Digital and Population Data Services Agency

A digital Finland is built on secure data exchange

The Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency governs the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer that enables smooth data flow between authorities, businesses, and organizations. This translates to streamlined services and reduced data request needs for Finnish citizens.

Challenge

Increased security and standards for Finnish IT infrastructure

The Finnish society had already undergone a significant digital transformation in the early 2010s. However, there were still challenges with interconnecting different systems, which was largely done with point-to-point connections.

To standardize integrations, the decision was made to implement a national data exchange layer that would introduce a streamlined and secure approach for transmitting data between both public and private organizations.

“Developing the data exchange layer was a part of the Finnish Ministry of Finance’s National Service Architecture program. The project was modeled after Estonia’s great experiences with X-Road data transfer technology”, Finnish Digital Agency’s Chief Senior Specialist Jani Ruuskanen says.

The X-Road technology is now developed and maintained by the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS). Read the NIIS customer story here.

Approach

Close-knit development partnership

Although the basic technology for the national Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer could be copied from Estonia, there was still a great need for definition and development to tailor the model to match Finnish societal and IT infrastructure needs. As an X-Road specialist, Gofore was involved in the development work right from the early stages. Gofore has implemented several valuable assets for X-Road that the Finnish Digital Agency and NIIS have then developed further.

“Our collaboration has evolved into a model where we define a need, and Gofore provides us with experienced developers, project managers, and other experts as our development partner”, Finnish Digital Agency’s Chief Specialist Anssi Ahlberg says.

In 2020 and 2021 the Finnish Digital Agency commissioned Gofore to conduct service design that outlined several development targets in the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer.

“We gained valuable insight into, for example, the challenges within the implementation of the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer. We have then focused on solving these issues for the last couple of years”, Ahlberg says.

We gained valuable insight into, for example, the challenges within the implementation of the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer. We have then focused on solving these issues for the last couple of years.

Chief Specialist Anssi Ahlberg, Digital and Population Data Services Agency

Outcome

Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer’s popularity keeps growing

The data exchange layer keeps the Finnish society’s digital wheels spinning. It helps the Finnish Digital Agency succeed in their mission to promote digitalization, secure data availability, and provide services for their customers’ different life events.

A telltale sign of the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer’s success is its growing popularity in Finland. Thanks to the Finnish Data Agency’s, NIIS’s, and Gofore’s development work in recent years, the X-Road technology that the layer is built on has attracted increasing global attention.

“We’ve succeeded in developing our solution into an attractive option for data exchange. It is currently spreading on an open-source license both in Finland and abroad noticeably faster than before”, Ahlberg says.

The Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer was Gofore’s first major project with the Finnish Digital Agency. The smooth and close-knit collaboration has since expanded into other areas.

“Gofore provides a wide range of architecture services, software and application development, digital security services, service and user interface design, and executive advisory and consultation services for the Finnish Digital Agency”, Gofore’s Public Sector Head of Sales Ville Suvanto says.

Gofore is the Finnish Digital Agency’s development partner for the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer. The collaborative project helps both public and private organizations exchange information in a standardized and secure manner.

As a trusted partner of the Finnish Digital Agency, Gofore has been involved in developing the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer and other digital transaction services for several years now.

Project highlights

Goal

The goal was to implement a national data exchange layer that would provide a standardized and secure gateway for transmitting information between both public and private organizations.

Approach

The Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer was developed in collaboration between several providers. Gofore provided X-Road expertise and has since helped shape the data exchange layer into its current form.

Results

The Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer helps authorities, businesses, and organizations to interact and provide citizens with faster services. The solution’s popularity continues to grow both nationally and globally.