January 1997
That is why the project LOCREGIS, Local and Regional
Information Society, has been initiated by the European Union under supervision
of Directorate DG XVI. The aim of LOCREGIS is to make an inventory and analyse
such information society projects that may strengthen the competitiveness of
less favoured regions through innovative use of information technology
Development of Local
Telematics Know-how and Information Society in the municipality of Kuusamo -
first ten years is
the first report of LOCREGIS. It intends not to write the history of telematic
services. This report describes one local process in the northern part of the
Finland. The aim of the project is to publish 3-5 similar portraits to help new
regions in developing of the European local and regional information society.
Heikki
Lunnas
Project Manager
1.
BACKGROUND
Main statistics of
the municipality:
This report evaluates different projects and other activities which have been essential stages for the development of the present telematics know-how in Kuusamo. Active work in these projects and ventures was started nearly ten years ago, in 1987. In this report the telematics concept includes all services which are based on information and telecommunications technology. The report describes all core projects from the ten years period, both the completed ones and those that are being implemented.
For each project the following three
parts have been included in the report:
2.
CORE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
The
development of the present telematics know-how and information society in
Kuusamo is been preceded by a phase of systematic improvement of knowledge and
preparedness. A fundamental motivating force in the development process has
been the municipality of Kuusamo, which was one of the first municipalities in
Finland to use strategy based planning. The active phase began around 1987,
when a far-reaching strategic decision to invest strongly in information
technology and its use was made in the municipality.
Several
projects which were associated with information technology were started at that
time. The period can be called the first phase of the development of
local telematics know-how and information society in Kuusamo. The most
important project during the period was the KUUSAMOon Project, which was a kind
of an "umbrella project" aiming to develop as widely as possible the
utilization of modern information technology in the municipality. Many other
projects and activities were introduced under that project, e.g. the RukaÄssä
Teleshopping Project and the TeleCottage Project. In addition to those the
municipality of Kuusamo participated in some national programs such as the
KUNPA Project (which was aimed to develop the services of Finnish
municipalities with information technology) and the ASHA Workshop (a part of
the national TELMO project with the aim to clarify which services a
municipality could offer to the citizens interactively through the information
network). The first distance education program KASTE was planned in 1989 and
started in 1990. Other projects and activities during the period were
TELE-PORT, MOVE (a joint X.400 e-mail network for schools) and RACE-APPSN
(video phone services for elderly and disabled people - an experimental
project). Also during this period the first companies which were dealing with
computer and telecommunication technology were founded and began operating.
The
third phase
(1995-1997) started with the Koillismaa Information Network Project. In the
beginning of 1995 the municipality set a TEPATE Team whose main task was to
develop a strategy program for the improvement of the business opportunities of
the telematics service industry in Koillismaa region. In the beginning of 1996
the Northern Finland Information Highway Project started to operate and the
municipality of Kuusamo was a very active partner in the regional project.
Other projects and ventures during this period were the TISKO distance study
program, the GIS (Geographical Information System) Project, the Positioning
(Digital mapping and surveying) Project, the THS Team (Information
Administration Strategy of the municipality) and TELMED (Tele Medicine)
experiments.
Today
many of the first and second phase projects or services continue to operate and
are being developed further. Many have also been established as permanent
services in Kuusamo.
Evaluation
of economical benefit of the development process is very difficult. That is
mainly because of strategic and long term infrastructural character of the
work. Anyhow, there is already many indicators which are proving that the
development work has enabled continuous and all the time more practical
development in terms of different business operations. Overall investments
during the different development phases have been approximately as follows:
Phase I about0.4 MECU, Phase II about 0.6 MECU and Phase III about 5.0 MECU. In
Kuusamo the telematics is employing totally about 50 persons, from what about
30 in local companies, 10 in teaching and about 10 in the municipality.
Approximately about 40 persons from them have been employed in consequence of
the development phases I and II. About 10 persons are involved in employed
because ofthe projects of the third phase. It is important to notice that the
size of investment to the third development phase is about ten times bigger
than earlier phases and that the results from the investment can be seen only
after several years. There is very strong arguments to estimate that in year
2010 several hundreds (maybe about 200-300) will be employed in the telematics
sector in Kuusamo.
2.2 THE FIRST PHASE
The
KUUSAMOon... Project (1988-1990) was the first all-inclusive development
program in information and telecommunication technology in the municipality of
Kuusamo.
The
Planning the KUUSAMOon... Project
The planning
of the KUUSAMOon... Project began during the second half of 1987, when a team
of officials from the municipality and other local key people came together to
exchange ideas and visions. The main aim was to develop a strategy on how to
improve the use and know-how of telematics in Kuusamo. The SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis Method was actively used by the
team during the drafting of the strategy. The team met several times, the
project plan was developed and it was accepted in the municipality in the end
of 1987.
In the
beginning of the project, early 1988, a five-point program strategy which was
based on the ideas of the above mentioned strategy meetings was initiated:
1)
Development of telematics culture and know-how
The
implementation method of the KUUSAMOon... Project
The
KUUSAMOon... Project was structured to be an "umbrella project" under
which several sub-projects were to be carried out.
A
project team was established for the KUUSAMOon... Project. The team consisted
of a full time Project Manager, a representative of the Central Administration
of the municipality, a Computer Systems Designer of the municipality,
representatives from the Education and Trades Departments of the municipality
and a representative of the Local Employers' Association. The project team was
acting as a steering and executive body of the project and the project manager
was implementing the activities together with the people who were involved in
the separate sub-projects.
