Download 2. National strategies towards the information society

Statistics, Knowledge and Policy
OECD World Forum on Key Indicators
Palermo, 10-13 November 2004
MEASUREMENTS IN SUPPORT OF POLICY DECISIONS
KAIJA HOVI
ABSTRACT
In Finland, the information society is seen as a central issue in the reforming of the economy and public
administration. Keen to monitor progress, in its first national information society strategy, given as far
back as in 1995, the Government charged Statistics Finland with the responsibility to provide reports at
regular intervals and conduct occasional studies on the programme's impacts on society. There must be a
link between policy and the measurement of its efficiency – in other words, statistics. Giving out a
strategy means that we should also be able to measure the development towards the targets set in it.
The aim of the current Government Information Society Programme, launched in 2003, is to improve
competitiveness and productivity, promote social and regional equality, and improve citizens' well-being
and quality of life through effective use of information and communications technologies. The impact
indicators are clearly expressed and include several statistical indicators for the measurement of the
development. Statistics Finland has been able to provide policy makers with a considerable volume of
statistics on the realisation of the development of the information society.
1.
Introduction
Finland is generally considered a country that already has many of the elements of the information
society. The concept of the information society is in itself complex, although commonly used. The
concept knowledge-based society and other corresponding expressions, such as network society, have
also been used in different contexts when emphasising certain specific features of information society
development. The Committee for the Future of the Finnish Parliament uses the following definition:
Information society is a creative society that is based on interaction. The information society is not just
about new technology; it is more about a new way of doing things. From a theoretical perspective, the key
concepts include networked form of organisation and growth based on innovations.
Finland has so far fared well in international comparisons regarding information society development and
competitiveness. Citizens, enterprises and the public administration have extensively adopted the new
information and communications technology. Use of the computer and the Internet is common in nearly
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all age groups. The mobile phone has become commonplace in nearly all population groups. The
information and communications (ICT) sector as a field is undergoing strong growth.
Table 1. Households with an Internet connection, per cent by household size in autumn 1996, 1999 and in
spring 2002 and 2004 (at least one appliance)
Number of persons
1
2
Autumn 1996
Autumn 1999
Spring 2002
Spring 2004
3
4
5+
Total
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Sources: Finns and the future information society -surveys 1996 and 1999, Net commerce surveys 2002
and 2004, Statistics Finland.
A relatively homogenous social structure has clearly assisted Finland and the other Nordic Countries to
progress in the building of the information society. Social equality has also made it possible for everyone
regardless of background to receive good education. In addition, it has provided the prerequisites for a
rapid diffusion of different ICT equipment and applications throughout the society. At the same time, the
stability of the society has provided a basis for a feeling of solidarity, which has made it possible to unify
resources effectively for the building of the information society. In a welfare state, nobody should feel
that his or her basic security is threatened.
2.
National strategies towards the information society
In Finland, the information society was seen as a central issue in the reforming of the economy and public
administration in the early 1990s. In 1995, the Government made a decision in principle about the
measures that should be implemented to develop Finland into an information society.
Keen to monitor progress, in its first national information society strategy the Government charged
Statistics Finland with the responsibility to provide reports at regular intervals and conduct occasional
studies on the programme’s impacts on society. Giving out a strategy means that we should be able to
measure the development towards the given targets. Systematic work to monitor the penetration of
information technology, its potential applications, employment in the ICT sector and its impacts on the
economy was started at Statistics Finland in the mid-1990s. The first compilation of the results of this
work: On the Road to the Finnish Information Society was published in 1997 and the first survey on the
topic: Finns and the future Information Society was conducted in 1996.
The first strategy was criticised for putting too much emphasis on technology. The national information
society strategy reform in 1998 emphasised that Finnish society should be developed from the needs of
ordinary people.
In 1999, the Finnish Government included in its portfolio many key objectives for developing the
information society. They highlighted the role of the information society in reforming the economy,
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strengthening the content industry and improving the efficiency of public services. The objectives related
to the development of people’s skills, research and education, and the evolution of information networks
and the services provided by them.
The aim of the current Government Information Society Programme, launched in 2003, is to improve
competitiveness and productivity, promote social and regional equality, and citizens' well-being and
quality of life through effective use of information and communications technologies.
The Information Society Programme has two impact objectives:
1) The Finnish information society scores high marks in international comparisons and Finland can also
use its own information society policy to influence international developments.
2) Information and communications technology will be used in all organisations with the aim of
improving service standards, making operations and processes more efficient and maintaining and
improving competitiveness.
Both objectives will be measured with indicators, the first one with international comparisons on:
- Share of investment in ICT of total GDP (OECD)
- Contribution of investment in ICT capital to GDP growth (OECD)
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union) Digital Access index
- Impact of information and communications technology on the value added to market production
(Statistics Finland, National Accounts)
- Use of the Internet at work (Statistics Finland, Household Budget Survey)
- Contribution of investment in ICT capital to GDP growth (OECD)
The role of the OECD is very important; three out of four of the international indicators come from the
OECD.
The plan for implementing the Information Society Programme
The information society is a broad concept
Programme. The implementation of the policy
bodies, such as the Ministerial group on the
Minister, Information Society Council and its
monitoring group, etc., etc.
that in practice covers all areas of the Government
programme will be monitored and promoted by several
Information Society Programme chaired by the Prime
Sections, Information Society Programme steering and
The implementation of the Information Society Programme is divided into eight sections. The sections
cover almost a hundred projects and measures that are managed by different ministries. At the same time,
the objective is to co-ordinate the measures taken by state administration at the horizontal level in order to
ensure, for example, that the measures to be implemented are neither overlapping nor inconsistent in
nature. The sections of the Programme are as follows:

