Advisory boards on information management in public administration

Pursuant to section 7 of the Act on Information Management in Public Administration (906/2019), the Ministry of Finance is responsible for arranging cooperation relating to information management in public administration and to the production of information and communication technical services.

The objective for cooperation set in the Act on Information Management in Public Administration is to promote the implementation of the objectives of the Act and to utilise information pools and information and communication technology to develop public administration practices and service production methods. The key objective of this interactive cooperation is to bring development work and measures undertaken in different places into alignment and, thus, reduce the amount of overlapping work and costs, and to improve understanding, for example, of the impacts of reforms.

In order to achieve these objectives, advisory boards monitor changes and developments in digitalisation, information management, and information and communication technical services in public administration. The advisory boards assess the impacts of these changes on the tasks of public administration and on service and administrative structures. This work leads to the creation of joint objectives, policies and proposed approaches to promote operations and interoperability as well as to compile and maintain the knowledge base required for decision-making.

Expert Group on Information Management in Public Administration

The Expert Group on Information Management in Public Administration supports planning and decision-making by public authorities by providing cross-administrative cooperation and competence on various themes relating to information management, by monitoring the overview of information management in public administration and by producing recommendations for measures based on the overview. The group works together on proposals for key national and international measures and regulations and assesses their impact.

The work of the Expert Group on Information Management in Public Administration will make the guidance of information management in public administration more effective and will identify key needs for harmonisation. The objective is to harmonise practices relating to information management and information guidance in public administration and to promote the interoperability of public services. The work will also promote the openness of activities and enable the utilisation of stakeholder perspectives and competence in the preparation of matters relating to information management. The work will support the Ministry of Finance's objectives and tasks relating to information policy and information management. 

The tasks of the expert group are to: 

• increase the efficiency of public administration by monitoring the cross-administrative overview of information management and by identifying key needs for coordination; 
• compile and evaluate shared practices in order to promote interoperability in public administration; 
• support the Ministry of Finance in maintaining and further developing the information management map of public administration referred to section 6 of the Act on Information Management in Public Administration (906/2019) and in using the map in impact assessments of administrative reforms; 
• support the ministries in drafting the general strategies to promote the interoperability of shared information pools laid down in in section 6 of the Act on Information Management in Public Administration (906/2019) and in coordinating cooperation in the further development of the general strategies;
• process and assess the impact of key development plans, measures and legislative proposals that affect information management in public administration, the utilisation of data and the promotion of the movement of data; 
• monitor the international field of information policy and information management, compiling a shared situation picture and monitoring the implementation of key measures and recommendations.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for chairing the expert group, which has been appointed for the term of 1 May 2024–31 December 2027.  The ministries, representatives of the municipalities and the Association of Finnish Municipalities, representatives of the wellbeing services counties, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, and Arene ry, as the representative of higher education institutions, have been invited to participate in the group. The Ministry of Finance has appointed one of its officials to serve as a general secretary to prepare the work of the group. 

How to get information on and participate in the activities of the advisory boards?

The goal is for the activities of the advisory boards to be open, transparent, interactive and participatory.

The Ministry of Finance’s website, vm.fi, is the most important channel for following the boards’ activities and the matters coming up for discussion. Agendas are published in advance in the joint Gateway to Information on Government Projects (Hankeikkuna), which is also where the materials of meetings are published after the meetings. This information is only available in Finnish.

In order to carry out their tasks, the advisory boards can launch surveys and studies, working group preparations or take other measures to promote participation by outside experts. Check who the members of the boards are from Hankeikkuna and contact them to have your say on the discussion of matters and on the boards’ practices.