Each of
the sub-projects were carried out in a specific area of the original five-point
program strategy and they were supervised by the project team. The following
project activities and sub-projects were implemented under the program
strategies:
1)
Development of telematics culture and know-how
The first step in
this area was the foundation of telecottages in which basic education in
telematics was given to the citizens of Kuusamo. Many training courses for
students of the local schools, workers of the municipality and others were
organized during the project in the field of information technology. Training
was included into the school curricula. Also joint purchases of computer
equipment e.g. for the workers of the municipality was organized; the first
purchase took place in 1988 and included 50 computers, each of them with modems.
2)
Utilization of information technology in business
A survey of the
possibilities to bring information technology business to Kuusamo was conducted
by the Tampere University of Technology. In the survey many managers and workers
of recognized information technology companies were interviewed all over the
country. The results of the survey showed that there were some promising
possibilities to create information technology business into the area. Based on
the results and experiences of the survey a plan to establish a telematics
know-how center into the municipality was initiated. The theme
"utilization of information technology on the tourist sector" was
very strongly emphasized during the project. Also a new concept of "data
tourism" was developed, based on an idea of combining holiday and work by
utilizing modern information technology. The first software company in the area
was established during this Project and the Project was strongly involved and
supported its development. The Project also co-operated with two information
technology and computer equipment dealer companies, which were established and
were the first ones in Kuusamo.
3)
Improvement of telematic infrastructure
The improvement of
technical infrastructure for telematics in the municipality -strategy included
several experiments and tests of different telematics and information systems.
The most important ones were the RukaÄssä Teleshopping Experiment in which
shopping via information network was tested, the Electronic Mail Experiment and
the New Services for Elderly and Disabled People Experiment (e.g. video phone
through cable-TV network).
4)
Involvement of relevant interest groups
During the project
much effort was targeted to create good contacts and co-operation with all
relevant (internal and external) interest groups, e.g. different ministries,
universities, financial institutions, development institutions and private
companies. Also the involvement of municipality departments in the development
of telematics and the use of information technology in the area was emphasized.
5)
Emphasis on the improvement of telematic image of the municipality
Dissemination of
information was emphasized. Several seminars and workshops were organized in
connection with the different project activities.
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Lessons
learnt from and the best practices identified in the KUUSAMOon... Project During
the implementation of the Project the five-point program strategy was
remodified and better focused. The main reasons for that were the importance
of tourism for the municipality and the discovering of promising ideas to
utilize telematics in tourism. The original strategy points 4 and 5 were
considered better if combined and called "publicity and
co-operation". The new five-point program strategy was the foundation on
which all other projects were to be laid during the years to come. The
remodified program strategy was as follows: 1)
Development of telematics culture and know-how The
foundation of the development before and during the KUUSAMOon... Project was
strongly in Kuusamo Municipality. The project's success was based on the
early utilization of strategy based planning in Kuusamo, the Project Work
Training Program for the municipal officials, and the decision makers'
visions. As the program strategy was well known by the people who were
involved in the activities it helped them to find ideas which were worth
testing in Kuusamo. Other
factors of the success were the team work method and the strategic planning
that were used in the project, decentralization of the sub-projects under the
"umbrella project", open and active publicity, and extensive
co-operation with the internal and external interest groups. Later
on the people who were involved in the activities have analyzed that perhaps
from the start of the project more emphasis should have been laid on
education and the improvement of know-how. The fact that all development
begins with the individuals who possess the necessary knowledge was realized,
and further that this is especially true as far as telematics and information
technology are concerned. Generally it was observed that it is not easy to
improve know-how and see the results during a three-year project like this and
that improvement requires greater resources and investments and more time
than was first believed. Maybe
there was an expectation of more concrete results from the project in terms
of new business for Kuusamo. However, the lack of them is strongly linked to
the slow development of the know-how level which was mentioned above. |
2.2.2 TeleCottage
Project (1988-1990)
The
project was based on the idea that telecottages are needed for the telematics education
of people in rural areas. The term telecottage can be used for a place when the
following basic conditions are met:
A
telecottage gives guidance and training in the use of information technology to
the ordinary citizens of the municipality.
The
planning of the TeleCottage Project
The
telecottage-idea was developed already in the beginning of 1980's in Denmark.
The first concrete experiments were tested in Sweden in 1986 with Nordic
co-operation. From the experiments in Sweden the telecottage-idea started
spreading very soon to the other Nordic countries. Kuusamo was one of the first
municipalities in Finland where a telecottage began to operate.
The
implementation method of the TeleCottage Project
The
Kuusamo TeleCottage started operating in a project form in 1988. When the
project ended in 1990 the telecottage activities were organized so that they
continued to operate in a permanent form, attached to the Folk College of
Kuusamo. The TeleCottage operates still very actively and the training and
guidance is organized by the Folk College. Originally the TeleCottage was
situated in the Tourist Information Center of the municipality, but it was
later moved to the main library premises. Also a concept of a Mobile
TeleCottage (a portable PC + modem with an instructor) was also initiated and
tested during the project.
The
instructors of the TeleCottage were selected carefully from a group of
candidates. Joint interview was successfully used in the recruitment process
and very suitable and competent employees were found.
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2.2.3
TeleCottage Support Association (1989)
Kuusamo
was one of the founding members of the TeleCottage Support Association in the
beginning of 1989.
