Focusing on the citizen – Chief Specialist Anssi promotes more smoothly functioning digital everyday life and society

How did a humanities and social sciences graduate working in the mobile phone business end up promoting the smooth functioning of digital services in central government? Anssi Ahlberg, Chief Specialist and Project Manager, tells us what brought him to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in 2019 and what he thinks is best about his work.

Anssi left the mobile phone business to work as a government official in 2019. He has now worked at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency for more than six years and enjoys it. Anssi promoted the smooth functioning of Finland first as a product owner and later as a chief specialist and service owner in the service collection of opening and utilisation of data. At the beginning of 2025, Anssi started as a project manager in the European Digital Identity Wallet project, in which he is supported by two other project managers. The digital identity wallet improves secure digital services in Finland and Europe. In the first phase, citizens can use the wallet as a means of strong electronic identification and to sign documents electronically at the least. Use of the wallet will be voluntary for citizens.

Less trouble, more smoothly functioning services

Anssi links the significance of his work to the agency’s task: 

“In my opinion, the agency as a whole produces the glue that holds the building blocks of society together, makes life easier for citizens and promotes the openness of information.”

According to Anssi, citizens see this as pre-built services that make things run more smoothly.

“For example, the tax authorities don’t need to ask the citizen’s personal data every time they make the tax decision as the system retrieves the necessary data from the Population Information System and the systems of the other authorities. When data is transferred in an interoperable form between different parties, citizens receive faster and smoother service,” Anssi explains.

What Anssi finds best about his work is its diversity and the suitable challenges it provides. 

“Sometimes I have a number of entirely different matters on my desk and cannot focus fully on just one. On the other hand, I prefer it this way, anyway. I have always been working on many projects, which means that you need to know a lot about many things. My work is changeable and the days are different. The best thing is that I can work with top professionals from different fields every day,” Anssi says.

From Seinäjoki to the America of Ostrobothnians

The second largest office of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency is located in Tampere, which is Anssi’s hometown. Anssi’s roots are in Ylistaro, Seinäjoki, but he originally ended up in Tampere because of his studies.

“Where I come from, people have always said ‘Tampere is the America of Ostrobothnians’. I studied humanities and social sciences, and majored in English and literature and in international politics. I have also completed a specialisation in technical communication, which focused on producing instruction manuals, structuring of information and project management,” Anssi explains. 

Before the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, Anssi had a long career at Nokia and Microsoft, where he moved on from technical writer to positions in project management and product management. For example, he was responsible for the language features of phones and the country-specific user experience of each country. Anssi’s long experience in consumer business has shaped the way he works:

“For example, we planned how devices would change time zones and what kind of music we would offer in Kazakhstan. The work on consumer products gave me a thinking model in which the customer and their needs are always at the centre of everything. The same way of thinking continues to guide my work even today – now everyone living in Finland is at the centre of my work. It is extremely rewarding,” Anssi says.

How did Anssi end up at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and as a government official after mobile phone business? 

When major changes took place in the mobile phone business in 2016, Anssi wanted to complete his unfinished university studies. At the same time, he participated in career coaching and came across career opportunities in central government.

“It hadn't crossed my mind before that I could also apply for work in central government. I noticed an interesting designer vacancy at what was then the Population Register Centre, and here I am,” Anssi reminisces.

Anssi's language skills are an advantage in his current position, too, as cooperation is also carried out across national borders. 

“I am privileged, as I have the opportunity to use English as my working language. International cooperation adds zest and a nice twist to my work.”

Anssi highlights interesting and challenging work tasks and a good balance between work and leisure as the greatest strength of his employer.

“It suits me very well to work more and do longer days when there is more work. In return, I can organise my timetables flexibly with my supervisor when it is quieter,” Anssi says.