Finland has exported icebreakers around the world and rightly taken pride in them. A well-functioning digital society is another valuable Finnish export, yet it has received far less international recognition. However, mounting digital debt now threatens Finland’s competitiveness. To remain at the forefront of digital development, the country needs bold technology policies.
Finland has built a well-functioning digital society, but Finns have not fully recognised it as an achievement. Gofore CEO Mikael Nylund believes the key to Finland’s success comes down to one thing:
“The most important factor is an open-minded willingness and ability to harness technology to build a better society,” he says.
Public sector digitalisation is about ways of working, not just software. According to Nylund, the technical building blocks are easy to identify: digital identity, centralised and shared data repositories, and infrastructure that enables interoperability. Anyone can replicate these. What is much harder to replicate is what lies beneath the surface.
“Transparency means being open about what data is used, what it is used for, and what it is not used for. It also means keeping the promises you make,” Nylund emphasises.
AI is a driver of transformation, not just a cost-cutting tool
In Central Europe, digital registers are often met with scepticism. Yet most people readily allow global technology giants to collect their personal data. In Nylund’s view, excessive caution is not a safe choice. It is a risk in itself.
“Good governance includes building modern digital services. Avoiding risks is not good governance,” he says.
In both cases, the issue is not a lack of technical expertise in Central Europe. It is whether there is enough courage to connect systems and enable them to work together.
AI and digitalisation are equally critical to Finland’s future competitiveness. Yet Nylund is concerned about the country’s position. Finland had a head start in the first wave of digitalisation, but its former leadership is no longer evident.
Nylund stresses that AI should not be viewed merely as a way to cut costs.
“We can use it to create better services for people.”
Finland’s unfinished transformation – when the vision ran out
In spring 2026, Gofore commissioned a two-part study in which research agency Verian interviewed 30 public sector leaders and senior experts. The findings suggest that Finland has no shortage of vision, but existing administrative structures prevent a shared direction from emerging.
“Finland is good at maintaining the status quo, but the backlog of necessary reforms keeps growing as other countries move faster in digitalisation and AI adoption,” one interviewee summarises.
Nylund believes the underlying problem is complacency.
“In Finland, we successfully built what we set out to achieve with our early information society programmes. But somewhere along the way, we lost our vision,” he reflects.
The problem is not so much a lack of funding as a lack of direction. Maintaining legacy systems ties up resources that are urgently needed to develop new solutions.
Technology Industries of Finland has highlighted the growing problem of digital maintenance debt. The analogy is familiar from roads and bridges: when necessary investments are neglected, the debt continues to accumulate.
Breaking down silos is essential to public sector digitalisation
According to Nylund, phasing out legacy systems requires more decisive leadership. Existing structures make this difficult, as powerful government ministries continue to operate in silos. The same challenge emerges in the study:
“No one dares to establish a consistent interpretation. The same issue is resolved in ten different ways – or left unresolved altogether,” one interviewee says.
The study proposes a national digital strategy that extends beyond individual government terms, supported by a cross-government delivery unit with the authority to overcome administrative silos.
As one interviewee puts it: “A task force authorised by the Government. That’s how I’d put it.”
Finland’s competitiveness calls for bolder decisions
The Finnish parliamentary elections in spring 2027 will be a defining moment. The next government’s policies will shape the direction and impact of Finland’s digital transformation for years to come.
If Nylund had his way, the next government programme would include at least one clear ambition: to restore Finland’s position as a European leader in digitalisation.
In practice, achieving this would require action on three fronts:
- Freeing up investment capacity by shifting resources from maintaining legacy systems to developing new solutions.
- Making Finnish digital expertise a strategic priority in the country’s export policy.
- Pursuing bold technology policies that identify and prioritise the sectors in which Finland can lead.
Responsibility for driving exports does not rest solely with businesses or the government. Companies sell their solutions, but the government creates the conditions for success. Estonia, for example, has demonstrated how effectively public administration can be mobilised to support exports.
Nylund therefore challenges every leader and expert to consider one question:
“What are we going to do in our own organisation to unlock the real benefits of digitalisation and AI?”
What are the priorities and barriers to accelerating public sector digitalisation in Finland?