The aim
of the Association was to advance telecottage activities and the founding of
telecottages. In Kuusamo the work of the Association concentrated mainly on the
advancing of the TELMO-Kuusamo Project, which will be later presented in this
report.
2.2.4
The RACE-APPSN Project (1989)
The
RACE-APPSN (Research and Development in Advanced Communications Technologies in
Europe - Application Pilot for People with Special Needs) was an international
project which was implemented and participated by seven European countries. In
Finland the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT) was executing the
project and Kuusamo was the first test location for the whole project. Quite
similar activities were also implemented in the two other test locations of
Helsinki and Tampere. The main aim of the project was to develop and test new
services for elderly and disabled people based on modern information technology
and especially on future broad-band technology. In RACE-APPSN an interactive
video phone service was tested using the cable-TV network which was installed
in the municipality center of Kuusamo. In the test system the cable-TV network
was used to simulate the future broad-band technology.
The
planning of the RACE-APPSN Project
The aim of
this research project was to examine the benefits and possibilities of future
broad-band technology, and at the same time to explore its demands. One
requirement was that it had to be possible to send video image messages from
the homes of the elderly or the disabled to the service centers. Also the
receiver's image had to be seen in the sender's home. Visual communications
itself has a reassuring effect. By visual communications, many kinds of
services can be provided, from physical exercise classes to medical treatment.
The VTT
Laboratory of Teletechnology was in charge of the planning and the technology
of the experiments, as well as of the manufacturing of the equipment and the
installing of the system. Experiences and opinions about the experiment were to
be collected from the elderly and disabled users of the system, and from the
service personnel. Based on this information the VTT Laboratory of Hospital
Technology planned to develop sets of user interviews and inquiries. Using the
information from them together with that gathered from technical practices the
requirements for broad-band technology were to be defined.
The
implementation method of the RACE-APPSN Project
The
elderly and disabled people's security and service video phone system was connected
to the Kuusamo Regional Emergency Dispatch Center. The system itself was a
combination of traditional telephone technology with a digital information
transfer and broad-band cable-TV system which transferred TV-images of good
quality.
There
were five different Disabled or Elderly People's Homes involved in the
experiment, all in the Kuusamo center area (the cable-TV area). The system had
been built to be such that the video image connection was made only when the
elderly or disabled users requested it. This was done for the reasons of
intimacy. The aim had been that a request for help or for service could be made
by a press of a button after which all the equipment would automatically be set
ready to use. All the equipment that were a part of the system were chosen from
standard models meant for general use - a normal TV-set, a video camera and a
security phone system (SONDI).
The
alarm and the request for a video image could be made directly from a red
button that was in the base of the telephone or from a wireless remote button
which was attached to a bracelet or a necklace of the user. After the request
was made the sound (via the telephone network) and the video image connection
(via the cable-TV network) was automatically made between the home and the
service center.
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2.2.5
The Survey of the Location of Telematics Companies(1989)
In the
Survey of the Location of Telematics Companies 35 enterprises and 10 research
laboratories, universities and other collective bodies were interviewed during
the year 1989.
The
survey was conducted mainly by electronic mail. The e-mail was found very good
and fast and on the whole very pleasant way of conducting the survey. The
e-mail made possible the exchange of thoughts between the researchers and the
interviewees like in a normal interviewing situation.
The
interviewees considered the survey very meaningful. Some of them remarked that
the survey made them to think about their own plans from a fresh point of view.
The
results showed that it is vital to the enterprises to find suitable employees.
In order to find them they are ready to establish themselves in new locations,
but preferably in university cities. Most of the interviewees regarded Kuusamo
as a possible location for sub-contractor companies, but a few also as a
possible location of the enterprise.
Most of
the interviewees considered Kuusamo as a nice tourism town, whose strongest
sides are its nature and RUKA. Other important features of Kuusamo seemed to be
its active character and its unbiased progressiveness. As the greatest defects
the interviewees mentioned its remote location and poor industrial
infrastructure.
2.2.6 The RukaÄssä
Teleshopping Experiment (1989)
The RukaÄssä was a
rather small but instructive Tourist Teleshopping and Telematic Services
Experiment at Ruka area. Ruka is one of the leading tourist attractions in
Finland with excellent winter skiing opportunities and extensive tourist
accommodation concentration.
The
planning of the RukaÄssä Experiment
The
planning of the RukaÄssä Teleshopping Experiment was done by the KUUSAMOon...
Project staff in collaboration with the TeleCottage personnel.
The
RukaÄssä Experiment was rather similar to the TeleCottage Project insofar as
that the basic idea in both of them had been already developed and tested
somewhere else. The French Minitel-Network Application and especially its
teleshopping component was the main source of information of the experiment.
The
implementation method of the RukaÄssä Experiment
The
implementation of the RukaÄssä Teleshopping Experiment was organized by the
TeleCottage personnel. In the experiment Videotex-terminals were tested and
used in ordering goods from a local supermarket.
The
experiment was organized in the Ruka area where the supermarket is situated in
the center of a wide tourist cottage area. A PC-computer was placed in the
supermarket and a software application was developed in the TeleCottage using a
Videotex based MT-TEL software. The software application enabled the users to
see a list of goods which were available in the supermarket and to place their
orders. The personnel of the supermarket printed the orders twice a day and the
goods were then sent to the customers. Laundry services were also organized
into the same system. In addition to the shopping and laundry services the
system contained many tourist information pages and an electronic mail service
for the users in the closed network. A DATAPAK-network was used for the experiment
and the cottages were equipped with Videotex-terminals which were programmed so
that when the user switched the power on the connection to the system was
created automatically.
