Best practice awards 2004
The Prime Minister of Finland Mr. Matti Vanhanen awarded 23th of november 2004 best Finnish practices in the field of information society. There were 266 participants in the competition for the awards in seven different categories. Jury was headed by the Minister of Transport and Communication Mrs. Leena Luhtanen. In this page you can find information concerning the awarded practices. Next time the award is presented in 2006.
Category: Information society in everyday life (Grand Prix)
Winner: SMS Tickets in the Public Transportation
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Plusdial Ltd
Tekniikantie 12, 02150 Espoo
info@plusdial.net
www.plusdial.net
+358 9 2517 3073
Plusdial and HKL (Helsinki City Transport) were the first in the world to offer the opportunity to buy metro and tram tickets via SMS in Helsinki. From the beginning of November, this service was extended to metro feeder traffic, the two harbour bus routes and local trains in the Helsinki region. The ticket makes life easier for passengers and those working in public transport. Queuing to buy a ticket from a vendor or ticket machine is a thing of the past for those who buy their tickets in real time with their mobile phone. The easy-to-use SMS ticket makes public transport services more flexible and faster.
Jury comments:
The Plusdial service demonstrates in practice how mobile technology can benefit all users. The service improves speed and efficiency, saves money, is environmentally friendly and can be used by everyone as it is so easy to use. Mobile phone services for the public are on the increase throughout Europe, and Plusdial has already deservedly attracted attention abroad.
Category: Social and health services
Winner: Innovative wireless applications in time management within healthcare
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Wireless Lahti Project
Lahti Science and Business Park Ltd, Niemenkatu 73, 15140 Lahti
riitta.vesala@neopoli.fi
+358 50 594 9980
A group of applications is being developed for the Lahti region in which automated SMS messages will be used in customer services. Efficiency in social and health services will be improved, obtaining care will be easier, and pressure on staff will be reduced. SMS messages are becoming a significant part of customer services in the social welfare and health care sector. These applications will reduce costs and generate products to improve the region’s competitiveness
Jury comments:
Innovative solutions that have been practically tested and can be used extensively. Advantageous for customers and service providers. Based on easy-to-use technology that users are familiar with. The applications can also be easily distributed and help cut costs.
Honorary mention:
Finnish Association of the Deaf: Sign language via videophone to improve equality, www.kl-deaf.fi
Jury comments:
Good example of active development of information society services by the third sector. A concrete service and method of operation has been achieved in the project. This work should be further continued and extended.
Category: Education and Learning
Winner: Virtual craft and design classes ("Käspaikka")
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TOP-centre for Computer-Assisted Learning, Turku school system
Torninkatu 4 20100 Turku
pirjo.sinervo@tkukoulu.fi
http://www.tkukoulu.fi/handmade/
+358 2 262 9188
"Käspaikka" — virtual craft and design classes — is a nationwide network community that connects pupils, students, teachers and researchers. The website distributes the latest information on craft and design work and makes it accessible to all. An extensive selection of material produced by teachers and students can be found on the Käspaikka website freely available to everyone who enjoys craft and design. Käspaikka is a good example of a functional network of those who work in various and separate working communities, both teachers and students. Craft and design and teacher training research and knowledge are also important in Käspaikka, where theory and practice are seamlessly joined.
Jury comments:
Käspaikka makes use of research data and is strongly based on expert knowledge. Teaching methods can be developed in many ways using the information technology that has been developed for handicrafts. The website is obviously demand-driven; it offers craft and design teachers, who are often on their own in a school, their own online working community. The practical website has been up and running for a long time and has constantly evolved along the way, and as far as we can see it will carry on in the same way.
Honorary mentions:
National Board of Education: www.x-sajting.net
Jury comments:
A diversity of materials for young people all in one place. Promotes informal education and prompts discussion on subjects that young people find interesting.
Finnish Association on Mental Retardation: Tikas (Ladder project): ICT for groups with special needs, http://www.kehitysvammaliitto.fi/tikas
Jury comments:
Strengthening the position of groups with special needs is important. This education model can be extended to the national level.
