Digital support brought to homes by HelsinkiMissio and the City of Helsinki awarded with the 2025 Digitukiteko recognition award – Digital skills and inclusion for seniors through cooperation
Digital support brought to homes provided by HelsinkiMissio and the City of Helsinki has awarded with the Digitukiteko recognition for 2025. Free-of-charge digital support offers older people, in particular those at risk of social exclusion, an opportunity to strengthen their digital skills in the comfort of their homes. The activities have succeeded in coordinate cooperation between the third and public sectors in a way that can also be scaled elsewhere in Finland.
“The model developed by HelsinkiMissio and the City of Helsinki shows that digital support is not just about technology but, above all else, encounters with people. The model has been successful in strengthening digital skills while simultaneously reducing loneliness and increasing inclusion. It is a concrete example of how the ‘Digital first but not alone’ principle can be implemented in practice,” says Minna Piirainen, Chief Specialist at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
The Digitukiteko recognition is awarded annually for the insightful and customer-oriented development of digital support and digital skills. The recognition is part of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s national work to develop digital support, and its recipient is selected by an annually changing panel. Last year, the recognition was awarded to Mansikka ry’s “Henkkarit kaikille” campaign, which improved the availability of identity documents.
Power of cooperation in the development of digital support
The theme of the Digitukiteko recognition for 2025 is “Cooperation”. This year the recognition aims to highlight examples of successful organisation of digital support across silo boundaries. The recipients of the recognition award and honourable mentions are united in that they have provided digital support through cooperation in a human-oriented manner, meeting with clients.
This year, the award panel included Janne Viskari, Director General of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, Leena Meriläinen, Principal of the Summer University of Jyväskylä, and Elina Huerta, Mansikka ry’s Project Manager.
Honourable mentions to wellbeing services counties and the municipality of Lempäälä
Two honourable mentions were also awarded in connection with the recognition award. The first was granted jointly to the Wellbeing Services Counties of South Savo, Pirkanmaa and Central Ostrobothnia, which have managed to organise face-to-face digital support for those who need it.
A second honourable mention was awarded to the municipality of Lempäälä’s service corridor concept, which combines digital support and service counselling. The service corridor’s service advisers help clients in the using the services of different actors on both shared devices and the client’s own devices.
“The Digitukiteko recognition and honourable mentions show that the need for digital support is extensive and diverse. Wellbeing services counties have carried out important work in providing digital support regionally. The Lempäälä Service Corridor is a good example of how multi-actor cooperation can respond to the need for support effectively and in an accessible manner,” says Minna Piirainen, Chief Specialist at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
More information
Digital and Population Data Services Agency, Chief Specialist Minna Piirainen, tel. 050 463 8512, [email protected]