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2.2.7
The MOVE project
The
reasons for beginning the project were:
Generally
the MOVE Project was established to develop a joint X.400 e-mail network to
meet the requirements of distance and multiform education. The project was
implemented together with the University of Oulu and four Institutes of
Technology from the Northern Ostrobothnia region (Oulu, Raahe, Tornio and
Ylivieska).
The planning of the
MOVE Project
The main
aims of the project were to:
In the
plan of operation for 1991 of the MOVE Project the main aims were set to
forward X.400-based e-mail communication and its use for teaching, to produce
material for computer assisted teaching and to develop the use of video phone
and audio graphics for teaching purposes.
The
implementation method of the MOVE Project
MOVE was
a co-operative project which consisted of several sub-projects (AVOTOL
II/University of Oulu, TUTKA/University of Oulu, RATOL/Raahe Institute of
Information Technology and SÄPINÄ/Oulu Institute of Technology) and of the
joint coordination of the overall project. Each sub-project was an independent
venture, and in the MOVE Project the joint areas were expanded.
The
project started in the beginning of the year 1990. As the form of collaboration
there were regular and frequent meetings of the steering group, different
training and consultation conferences and visits. The project manager also
often organized smaller consultations and discussions with the different
institutions.
In the
MOVE sub-projects of the Oulu University Continuing Education Center
concentrated mainly on video phone aided teaching, the Oulu University
Department of Information Technology on the production of teaching material and
the Oulu Institute of Technology on the X.400 e-mail. Other parties
concentrated on the testing and improvement in practice of these systems and
materials. Kuusamo was one of the experiment locations.
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2.2.8
TELE-PORT Project (1989)
TELE-PORT
(Telesatama) Project introduced to the enterprises of the Oulu region the new
teleservices that the Teleoperators offered. It also attempted to increase communication
both between separate Teleoperators and between the Teleoperators and their
clients. The project made it possible for the enterprises to become acquainted
with some telematics services for a small charge or for free. The services
offered were audio negotiations, video phone and e-mail, among others.
Although
the project concentrated on the Oulu region, it included experiments in a
larger area, and its effects reached Kuusamo as well as the whole area of
Northern Finland. Through the TELE-PORT Project more resources were directed to
experiments and projects in Kuusamo, for instance to the first experimental
telematic transferring of X-rays from the Kuusamo Health Center to the Oulu
University Hospital.
2.2.9
National activities: KUNPA Project (1989) and ASHA Workshop (1990)
During
the first phase of the development of information society the municipality of
Kuusamo participated also in some national programs such as the KUNPA Project,
which was aimed to develop a method for providing municipal services by using
information technology, and the ASHA Workshop, which was a part of the national
TELMO Project. The aim of the Workshop was to clarify which concrete
interactive services the municipality could offer the citizens through the
information network.
The
national KUNPA Project was implemented in 12 municipalities in Finland, and
Kuusamo was one of them. The national project was setting goals for the
municipal projects. The Kuusamo KUNPA Project was implemented during the year
1990 by the municipality officials. In the project a method for the development
of the municipal service strategy was created.
During
the project a few essential development ideas which were associated with the
communication and announcement system of the municipality became forward. The
ideas were:
The ASHA
Workshop was a national workshop which an official from the municipality of
Kuusamo participated. The main aim of the national workshop was to clarify
which services the municipalities could offer their citizens through the
information network.
Based on
the work of the ASHA Workshop a national project plan was drafted. In it
Kuusamo was decided to be one of the municipalities where a project testing the
idea of offering municipal services in the information network would be set up.
This
decision led directly to the starting of the TELMO Kuusamoon Project which was
then implemented during the second phase of the ten-year development process.
The Telmo Kuusamoon Project will be described later in this report.
2.2.10
The First Enterprises
During
this period the first companies which are dealing with computer and
telecommunication technology were founded and began operating in Kuusamo. The
enterprises are:
2.3
THE SECOND PHASE 1990-1994
The
second phase of the development of information society was initiated by the
municipality strategy which was formulated in Kuusamo in 1989. In that strategy
the development of information and telecommunication technology, services and
education were prioritized.
2.3.1
The Telmo Kuusamoon Project
The core
project for the second phase was the Telmo Kuusamoon Project (1990-1993), which
was actually a part of the national TELMO Program. The project aimed to develop
the Koillis-TELMO network which was one of the first telematic service networks
for people in rural areas in Finland.
The
Telmo Kuusamoon Project was established in order to guarantee the consideration
of local views in the developing of public networks.
The
planning of the Telmo Kuusamoon Project
The
entire Telmo Kuusamoon Project consisted of three main phases:
The main
aims of the project were set as follows:
The SWOT
Analysis Method was used in the preparation and specification phase. In this
phase one of the main aims was to find potential organizations (and responsible
contact persons in the organizations) which could produce and offer their
services in the network. Also the software to be developed was specified during
the phase.
The
contact persons from different service organizations together with the project
staff planned the implementation of the network. The group which was involved
in the project activities was fairly big, 20-25 people. The participatory
approach was successfully used in the planning phase.
