Key projects of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency

The project arises from the need to ensure that all public administration services are digitally available to citizens. The aim of the project is to digitalise the services used by

• the private customers of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency 
• and the case management of the services. 

The focus in this legal protection project is on the digitalisation of customer advice channels, digitalisation of guardianship services, family law and inheritance law services, and the development of a shared case management solution. 

The project will start on 1 January 2022 and end on 31 December 2028. The project is led by Tom Marsti. 

Inquiries: Tom Marsti, Head of Unit, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, firstname.lastname [at]dvv.fi, tel. +358 295 536 006

The objective of the VAAKA project has been to make the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s services for private customers available in digital format and to digitalise the agency’s case management and archives.

Key achievements of the project include

• digitalising the processing of annual statements of public guardians (in guardianship services)
• digitalising the processing of certificates and extracts ordered from the Population Information System (such as residence certificate, birth certificate, life certificate and marriage certificate) and Apostille orders
• name change service (changing forename or surname)
• service for reporting guardianship information to municipalities and district courts
• digitalising the processing of sales permits and permits for the division of inheritance in public guardianship services
• implementing unique dwelling identifier in the Population Information System.

At the start of 2022, the VAAKA project will be merged with the project to enhance legal protection of citizens through digitalisation.

The JUDO project by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency develops the management and risk management of digital security, exercise activities and digital security culture and competence.

In 2020, the JUDO project also launched new tasks to develop municipal digital security, information security architecture and the security of cloud services.

The tasks of preparing the recommendations of the Information Management Act that have previously been part of the project have been transferred to the Information Management Board.

The JUDO project is based on the Development Programme for Digital Security in Public Administration (description sheet in English) and the Government resolution on Digital Security in the Public Sector and its implementation plan (Haukka).

Additional information: Erja Kinnunen, Chief Specialist, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, [email protected], tel. +358 (0)295 535 230

Not enough time remains in the current session of the Finnish Parliament for legislative initiatives that would enable digital identity reform to be processed. Preparations for a European Digital Identity Wallet continue. Read more.

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Together with the National Police Board, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency is involved in the Digital Identity Development project of the Ministry of Finance. In accordance with the Government Programme, the aim of the project is to promote the possibility of electronic identification for Finnish citizens and all people using Finnish services and to promote the development of functional identification solutions.

The role of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in the project is to produce a new, fully digital identity card alongside the passport and ID card, which enables identification and verification in both electronic services and during appointments. Development work is carried out in extensive cooperation with various stakeholders.

The aim is to develop a digital identity solution for citizens which doesn’t expire to make everyday life easier. It adapts to the needs of a changing society and is suitable for new digital platforms as they develop. The solution takes different users into account and thus promotes equality. The aim is that in the future, in addition to identity, the new solution will also enable the demonstration of a person's rights and permits (for example, driving licences, student status or a firearm permit).

Read more about the digital identity reform >>

Read more on the project page of the Ministry of Finance >>

Additional information: Riitta Partala, Director, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, [email protected], tel. +358 (0)295 535 044

HEUKO project coordinates and supports the implementation of changes

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency is involved in a project by the Ministry of Finance for a personal identity code reform (HETU project). For more information, see the Ministry of Finance project page (in Finnish). The purpose of the project is to reform the personal identity code system ensuring a sufficient number of personal identity codes. The implementation of the reform requires legislative amendments.

The reform requires implementing changes in the Population Information System. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency is running the HEUKO implementation project (from 8 December 2021 to 31 December 2023) to implement the reforms of the HETU project. The project coordinates the extensive deployment of the Agency’s services and supports the customer implementation of the reforms. The primary objective of the project is to enable the implementation of changes required by the legislative amendments of the HETU project in all of the Agency’s services during 2023.

Objectives of the HEUKO project

Ensuring a sufficient number of personal identity codes

There are a limited number of personal identity codes per each day and year, regardless of century. Due to the limited number of personal identity codes, a solution to ensure a sufficient number of codes is to add new punctuation marks in addition to ones currently in use (+, - and A). There will be no changes to existing personal identity codes. Additional information on personal identity codes.

For additional information on the impacts of the personal identity code reform on the Population Information System, see the page Reform of personal identity code.

Additional information:

Markus Maunula, Senior Specialists, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, [email protected]

For more information, contact: [email protected]

The objective of the national AuroraAI programme is to use artificial intelligence to facilitate timely and personalised access to services in different situations of life. In this way, the aim is to avoid getting your case bounced from one official to another and to promote cost-effectiveness, especially in the provision of public services. The AuroraAI programme is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

The programme includes three sub-modules. Of these, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the core components of the AuroraAI network. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will implement a technical platform that forms the backbone network of artificial intelligence. In the future, the AuroraAI network will provide a smart distribution channel for services provided by different organisations and a channel for interaction between organisations. The AuroraAI network will be introduced phase-by-phase by the end of 2022.