Category: eWork
Winner: New businesses and jobs through strategic development
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City of Kuusamo
Kaiterantie 22, 93600 KUUSAMO
tauno.korpela@ypk.koillismaa.fi
www.naturpolis.fi/ework
+358 40 55 44 905
Kuusamo joined the information society in 1987 when a working group set up by the municipal board started preparing an information society strategy called the “five stage programme”. This strategy was put into practice in the KUUSAMO project 1988-1990 and resulted in the creation of a fourth business sector, information society occupations, in addition to the three existing business areas of primary production, forestry and travel. The most significant result of this strategy has been the creation of 200 new jobs in almost 20 companies. Of these, 150 have been created in six different Call Centres or Customer Service Centres. As a result unemployment in Kuusamo has gone down by three percentage points.
Jury comments:
This long-term strategic development work supports the information society potential of the region and has created new jobs.
Honorary mention:
Category: Cooperation projects
Winner: YTV Journey Planner
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Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council YTV
PO Box 521
petteri.sipila@ytv.fi
http://www.ytv.fi/reittiopas
+388 9 156 1448
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) door-to-door Journey Planner provides information on the best public transport connection within the Helsinki region at any specified time. The aim of the service is to improve the level of service provided by public transport by making it easier for people to plan their journey, thus increasing the number of people who use public transport in the Helsinki area. The Journey Planner makes use of YTV, the Cities of Espoo, Helsinki, Vantaa and State Railways timetables and geographic data.
Jury comments:
The YTV Journey Planner has been up and running for about three years and has proved to be a service that both works and can be trusted. A large project with many participants, it makes use of the timetables and geographic information of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council, the cities of Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa, and the State Railways. The service is a good model for developing a Journey Planner on a national scale, for example.
The YTV Journey Planner is a comprehensive service that contains accurate timetables, transfers, routes and maps for all the different types of public transport in the Helsinki area. It makes a genuine contribution to the everyday lives of all those who travel within the Helsinki area. The YTV Journey Planner, launched in November 2001, has about 30,000 users a day. The service has received positive feedback from the people who use it.
Honorary mention:
eTampere: eTampere - Information society programme, www.etampere.fi/en/
Jury comments:
eTampere is a broad, diverse and innovative project which has had expert knowledge and development input from the region’s educational and research institutions, business sector, administrative organizations, associations, communities and inhabitants. The aim is to make Tampere a leading information society city by strengthening skills, building up new business and creating new services for the public. Areas of focus include demand-driven services based on technological innovations which aim to achieve active, participatory and effective citizenship, the development of business and intensifying international cooperation.
Category: eBusiness
Winner: ProCountor
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ProCountor International Ltd
Maapallonkuja 1 A, 02210 Espoo
info@procountor.com
www.procountor.com
+358 20 436 2146
ProCountor.com is an online financial administration service that makes it possible for all financial and accounting activities to be carried out at any time and anywhere. SMEs, associations and housing corporations can easily take up this service: all they need to do is sign one contract to gain access to online invoicing, finvoices and e-letters. Once the invoices have been saved in the system, they are automatically transferred to debiting without resaving. ProCountor.com also makes it possible to monitor accounts ledger and accounting in real time. Official reports such as VAT reports, employer remittance reports, annual salary reports and notifications to insurance companies can also be created electronically with ProCountor.com.
Jury comments:
ProCountor is a modern solution to traditional methods of financial administration. eBusiness and e-transactions have been essential parts of the service from the very beginning. The service makes it possible even for SMEs to carry out their financial administration with low bureaucracy and at a reasonable cost. The service can also be used by accounting offices, which provide accounting services for the majority of SMEs. The information on the system is in real time and can be viewed by the accountant and the company management.
Honorary mentions:
- Mobisoft Ltd: MobiRouter — a control system for demand responsive transportation, www.mobisoft.fi
Jury comments:
The system is widely used in Finland and a few other European countries. The system can be adopted regionally once a travel dispatch centre has been set up, and the system can then be expanded for use by goods traffic. Transport paid for by the Social Insurance Institution and transport provided by hospital districts can also be combined into the system. Calculations have shown that the system is economically beneficial.
Practices awarded in the category of Public Online Services can be found from webpages: www.laatuaverkkoon.fi (in Finnish)
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