The
implementation method of the Telmo Kuusamoon Project
The
implementation of the project was organized and controlled by a steering
committee which met regularly and planned and coordinated the activities and
made the decisions. The steering committee consisted of the representatives
from each service organization that were involved in the project (18 people)
and the project staff (two people). In some parts of the project (e.g. some
specific tasks) outside specialists were attached to the committee. The
TeleCottage personnel was keenly involved in the practical implementation of
the activities (e.g. the practical arrangements of the network and the user and
service producer training).
The
software application for the network system was ordered from KT-Datacenter, a
company that is specialized in software. The company was not a part of the
project organization but it was working in collaboration with the project.
The main
aims of the project were specified for the three main phases as follows:
II The
implementation phase
III The
testing phase
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The
Koillis-TELMO Advisory Board (1993-1996)
The
TELMO Kuusamoon Project suggested that the continuation of the project be
organized by founding a specific Koillis-TELMO advisory board. As a result the
Municipal board appointed one in summer 1993. To ensure the continuation the
municipality of Kuusamo offered financial support, the use of the municipal
server for the network and other additional support services. The advisory
board consisted of representatives from all the service producers and from some
important interest groups.
The main
aim of the advisory board was the increasing of the local utilization and
accessibility of information networks.
The purpose of the
advisory board was:
In
addition to the Koillis-TELMO advisory board the organization consisted of
voluntary teams from different fields of expertise. Their task was to reflect
and develop the matters from the point of view of their own field.
The work
of the advisory board concentrated on two main fields, the questions of the
content and the application of the service network, and the development of the
technology.
The
advisory board has in evaluation been considered a very good and successful way
of ensuring the continuation of the venture. An important factor for the
success and continuity has been that the advisory board was established on
sufficiently high level. During the operation of the advisory board twenty
young people have been employed (with state employment funds) in the providing,
presenting and marketing of the services, and in the training. Due to these
measures the usage of the information network both among the clients and the service
producers is higher than average in Kuusamo. The Koillis-TELMO service network
has often been presented as an example to other cities and municipalities.
On the
whole the Koillis-TELMO advisory board succeeded in its work very well.
However, it was noticed that the team work did not function in the best
possible way in all parts of the project. The reason for that was that some
team members lost their motivation when concrete progress was not made quickly
enough.
2.3.2
The KASTE (1990-1993), ASTEK (1993-1996) and TISKO (1995-1999) Projects
KASTE
and ASTEK were two successful three-year distance education programs "from
a fitter to a technician" in telematics, which were organized in Kuusamo
in collaboration with the Oulu Institute of Technology. The education programs
were actually planned and initiated already during the first phase of the
development of information society in 1988-1990, under the KUUSAMOon project.
TISKO is a similar four-year distance education program "from a technician
to an engineer" in telematics, which started in 1995.
KASTE
was the first multiform education venture in Kuusamo. Its goals were set to be
to bring education near the people who need it and to gather experiences from
education conducted in this multiform way.
Because
of good experiences, KASTE led up to ASTEK, which was a similar multiform
education project. In continuation, again resulting from very good experiences,
the field of multiform education was expanded in 1994 when a Vocational
Tradenomist Training Program was started. It was further expanded when in 1995
a program similar to KASTE and ASTEK but reaching up to engineer level (TISKO)
began in Kuusamo in collaboration with the Oulu Institute of Technology. An
indicator of the success of these programs is the fact that three participants
of the original KASTE program continue their studies presently in the TISKO
program. In addition to these programs multiform education has spread to the
continuing education of teachers in Kuusamo in 1996.
The
planning of the KASTE Project
In
connection with the earlier described KUUSAMOon... Project and especially the
Survey of the Location of Telematics Companies which was conducted during that
project, the regional demand for education was surveyed early in the year of 1990.
The options for choice were the different courses of the Oulu Institute of
Technology. From the survey a need to educate telematics technicians from
fitters of electronics field emerged. The survey results were greatly affected
by the demand which Kuusamo TELE Company brought up. The reason for that was
the fast increase of information technology in telecommunication. Currently
employed telematics fitters were chosen as the target group of the education
program.
After the
survey the decision about the beginning of the education program as an
experiment was made very quickly, although because of the novelty of the matter
no-one had exact knowledge of how to implement it in practice (e.g. knowledge
of educational regulations). The firm belief in the success of the venture of
the Headmaster of The Oulu Institute of Technology and the Director of
Education of Kuusamo Municipality were behind the rapid decision.
The
overall planning and organizing of the program was done by the Oulu Institute
of Technology. The Kuusamo Vocational Institute took care of the planning of
the practical implementation of the course. The curriculum was a modification
of an existing curriculum of an information technician course.
The
implementation method of the KASTE, ASTEK and TISKO Projects
To
implement the educational program a special agreement was made by the
Institutes. People from both the Oulu Institute of Technology and the Kuusamo
Vocational Institute were appointed to be responsible for the practical
arrangements of the program.
The
teachers of the Kuusamo Vocational Institute took care of the teaching of the
general subjects and the teachers of the Oulu Institute of Technology taught
the professional subjects.
During
the KASTE Project the teachers traveled from Oulu to give lectures in Kuusamo.
The e-mail was actively used by the students right from the beginning of the
course in 1990, for all the students had a computer with a modem at their
disposal from the start. The e-mail was used frequently for the communication
between the teachers, the students and the tutors and for the passing on of the
exercises. In the KASTE Project only the telephone and video negotiations were
tested.In the ASTEK Project in spring 1994 audio graphics was used in the
teaching. Also video telephone systems were began to be used in spring 1995.