Telecommunications infrastructure and digital television

Citizens' ability to utilise the information society

Training, working life, research and development

Electronic services in public administration

Social welfare and health
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
Electronic commerce and digital contents and services

Government IT services

Legislative measures
The competition for the Prime Minister's Best Practices Award seeks practices that promote the
information society and presents prizes for the best ones it finds. A good information society practice is a
project, action, device or service that improves human well-being and quality of life through effective use
of information and communications technologies. A best practice can also be an endeavour to promote a
process or service within an organisation.
The idea of giving prizes for best practices is to increase public awareness of the good practices that
already exist, promote the spread of good practices associated with the information society throughout the
entire community, and encourage innovation and further development of current practices.
A total of 266 entries have been registered for the Prime Minister's Best Practices Award for 2004, and
for the competition for high-quality Internet services in public administration.
The impact objectives for each sub-sector are clearly written and they include several indicators for the
measurement of the development.
List of indicators and examples:
- Increase in the number of digital adapters and broadband connections (estimate of the Ministry of
Transport and Communications)
- A study on the various places where citizens use the Internet
- Number of household computers and Internet connections (Statistics Finland, Consumer Survey)
Table 2. Penetration of broadband connection, other Internet connection and PC according to the size of a
household in April-May 2004 as a percentage of all households
1
2
3
broadband
other Internet connection
4
home PC
5+
all households
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Source: Net Commerce Survey, Statistics Finland.
- Number of computers and Internet connections in different households (Consumer Survey of Statistics
Finland) and the use of Internet by different age groups and sexes (Statistics Finland, Household Budget
Survey)
- Use of the Internet for different purposes (Statistics Finland, Household Budget Survey)
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Table 3. The use of Internet for different purposes in spring 2004, as a percentage of 15-74 years old
Internet users
100
90
80
70
60
15-39 years
50
40-74 years
40
30
20
10
0
email
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in fo rmatio n lo o kin g fo r read in g n et
s earch fo r
a jo b
mag azin es
g o o d s an d
s erv ices
In tern et
b an kin g
in teractio n
with p u b lic
au th o rities
Source: Net Commerce Survey 2004, Statistics Finland.
- Share of citizens who feel that they have been pushed aside by the rapidly developing information
technology (Statistics Finland)
- Losses caused by computer viruses to enterprises and citizens and amount of junk mail received at
workplaces (Statistics Finland)
- Study on citizens’ trust in electronic services
- Number of people who buy or have bought via the Internet and obstacles to buying via the Internet
(Statistics Finland, Household Budget Survey)
- Management level assessment regarding the adequacy of recruits’ and employees’ information and
communications skills (Ministry of Labour/Statistics Finland)
- Number of IT and media sector graduates and their share of the employed (Statistics Finland,
Education Statistics)
- R&D expenditure (Statistics Finland)
- Number of new patents (National Board of Patents and Registration/ Statistics Finland)
- Involvement of information society sectors in innovations (Statistics Finland, Innovation Survey)
- Basic public services available on the Internet (Study of the European Commission)
- Study on the use of public Internet services and user satisfaction
- Number of general practitioners using electronic patient records (eEurope 2005)
(For further details, see: http://www.tietoyhteiskuntaohjelma.fi/esittely/en_GB/introduction/)
3.
The role of Statistics Finland
Statistics Finland has been able to provide policy makers with a considerable volume of statistics on the
realisation of the development of the information society. However, policy makers are not the only
customers interested in following progress towards the information society. The private sector, and its
