A new national information society strategy will be drafted for Finland. On Wednesday, 18 January, the Ministerial Group for the Information Society Programme decided to launch the preparation of the strategy.
The strategy will be drafted as part of the Government Information Society Programme during 2006. It will describe the changes in the national and international operating environment and it will provide ground for the future development of the Finnish information society. One of the strategy's aims is also to contribute for the preparation of the next cabinet's Government programme.
The preparation of the strategy will involve key decision-makers and actors within the Finnish information society. A background inquiry for interest groups was used to survey the expectations with regard to Finland's future, the strategic fields and priorities in the development of the information society, and ways to dovetail these views into a common nation-wide vision. On the basis of the preliminary results, the aim is a creative, humane and competitive Finland.
The work will continue at the meeting of the Information Society Council on 1 February when the corresponding strategies of other countries will be discussed and the national strategy outlined.
Previous national-level information society strategies date back to the 1990s. The first strategy, Finland - towards an information society, A National Outline, was prepared by the Ministry of Finance in 1995 and the second strategy, Quality of Life, Knowledge and Competitiveness, by the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, SITRA, in 1998.
The Information Society Programme, chaired by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, is one of the Government's four intersectoral policy programmes. The programme aims to boost competitiveness and productivity, to promote social and regional equality and to improve citizens' well-being and quality of life through effective utilisation of information and communications technologies in the entire society.
Further information: Programme Director Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 9 1602 2363 or +358 40 820 0750
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