The utilization of this distance teaching equipment developed very rapidly and
towards the end of the ASTEK Project (1996) already some 90% of the lectures
were conducted in that way. The Internet and the WWW were used in a minor way
in the ASTEK Project in spring 1996, but their use has actually increased only
by the TISKO engineering course which was begun in 1996.
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2.3.3 The Front
Office -Project(1993)
The Front Office is a one-stop-shop service of the local authorities. In front offices the citizens of
the municipality can take care of all of their
municipal, state and other affairs at once.
The
planning of the Front Office Project
Demands
of smoother and more efficient service and of cutting the costs were made to
the public administration in the turn of the decade. The scattering of the
services was inconveniencing the citizens and it was expensive and laborious to
the administrative staff.
Having
this as a starting point the National Association of Local Authorities (KATKO)
started a Front Office Development Project in 1992, which aimed at offering a
wide range of public administration services from a single office. The
municipality of Kuusamo participated this national development project and the
Kuusamo Front Office Project started in 1993. In 1996 this was decided to be
continued until 1997 by a front office venture, which aims at providing the
information technological support needed for one-stop-shops and establishing
front offices.
The
implementation method of the Front Office Project
The
purpose of the Front Office was to centralize the services offered to the
citizens to a so called one-stop-shop. The Front Office offers public
administration services (municipal and state; e.g. housing, building, social
security, employment, taxes) jointly from one location. The basic idea of the
Front Office is that it unites and saves resources while the service is given by
staff that is especially trained for the work.
The main
aims of the Front Office development work were: to experiment the front office
system, legislative matters, to develop skills of the “general” officials and
to develop telematics support for the front office system.
The
services that are offered in the Front Office are for instance the receiving
and processing of applications, the check ups and work orders that pertain to
invoice systems, and informing assignments. In providing the services information
technological equipment and existing information systems are utilized
extensively.
The
municipality of Kuusamo started the front office venture with providing mainly
municipal services. The state and other services have been included into the
front office, but services include only information dissemination e.g.
application forms.In the future the venture is planned to be expanded by
providing fully also state and private services.
However,
the expansion has not advanced according to the original schedule. The reason
for this has been the problem with data protection. It is not yet clear how
protected matters and information systems could be combined into a single front
office.
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2.3.4
The MoniKuu Project (1992-1993)
The main
aim of the MoniKuu Project was to develop and test mobile multiservice systems.
The idea was to combine and provide different municipal services for the rural
areas of the community by using modern information technology in mobile
libraries and health clinics.
The
planning of the MoniKuu Project
The main
aims of the MoniKuu Project were set as follows:
The other objectives of the project were to survey the possibilities of uniting other services and the utilization of information technology in sparsely populated areas and to advance the co-operation of the service producers in the organizing of different services. Also it aimed at increasing the use of the Kuusamo service network (Koillis-TELMO), surveying and multiplying the information networks that are important to the countryside, enhancing of the services marketing and improving the knowledge about information technology of the people of sparsely populated areas.
The overall objective was to create a
model for the implementation of rural front offices (mobile or non-mobile)
which would greatly utilize information network services.
The
MoniKuu Project was closely connected with four simultaneously implemented
projects in Kuusamo:
The
implementation method of the MoniKuu Project
The implementation
of the Monikuu project was organized by appointing a project manager who was
responsible for the coordination and planning of the project. In addition to
him there were representatives of all the participating organizations in the
project group. Their task was to answer for the development of their own
organizations' services. Furthermore the project had a four people steering
group from the Kuusamo municipality.
The main
aim of the project was the developing of mobile multiservice systems (front
offices). The actual mobile multiservice stations were naturally the two
library buses and the health clinic bus that operate widely in the Kuusamo
Municipality area. NMT 450 mobile phones, computers and modems were installed
in the vehicles. With that equipment the municipal information networks could
be utilized. The personnel of the multiservice vehicles were trained to use the
equipment and the Koillis-TELMO service network. Thus from the multiservice
vehicles it was possible to use;
In
addition to these information technological services also other services were
developed for the multiservice vehicles;
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2.3.5
The Travel Reservation System
The
Travel Reservation System (TRS) is a telematics application in the area of
tourism. It is developed by the PEHMO-Kuusamo software company. The TRS runs in
a network and usually it is owned by a regional organization. The TRS collects
together all the local accommodation facilities (hotels, cottages, inns etc.),
the activities in the area, the means of transport and restaurants to a
centralized computer system. All that information can then be used by travel
agencies and through infostands and the Internet.
PEHMO-Kuusamo
has developed also another special software application called The Travel
Information System (TIS). The program runs in Windows. It provides visual
information (photos, lay-out plans, maps etc.) of different tourist services.
The TIS is based on the TRS system, and they both can be used by modern
technology which is fast enough, like ISDN, GSM-data and fixed lines.
Another
product application which has been partly developed by PEHMO-Kuusamo is called
The Travel Reservation and Information System in Internet. It is the first
Internet on-line travel reservation system in Finland and can be found in two
addresses, www.travel.fi/Kuusamo and www.travel.fi/Ruka. At the moment
PEHMO-Kuusamo is working to include GPS-based maps of the Kuusamo and Ruka area
in the Internet pages.