Read more on the Ministry of Finance’s website:

• AuroraAI network
• National AI Programme AuroraAI

Additional information: Tuire Vuolasvirta, Development Manager, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, [email protected], tel. +358 (0)295 535 355

The Government Programme has set the objective for Finland to become known as a pioneer in developing and introducing opportunities for digitalisation and technological development across administrative and industry boundaries. The aim is to increase the technology and digitalisation capabilities of the public sector and to develop cooperation between the public and private sectors.

The Programme for Promoting Digitalisation (Digitalisation Programme) has been created to implement these Government Programme objectives. The programme supports and encourages authorities to make their services available to citizens and businesses in digital form by 2023.

The objectives of the programme by 2023 are:

• High-quality digital public services are available to citizens and businesses at least in accordance with the Act on the Provision of Digital Services.
• The need for non-electronic and appointment-based services of businesses have significantly decreased, and many business services are only available digitally.
• Digital support is available throughout the country, and it is also developed to serve those engaged in business activities.

Digitalisation Programme at DVV between 2020 and 2021

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency focuses its work on the following entities (in two separate projects):

• Digital support for companies and communities to determine the need for and supply of digital support for companies and communities, and to determine how companies and communities are supported in the transition to digital services.
• Further development of Suomi.fi services, in which the Messages and e-Authorizations services will be developed to better match the activities of those engaged in business activities and the authorities, and
• The development of quality tools that enable those involved in the development of digital services and those responsible for services to develop better, more customer-oriented and accessible digital services. The quality tool package consists of a self-assessment tool, a user feedback tool, overall views of the data collected using the tools, and utilization data.

Additional information

• Programme for Promoting Digitalisation (Ministry of Finance)

The ICT Programme for Change by the Ministry of Finance is one of the six measures promoting digitalisation in the Government Programme. The aim of the programme is to promote and develop the digitalisation of social welfare and health care through Suomi.fi services in accordance with the social welfare and health care system architecture and to ensure the interoperability of both national and regional IT systems.

Through the restructuring project by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the ICT Programme for Change supports and finances 25 separate state aid projects for hospital districts and joint municipal authorities in well-being areas. DVV and DigiFinland work closely together in projects supervised by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) to support social welfare and health care organisations.

As a result of the programme:

• Citizens will start using increasingly more digital services in social welfare and health care services.
• The increase in costs is controlled in the services of the social welfare and health care sector by developing interoperability.
• The quality of the service provided to customers will increase by implementing e.g. more extensive electronic communications (an increase in the use of the Messages service among citizens) and increasing the possibilities to use services on behalf of someone else (e.g. using services in digital channels when the customer themselves does not use digital services).

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency aims to:

• Effective implementation of electronic support services in social welfare and health care services
  The aim is to increase the use of the Messages and e-Authorizations services in social welfare and health care sector services in particular, and to promote the introduction of other Suomi.fi services (Data Exchange Layer, fees, identification, Finnish Service Catalogue).
• Suomi.fi and the Finnish Service Catalogue are used in comparing digital social welfare and health care services
  The aim is to publish the comparative functionality of social welfare and health care services as part of the Suomi.fi web service. In this way, citizens can find the social welfare and health care service information of their own municipality centrally in the Suomi.fi web service and can compare different social welfare and health care producers with qualitative data.
• Data Exchange Layer to support integration and interoperability
  The aim is to increase the use of the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer in social welfare and health care sector services.

Finland will be the chair of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021. The aim of the "World’s smoothest cross-border mobility and daily life through digitalisation" project related to the chair period is to streamline the everyday life and mobility of people and businesses across borders by promoting the exchange of information between authorities in the Nordic countries.

The project will create an operating model and good practices to strengthen and enhance cross-border exchange of information.

The project examines the exchange of information and cross-border everyday life through three entities:

1. Studying in another Nordic country and the Baltic countries (the Finnish National Agency for Education is responsible for the work package)
2. The use of health care services in another Nordic or Baltic country (the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is responsible for the work package)
3. Legislative information search for legislation in the Nordic and Baltic countries (the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the work package)

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency manages the implementation of the project and coordinates the work of the project's working groups.

Read more in the Ministry of Finance’s press release: World’s smoothest cross-border mobility and daily life through digitalisation