important to highlight the threats that are involved in the usage of internet. Let’s hope that in the future the inequality balances out as the technology develops.
Thank you Tiina for your blog!
I appreciate you highlighting that Keva is not the only pension provider in Finland and that it is wise to take a pension insurance. It was also a good reminder that you also can take care of for example family members health affairs with their consent. Your view on online shopping seems thoughtful and ethical.
Hi Tiina, I agree that booking.com is a good platform for accommodation service, although from the point of view of the buyer. I have also noticed that it’s good to compare the prices to the company’s own web sites as well. There might be discounts that can’t be seen in booking.com.
https://blogi.savonia.fi/maijaraty/digi-citizen/
Thank you Tiina for your post!
I completely agree with your assessment of the impact of digitization on society. While digital services bring a lot of benefits and convenience, they can also create a digital gap and exclusion for those who lack the necessary digital skills. This can be particularly challenging for older people who have not grown up with technology, but it can also affect anyone who has not had the opportunity or resources to learn digital skills. This creates inequality in society and can make it difficult for some people to take care of personal matters or find employment.
I think it’s important for individuals and communities to recognize the importance of digital skills and provide resources and support to help people develop them.
https://nahlstrand.wordpress.com/
I have the same feeling with regards to digital shops like Ebay and Amazon as you. Buying from local stores is more secure and I also value the chance to tryout and test the product in the store, rather than ordering them online based of only pictures. Also, the trouble of returning items that weren’t right for me, seems too much for me.
Booking.com, however, is great service for holiday trips. I agree with your comments about it.
It was nice to read your text. Your thoughts on digital shops are very similar to mine. I also use Finnish shops. So far, they have given me everything I needed. Booking.con is also available to us. I’ve also liked its wide selection. I have sometimes had to cancel a reservation and it has been easy.
Hi Tiina! It was very interesting to read your post. I agree with you that digital services bring benefits and convenience, but they also have their drawbacks. However, they are not available to everyone. For example, most elderly people, people with intellectual disabilities and substance addicts may be excluded from these services. This creates inequalities that should be given more attention.
Hey,
Thanks for writing. I liked to read it and you are arguing well. It is interesting how different things everyone has, maybe it shows our lives and where we work. You are right about digital skills. Older people may not have that kind of skills, it is a challenge today work.
my blog: https://blogi.savonia.fi/heidinhaaveet/