2.3.6
New Enterprises
During
this period two new companies which are dealing with computer and
telecommunication technology were founded and began operating in Kuusamo. The
enterprises are:
in desktop mapping
and GIS (Geographic Information System) consulting.
2.4
THE THIRD PHASE (1995-1997)
The
third phase of the information society development process originated in many
different sources:
2.4.1
The Koillismaa Information Network Project (1995-1997)
The
Koillismaa Information Network Project was the core project of the third phase.
The Project was based on the Regional Development Program for Koillismaa
(Pudasjärvi, Taivalkoski and Kuusamo) that was made in 1994. According to the
Program good telematics connections and utilization of information technology
makes the establishing of new enterprises easier. They also advance the expansion
of already existing enterprises, improve competitiveness and create new jobs.
The
project was initiated to create a network which would serve local citizens,
tourists, enterprises, municipalities and schools in the Koillismaa area.
The
planning of the Koillismaa Information Network Project
The
planning of the project started 1994 with a clarification and pre-planning work
which was partly financed from the provincial level. During the work a lot of
contacts and negotiations were held with potential parties and interest groups.
Already during the pre-planning phase it was estimated that the entire project
implementation will require funds about 3.5 Mill. ECU.
During the planning
phase the project was decided to separate into the three sub-projects as
follows:
A) The
Building of Fast Information Network
The
Implementation of the Koillismaa Information Network Project
All the
sub-projects had their own project plans and they started independently when
ever the financial decisions where received.
A)
The Building of Fast Information Network
The
building of fast information network sub-project started in the autumn of 1995.
The venture of building a fast information network is based on the idea that
the offering of information networks and network services smoothly and at a
reasonable price involves well organized long-term planning. The creating of a
technologically stable network with enough transfer capacity and flexibility
provides good working environment for efficient business.
In
addition to the building of the network, the project aims at organizing the
basic, additional and supporting services and a model for the utilization of
the network. The participants of the venture are the municipalities of
Koillismaa and Telecom Finland (TELE).
B)
The Creation of Service Network
The aim
of the Service Network Project, which started in the beginning of 1996, is to
develop a system of information networks for the whole Koillismaa region. This
system would serve the citizens, enterprises and other user groups. The system
would use the fast information network which is being built in the region. In
the fast network text and graphics as well as moving images can be transferred.
During
the Project an experiment of the service network utilization is to be conducted.
A large group of both private and public service producers from Koillismaa will
take part in the experiment. Special attention will be paid to the manner of
usage among the different user groups.
The
Service Network Project is divided into two phases:
c)
The Development of Educational Network
Experience
of distance and multiform teaching has been gained in Kuusamo from several
educational programs that have utilized modern information technology.
The aims
of the project are:
The
Educational Network Project is based on the utilization of distance and
multiform teaching techniques and of the fast information network. In the
teaching the optimum usage of telephone negotiation and audio graphics
technology, video telephone equipment, e-mail and information networks among
others is the main goal.
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2.4.2
The Northern Finland Information Highway Project (1996)
The
Northern Finland Information Highway Project was created in order to help and
assist the Northern Finland region in utilizing the applications of modern
telecommunications technology in:
The
planning of the Northern Finland Information Highway Project
The
project was based on the following background:
The
implementation method of the Northern Finland Information Highway Project
'The
first aim of the project was to introduce the Internet as an everyday
communication tool. Basic surveys were conducted in locations involved in the
projects in order to examine the current situation in the use of data networks.
This was followed by the planning of the necessary infrastructure, local data
communication systems for centers of experts and systems for communication
between them.
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2.4.3
The Positioning project (1996-1998)
Target of
the positioning project in Kuusamo (1996-1998) is to create a positioning
system to serve the whole North-East region and to develop a digital map in
order to serve local organizations and companies.
The project
partners are: local energy and water company, local Rescue Center, local
electricity company, police, local software and computer company (PEHMO-Kuusamo
Oy) and as a project coordinator a local company (Maisemakartta) which is
specialized in positioning and surveying.
2.4.4
The GIS Project (1996-1997)
The aim
of the GIS (Geographical Information System) Project is to create the basis for
a geographical information service that will include the whole Koillismaa
region. The geographical information consists of computerized map and register
information which describes e.g. natural resources, land topography, plans of land
usage, land ownership, population, settlement, economic structure, networks of
traffic and civil engineering and environmental state.
The GIS
Project began with a planning and initiating phase in spring 1996 and with the
starting phase in autumn 1996. The implementation phase started in the
beginning of 1997. The goals of the planning and initiating phase were to
survey the demand of geographical information among the regional users, to
survey the already existing data, to attach possible members to the project,
and to survey opportunities for possible additional resources.
The
following practical measures were implemented during the planning and
initiating phase:
The
results of the planning and initiating phase:
2.4.5
The TEPATE Team (1995)
The main
task of the TEPATE Team which was founded in 1995 was to develop a strategy for
the following three years, until the end of 1997, to improve business
opportunities of the telematics service industry. The team included
representatives from the municipality, local companies and other interest
groups, nine people altogether.
Telematics service
industry means the following activities that concern the usage and development
of telematics:
The team
made analyses what is happening on the area and how the demands and the needs
are changing in the future.
The TEPATE
Team created a vision up to the year 2010 in which the telematics services
industry is seen as one of the most outstanding business areas in Kuusamo
employing hundreds of people.