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associations and research institutes also ask for public, impartial and reliable information, preferably with
international comparisons. The OECD has provided a good forum for discussing guidelines for the
production of such statistics.
Information society development may be evaluated from several different viewpoints. The stage of the
development can be examined by evaluating how and to what extent various business sectors, government
authorities and citizens have adopted modern information technology in their daily routines. The level and
state of education, knowledge and research are central to information society development. Knowledge of
and skills relating to information and communications technology are needed in all sectors in the
information society.
Statistical monitoring of the information society must be interrelated with statistical offices’ other work
and operating framework. The current situation of the information society must be described, as well as
its projected future development over a period of years.
The scarce resources of statistical offices can be used most effectively by exploiting existing statistical
systems and inquiries, re-classifying or by attaching additional questions to surveys, and so on, for
producing new information. A completely new enterprise survey is initiated very rarely in Finland.
Statistics Finland has studied use of the Internet and electronic commerce jointly with the other Nordic
Countries since 1999. To ensure comparability of the results all the countries have developed and used a
so-called “model” questionnaire. This model has been further elaborated on and approved by the OECD,
and Eurostat has been using the same model since 2001. Normally, questionnaires for statistical data
collections are supposed to remain unchanged for long periods, but this cannot be expected in the area of
collecting data on the usage ICT and electronic commerce. This is a methodological challenge to
statistical offices. On the one hand, the questionnaire must be updated with relevant questions according
to user needs and, on the other hand, indicators must be provided that allow time series analyses.
4.
In conclusion
Official statistics are expected, first and foremost, to give an accurate account of what is going on in
society. Statistical offices must be able to provide relevant, reliable and up-to-date numerical information
and support to decision-makers. Fulfilling this task is a major challenge to statistical offices at a time
when society keeps changing fast and their resources are quite limited.
Information concerning the development of a phenomenon or on a given status quo can only be obtained
through measurements, which may be based on research, statistics or administrative data. Statistics
Finland produces continuously statistical data on the development of diverse topics with surveys on, for
instance, time use, consumption, labour force, enterprises, education, culture, mass media, and so on.
Information concerning important and essential issues pertaining to the development of the information
society can also be obtained from these statistics.
It is no longer enough to view change from the national perspective; the effects of globalisation extend to
the public sector, enterprises, non-governmental organisations and ordinary citizens in every country.
Countries want to compare their own development with that of others and seek for best practices. In this
work, official statistics play an important role and international co-operation is crucial.
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References:
On the Road to the Finnish Information Society III. Statistics Finland, 2001.
On the Road to the Finnish Information Society IV. Statistics Finland, 2004.
Report of the Information Society Advisory Board to the Finnish Government on 14 June 2000.
Report of the Information Society Advisory Board to the Finnish Government on 20 June 2001.
Report of the Information Society Advisory Board to the Finnish Government on 11 December 2002.
Manuel Castells & Pekka Himanen: The Information Society and the Welfare State. The Finnish Model.
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Internet use and e-commerce in enterprises, 2001 and 2002. Statistics Finland.
The Future of the Finnish Information Society: “A caring, encouraging and creative Finland – a review of
the challenges of our information society” Discussion Proposal 10. Committee for the Future. Parliament
of Finland, 2004.
Government Policy Programmes 2003, Information Society. In pages:
http://www.tietoyhteiskuntaohjelma.fi/esittely/en_GB/introduction/
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