The public sector does not have a reputation for moving fast in digitalisation projects. The City of Vantaa is an exception – it is accustomed to navigating through the digital transformation with great agility. Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Vantaa, says that agility is vital for Vantaa’s development. After all, it is the fastest-evolving city in Finland.
Vantaa has long been a trailblazer in electronic services. The city is a pioneer in the adoption of cloud services in the public sector. Key features of the technology landscape of Vantaa include geographic information systems (GIS) that are useful in zoning and construction supervision, state-of-the-art electronic services for residents, and digital platforms for learning and education.
According to Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Vantaa, the city has embraced agile operations for one simple reason: it wants to keep up with the pace of the ever-changing world.
"The urban structure is changing, the population is changing, the economic structure is changing. All of this is particularly evident in Vantaa, as it might be evolving at a faster pace than any other city in Finland. In order to understand and manage the changes occurring around us in a way that best serves residents, we must commit to embracing change at the same pace – that is, we have to move fast," Timonen says.
In the push and pull of speed and prudence
As a relatively young city, Vantaa has a small and lean organisation considering its size. According to Timonen, this is a key factor in the city's open-minded attitude towards new solutions, its approach to moving systematically to implementation and its ability to respond effectively to technological turning points.
However, public administration sets extremely high requirements for technological solutions, particularly with respect to information security and protection. Due to security issues, the implementation of technological solutions must be handled prudently, which Timonen says can sometimes be quite a laborious process:
"On the one hand, we should respond to changes as fast as we can, but on the other hand, given our responsibilities, we have to move slowly enough so that we can assess the impact of our solutions in advance. We really have to navigate through these kinds of conflicting priorities all the time," says Timonen with a laugh.
Reliable services expected in the heart of the capital city region
Vantaa is home to many major technology companies – in fact, thanks to the semiconductor industry, the city is known as Finland’s Silicon Valley. This sets objectives for the growth of the city from a corporate perspective. Many technology companies have centralised their production and logistics operations in Vantaa, which Timonen says is a source of pride for the city.
"Research, product development and production can be combined more effectively in Vantaa than anywhere else. Logistics, transport and technology are major strengths of Vantaa. Due to the growth of southern Finland, Vantaa has gradually emerged as the demographic centre of the Helsinki region. This, of course, yields advantages for companies in terms of both location and day-to-day operations," says Timonen.
Vantaa offers a wide range of services to its residents and businesses operating in the city. If any of these service falter, the reaction is often lightning fast: even the mayor himself has received a phone call before six in the morning when a certain Vantaa resident's snowbound street had not been ploughed early enough.
Cooperation is built on trust and interaction
Due to the number and critical importance of the services provided and maintained by the city organisation, they must measure up to high quality standards. Vantaa has collaborated with DNA for a long time in telecommunications networks, cybersecurity, and electronic services, for instance. According to Timonen, the reason for this long-standing cooperation is simple:
"We only work with organisations whose activities meet our criteria. We expect our partners to provide us with the latest solutions that are best suited to the city. Not only that, the reliability of their operations must fulfil the standards set for public organisations. This is also what our cooperation with DNA is based on," adds Timonen.
Timonen values interaction and he also praises DNA for presenting new ideas and solutions, thanks to which the partnership is both proactive and consistent.
According to Timonen, who has also worked in the corporate world, the city organisation must maintain high quality and efficiency in its operations, just like a company. The requirements of a good and successful organisation are largely determined by the same criteria.
Going forward, Timonen hopes to see even closer cooperation between businesses and public administration:
"I think companies and public sector organisations could learn a lot more from each other than they do now. In fact, we rely on each other surprisingly little. I believe that both companies and public sector organisations will develop enormously with each other's help, as long as we can find a way to sit around the same table more often," says Timonen.
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