The
TEPATE Team created the following program strategy:
B. The development of
business
2.4.6
The Information Administration Strategy (THS) Team (1995-1996)
Information
administration strategy of the municipality of Kuusamo was created by using the
VALTAKO Methodology, which is a function based information administration
strategy planning method.
The
starting point of the drawing up of the information administration strategy was
the interviews of the municipal administrative branches. In the interviews the
representatives of the administrative branches presented their demands (based
on their departments' duties and views for the future) for information
administration and technological assessments.
2.4.7
The TELMED Activities (1995-97)
TELMED
is a name for a group of ventures in Kuusamo, which consists of several
different experiments of the utilization of telematics in medicine. In Kuusamo
these TELMED experiments have existed already from 1990, when within the
TELE-PORT Project the first experimental transfers of X-ray pictures from the
Kuusamo Health Center to the Oulu University Hospital were performed.
The
X-ray picture transfers started as a permanent activity in 1995 and they are
still being performed today. In practice the transfers are made by scanning the
X-ray pictures into a digital form, when they can be transferred using ISDN
technology to a specialist for a statement. X-ray pictures are transferred
today both in non-urgent cases and in emergencies. The transferred pictures are
filed digitally and it is planned that in the future all X-ray pictures will be
filed centralized.
The
video telephone technology is utilized in the Kuusamo Health Center for e.g.
normal distance work negotiations, work tutoring and training. The first
experiments in utilizing the video negotiating technology in clinical
consultation have been conducted and this activity is planned to expand in the
future. Developing and utilizing technology for transferring eye microscope
pictures in real time is also being planned. Expansion of telematics into
patient consultation and information transfer between organizations are visions
for the future.
The
Kuusamo TELMED experiments are the first ventures in the nation that strive
actively for product development.
2.4.8
New Enterprises
During
this period three new companies which are dealing with computer and
telecommunication technology were founded and began operating in Kuusamo. The
enterprises are:
The
final chapter describes the present situation of exploiting telematics and
information technology in Kuusamo. It also enlightens the aimed progress in the
near future.
1.
Factors having effect to the success
There
are five main factors which are crucial to make the telematics development of
any area possible:
A.
Awareness and Culture
B. Skills
C.
Services
D.
Information/Data bases
E. Infrastructure
2.
Earlier efforts made in phases 1-3
To
demonstrate the efforts made in the phases 1-3 the following chart has been
drawn. The first column indicates the factors explained in the earlier chapter
and the columns 2-4 demonstrate the effects of activities made in each phase.
The stars have been distributed having in mind mainly the phases and projects
mentioned in the top part of the table. Some stars are given also because of
the some smaller but still important projects and experiments during the period.
Phase 1
During these first
projects and experiments the experience of strategy-planning developed quite a
lot. Noticeable is that the strategies made those days are valid in most parts
even today. Some knowledge of the difficulties and importance of the
correspondent infrastructure and common knowledge of telematics were gathered
during these first experiments as well.
Phase 2
During the Telmo
Kuusamoon -project great deal of knowledge of building a local network and
exploiting the information technology were collected in all five main areas.
The two factors in which most experience were gathered were the problems and
difficulties of offering these services to the citizens as well as the
collecting of information, and the requirements they set to the information
technology and telematic services; = they should be easy to use. Also the strategy-planning
still developed and the experience of the on-going and passed projects were
refined into new strategies and plans for expanding the network and its
services. Hundreds of pages of information were collected and distributed
during the Telmo Kuusamoon -project and this information forms a base of the
present network services.
Phase 3
The funding was
mainly applied from different sources and partners during the phase 2 and in
phase 3 some major financial investments have been made to build the network to
cover all three municipalities of Koillismaa region (Kuusamo, Pudasjärvi,
Taivalkoski). The interviews among the organizations in these three
municipalities have been numerous and the development of the information
services expanded because of this survey. Most of the financial investments
have been used in building a sufficient infrastructure, however. This enables
the progress in the near future without great updating of the actual network
hardware. Of course this is required still, but the needed funds are
considerably lower in the future. During the Koillismaa Information Network
-Project (especially the Network building project), it has been noticed how
important it is to make the network services, which are invisible to the
end-users, as efficient and low-cost as possible. The large enquiry among the
organizations of the area was made and this gave quite a lot of new ideas of
the future network services.
Also the
importance of flexible strategy planning became obvious during the Koillismaa
Information Network Project. When this long project is concerned the general
fastness technology development sets great demands on managing group of the
project to change plans according to changing environment, The meaning of
co-operation and meaningful share of tasks have been proved to be crucial to
the success.
3.
Present situation
The
Total -column showsbalance of today collected from columns 2-4 (phases 1-3). As
it shows, the factors best taken care of at the moment are:
Parts
that are somewhat in order and therefore not in the way of progress:
Parts that need some
attention:
Factors
which need immediate attention:
4.
Future
In this
column some projects which are known to be started in 1997 are counted as a
correctingactions to the present situation:
A. Networks
(technical and social); a way to success -courses to owners and employees of
the local enterprises starting in spring 1997
B. Front-office
to market, sell and help people in network business has been founded by three
municipalities, Telecom Finland, ICL Data Oy and local newspaper Koillissanomat
C. The
project to ensure the sufficient infrastructure continues the year of 1997
D. A
GIS-project to start collecting and organizing data from Kuusamo area
- to get local data
into databases for future exploiting has started
E. Data
collection to be included in Travel Information System