Information Society Council: Improvement in productivity by increased utilisation of ICT calls for organisational and structural changes

The Information Society Council, chaired by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, published its second report on Tuesday, 7 February. In the report, the Council provides a review of the information society development and its challenges in Finland. This year the report places particular focus on the productivity and efficiency gains generated by ICT. The report also provides proposals for practical measures for meeting the future challenges.

In its report, the Council emphasises that, according to empirical evidence, productivity and efficiency can be improved by the utilisation of ICT but that technology alone cannot guarantee results. ICT must be accompanied by a comprehensive reform of the existing procedures. New procedures and full-scale utilisation of ICT are considered to contribute to Finland's competitiveness and provide means to meet the challenges brought about by the increased need for welfare services for the ageing population.

A proposal: domestic help credit for information society services

The report makes several proposals whereby to enhance productive and efficiency. The most concrete proposal is to grant domestic help credit for the acquisition of ICT services. The proposed ICT support specialists, or "ICT caretakers", could visit people at home and provide help in setting up new equipment and preventing computer viruses or give advice on how to use the equipment.

The report includes proposals concerning closer cooperation within public administration as regards the application of ICT and the production of ICT services; the launching of a strategy and implementation programme on education, research and development; and a reform of the Copyright Act to better meet the needs of the information society.

The challenge of assessing productivity

According to the Council, it is necessary to develop better means to assess productivity. As regards the efforts to raise productivity, the report highlights the importance of both the set objectives and the performance measurement indicators. When assessing the productivity of the information society, it is important that the assessment cover not only tangible input and output but also intangible factors of productivity, such as intra- and inter-organisational networking and the overall level of skills. Assessment should be comprehensive. In addition to analysing the organisation's past, it should also provide an overview of the organisation's development.

The Information Society Council's report Tulevaisuuden elinvoimainen Suomi is available in Finnish at: http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/tiedostot/pdf/fi/100058.pdf

Translations into Swedish and English will be available in May/June 2006.

The Information Society Council chaired by the Prime Minister is a negotiation body for steering the development of the information society and for coordinating cooperation between administration, organisations and business life. Further information at http://www.infosoc.fi

Further information: Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja, Programme Director, tel. +358 9 1602 2363 or +358 40 820 0750 and Ville-Veikko Ahonen, Programme Coordinator, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 9 1602 2364 or +358 400 854 759