Viestintäministeri Suvi Lindén Touching Business Event -tilaisuudessa Oulussa 3.9.2009

Touching Business Event
Oulu NFC Week
Ms, Suvi Lindén, Minister of Communications, Finland
3 September 2009

Ladies and gentlemen

First of all, I would like to thank for the opportunity to speak at this Touching Business seminar. I am very glad that my home town Oulu has been given a great honour and an exciting opportunity to host the NFC Forum meeting and the associated Oulu NFC Week, a major event for professionals and companies in the Oulu region. It makes me especially proud that as a mark of the long-term, innovative and open-minded work that has been done by the companies and research institutes in the region, Oulu has become the first city and public sector actor in the world to be accepted as a member of the NFC Forum.

The latest fantastic example of the innovative spirit in the Oulu region is the international and multidisciplinary centre focusing on internet research, the Centre for Internet Excellence. Continuous and open-minded development of such top-level technology projects is very important and most welcome. The city of Oulu will transform into a living laboratory, a ubiquitous city of future, in which interactive Internet is present everywhere in people's everyday lives easily, at one touch. This is the way to obtain new information valuable to research about new Internet services and to create new business models which will, in turn, create new jobs in the city.

All this shows how highly appreciated Finland – and particularly Oulu – is on a global scale as an active pioneer in developing new technologies and different kinds of service trials and pilot projects. The expertise to be found in the region, particularly with regard to mobile and wireless technologies, is unique in the world. The pioneer status in the versatile utilisation of NFC technology has helped to create new growth in the Oulu region and more widely, too, in Finnish business and competitiveness.

The public sector faces the challenge of continuously trying to improve the operating and innovation environment for companies and the preconditions for successful business activities. A coordinated information society policy helps us improve people’s day-to-day life and promote productivity at work. It also opens the way to numerous new areas for applications and service opportunities both in commercial life and in the public sector. Radio frequency identification and the related new technologies are one of the new directions in which the information society is being developed. And as a result, devices and services which use new technology are becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. One of the most significant achievements in respect of information society in Finland is the review of electronic identification legislation. The Act on Strong Electronic Identification provides a basis for the development of reliable electronic services and for safe introduction of new technologies. This will give clear rules on which device can be used for reliable identification and what type of solutions the service providers should apply.

In May, the European Commission submitted a recommendation on the implementation of privacy and data protection principles in applications supported by radio-frequency identification. An increasing number of branches, such as logistics, health care, public transport, and retail trade have taken advantage of radio frequency identification. According to the Commission recommendation, commerce and industry, competent authorities and especially SMEs should together improve the level of awareness of the potential, risks and impacts of the new technologies as a prerequisite for their general use.

New technologies can be a key driving force of growth, employment and recovery, because they involve huge economic opportunities. For example lower costs, improved labour efficiency, and new, innovative business opportunities are of inestimable value to society. From the point of view of developing the information society and competitiveness, it is important that all parties who are involved in the ICT sector pay close attention to the possibilities opened by new technologies at a very early stage, and try to be amongst the first ones to develop business and service models based on them.

A good example of continuous development is the Centre for Internet Excellence which I mentioned earlier. Such innovative projects are the only way for Finland to keep at the cutting edge of high-level technology development.

In the current economic situation in Finland – and nearly everywhere in the world – constructive recovery is needed. The focus is on creating new, on productivity and on investments supporting competitiveness. New business ideas and innovations enabled by the NFC technology encourage growth and competitiveness, create new jobs and thus promote national economy and increase people’s wellbeing. NFC technology and applications play an important role as one of the key contributors to social development.

It should also be born in mind that the financial and social benefits of the new technologies may only be obtained if sufficient attention is paid to information security and personal data protection. The Finnish Government has taken many steps to accelerate the information society development and the spread of electronic services. The aim is that electronic communication will be available to citizens and businesses in all the main services by 2013. Now is a good time to place more attention to how the different sectors and branches of society could take better advantage of ICT. Technology applications provide endless opportunities in many sectors, for example in health care, public sector services, SMEs, and environmental protection.

The pace of technological development may be so rapid that some – or more likely most – of the people have some sort of difficulty in adjusting to a new, more technical operating environment. The new technologies call for a more versatile information technology expertise and for both ability and motivation to learn new things. Interest in new technologies, new services and e-commerce depends on people’s and businesses’ ability to use them.

I believe that it is particularly important to develop IT skills in all sectors and in all age groups. This is a great challenge, not just for Finland but for all countries with ageing population. It is vital that the services of society are available also to people who use electronic communication less frequently. And these are the people who could benefit most from ICT and its new applications. We have to remember that we are providing services and applications to people, from their perspective, to ease the day-to-day life. One clear example is a meal service provided for the elderly here in Oulu. In the trial, the elderly chose and ordered meals with the help of NFC-based phones. This is exactly what the new technologies and innovations are for: to facilitate the everyday activities!

Ladies and gentlemen

I am so glad for Oulu, and for the whole of Finland, that the latest technological expertise is our guest. The city’s triumphant tradition of being at the leading edge of high technology continues!

With these words I would like to wish you a successful seminar and encourage everyone to discover the most advanced NFC know-how and latest innovations in the city of Oulu!