1. Information Society OULU Katriina Puhakka Director of Development
Competitive regions - Shaping Best Practice Sheffield 9 and 10 October 2003
Information Society OULU Katriina Puhakka Director of Development

2. • A rapidly developing centre of growth in northern Europe
• Centre of education in northern Finland
• 6th largest city in Finland, with 125,000 inhabitants
•  University of Oulu (15,350 students), Oulu Polytechnic (7,300 students), vocational institutes (about 6,000 students)
• About 6,000 firms, average net growth 150 enterprises/year
• The Silicon Valley of the North, location to Scandinavia’s oldest technology park
• 12,000 jobs in the high-tech sector
• Easily accessible

3. Population in Oulu and City Region, 1980 -2020

4. Oulu vision Oulu is a successful, magnetic and economically sound city
Oulu and the surrounding region are in the centre of development of expertise and business in Northern Europe
Oulu is a successful, magnetic and economically sound city
Oulu is a good place to live in and has the most developed services in Finland, arising from the needs of its residents
Oulu is a cooperative, nationally and internationally strong, influential city

5. Oulu Growth Agreement - Clusters
Programme agreements
Objective 2 programme
Content
production
and media
Bio
-technology
Information-
technology
Wellness-
Environment
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME
LOGISTICS-

6. Information Society Oulu
Business companies
University
Northern Finland
Polytechnics
Oulu region
Vocational institutes
The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, various Ministries
Council of Oulu Region, Employment and Economic Development Centre,
Partner cities

7. Objectives Promote the Oulu information society development
Utilize new technology in services offered by the city
Provide diverse services for residents of Oulu, regardless of time, place or medium
Renew service processes and structures
Produce added value to organisation of city and customers

8. Network services
Starting point: to unify all the forms and make them available in digital form
Many-layered chain of decision making; network decreases bureaucracy
Benefits of rationalisation: improves internal activity and helps improving the processes
Challenges: changing the working processes , exploiting existing communications systems, co-operation between officials, electrical personal ID and signature

9. Mobile services
Octopus-project enables developing and testing of mobile services
Challenges: users have old mobile phones, mobile payments, marketing and easy use of mobile services, operator charges / cash flows

10. Mobile tool in the care of the elderly
Concrete examples
Mobile fishing permit, mobile tickets to swimming halls and theatre productions
Mobile tool in the care of the elderly
Mobile- and network services of libraries

11. Concrete examples
Mobile fitness hall reservations
Mobile information service system for young people (coming events on a distribution list)
Mobile information system for water temperature at swimming places
Reducing health care centre appointments made by phone

12. Budgets and resources 2002 - 2004
Coordination-project
2 people, budget €
Network services
2 people + 1 trainee, €
Oulu Smart City Card (1997- onwards)
2 people
Mobile services

13. City card application set, Oct. 2000
Library
October
2000
Spare time
October
2000
Transportation for
the elderly and the handicapped
April
2001
Catering
services
October
2000
Access controll
February
2001
Card loading point
September
2000
September
2000
Staff card
Electric forms
using PKI
2001
2002
Banking services,
on banks card
June
2000
Summer
2000
Congress,
Oulu
Public phone,
on banks card
June
2000
Taxi
2003

14. Future challenges
Descriptions and further development of service processes
Compatibility of registers
Electrical ID and signature
Smooth service chains
Compatibility of regional services
Improving the capacity of the personnel of the city and the residents to utilize information technology
Developing Intranet in the City organisation