MyData 2017 Conference 20.8.-1.9.2017: Population Register Centre of Finland works for more transparent digital world

This year the conference is held in two countries, Finland and Estonia. The latter acts as President of the Council of the EU in 2017. Finland and Estonia are known as pioneers in digital innovation and infrastructure. Together we are working on joint solutions and services, such as data transfer between our countries using the X-Road technology. “Collaboration is the key, not just between between government organizations but internationally as well”, Janne Viskari, Director of Digital Services at Population Register Centre, says.

Public data registers have huge potential from a MyData perspective. Unfortunately, that data is currently kept hidden in the information systems of every public organization. Individual citizens have no power to consent to share their own data with third parties. Data does not travel smoothly between public organizations – often it does not travel at all.

Population Register Centre of Finland is currently building a number of services that will provide both public and private organizations with the tools to digitalise their services. The Suomi.fi service platform aims to make supply meet with demand when it comes to intelligent IT infrastructure. Moreover, the Population Register Centre is working closely with the Ministry of Finance on a MyData-inspired pilot project. We are seeking ways to incorporate the idea of consent and the necessary mechanisms into our services, in tandem with a number of stakeholders, both public and private. “In order to make data move freely between organizations, both public and private, we must give the individual citizen the power to authorize the use of his or her data”, Viskari says.