Technology, Culture, and Public Policy

Critical Lessons from Finland

Kalu Kalu

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317205067
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Politica pubblica

In a relatively short time, Finland has transformed a society of approximately 5.3 million people into one of the most educated and technologically sophisticated in the world, while maintaining relative political stability and an enviable quality of life among its people. In all comparative measures of international achievement, Finland ranks at the top among the world's most literate and wealthiest countries. How did Finland do it, and what can other countries learn from the Finnish example?

This book presents an energized and informative look at Finland's cultural and developmental history, its political evolution as a state, the foundation and origins of its technology and innovation policy, and present developments in health care, education, and the pathway to sustainable economic development. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, author Kalu Kalu incorporates rarely-seen archival data alongside analysis of original research surveys disseminated to members of the Finnish national legislature, personnel of the ministries of education and health, administrators in local government jurisdictions, and members of the general public. The result is a book that offers an incisive and analytical account of virtually all aspects of Finnish life – ranging from culture, parliamentarianism, arts, architecture, design, literature, education and health policies, information technology, to the development of multipolis technology clusters and networks. Demonstrating how civic attitudes have evolved over time mediated by the pressures of technology and modernity, Technology, Culture, and Public Policy ultimately transcends an examination of Finland's own successes and challenges, considering what lessons other countries might apply to their own intricate national contexts.

1 Suomi

The Making of a Culture

Finland (Suomi) is known to have a history of determination, creativity and industriousness that has propelled the country into being a pioneer of education, modernization, inventiveness and technological prowess. It has also managed to lay an enviable foundation of sustained social and economic development, partly premised on advancements and emphasis on cutting-edge information technology culture, learning and educational systems that provide the creative energy and innovation for future growth and development. Officially the Republic of Finland,¹ is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden to the west, Norway to the north and Russia to the east, while Estonia lies to the south across the Gulf of Finland.

1.1 Introduction

An estimated 5.4 million people live in Finland, with the majority concentrated in its southern regions. The two major official languages are Finnish (90.4%) and Swedish (5.4%), although English is also relatively used equally for official purposes. The main religious affiliations are the Evangelic Lutheran Church (78%) and Orthodox Church (1%) of the population. About 19% of the population subscribe to no affiliation. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Politically, it is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital of Helsinki, six provinces, local governments in 336 municipalities and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area (consisting of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa), and a third of the country’s GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. Thereafter, economic development was rapid, such that today, with a nominal per-capita income of over $49,000 (2011 estimates), Finland is one of the world’s wealthiest nations. According to some measures, Finland has the best educational system in Europe and has recently been ranked as one of the world’s most peaceful and economically competitive countries. It has also been ranked as having one of the world’s highest quality of life. Basic studies in the humanities as well as the sciences are equally appreciated as part of the educational system, in such a way that ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ values are in harmony and diverse cultural activities, supported from public funds, counterbalance science as an important part of a stable constitutional welfare state. “International studies now rate Finland as one of the world’s most competitive and innovative countries, and foreign visitors come to learn of its ethical corporate culture.”²

I visited the country in 2009 while attending the 5^th Specialized International Conference of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences in Helsinki and was quite impressed by a social system in transformation anchored on a proactive partnership between the government, its institutions, and the society at large. Compared to many other countries of Europe, Finland’s modern welfare state, its high standard of education, equality promotion and emphasis in the application of information technology to education and the delivery of public services makes it a study in contrast. While it spends about 11.7% of its GDP on health and about 6% on education, it has maintained a 100% literacy rate with a per capita income among the highest in Western Europe. Finland’s economy is anchored on a highly industrialized free-market system and is competitively strong in the engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. What makes Finland unique is that it has over a relatively short time transformed a society of approximately 5.4 million people into one of the most technologically sophisticated in the world (knowledge society) and has at the same time maintained relative social stability and an enviable quality of life among its people.

Finland is ranked among the world’s most inventive countries, and much of this can be attributed to the close partnership between businesses and universities. Universities and research centers have good resources for high-quality teaching and research, and the educational opportunities available to students remain among the best in the world. How did Finland do it? How has it utilized information technology to sustain a stable and progressive welfare state? How does technology transcend existing cultural practices, and in what ways do these cultural practices influence the way citizens respond to or evaluate policies and programs from political and administrative institutions? What can other countries learn from the Finnish experience? These are some of the reasons a further study about various aspects of Finland’s development is necessary.

Why Culture?

As argued in earlier studies,³ cultures emerge in all human societies from people’s struggles to manage uncertainties and create some degree of order in social life. As a way of helping to manage these uncertainties and ambiguities, cultures provide people with accepted ways of expressing and affirming their beliefs, values and norms—and provide them with cultural repertoires or forms that members of a community use to express the substance as well as make sense of their respective worlds.⁴ Cultural forms imbue action with meaning; they enable people to communicate and celebrate their ideologies in many different ways. Cultures cannot be produced by individuals acting alone; rather they originate and endure as individual members of a community interact with one another. Hence, belonging to culture involves believing what others believe and doing as they do. In turbulent times, culture helps a people to manage their anxieties and disagreements and to channel their individual emotions and reservations in such a way that it does not fundamentally undermine the socially established mechanism for achieving deliberative consensus and mutual co-existence.

Though it may seem inherently symbolic, a society’s cultural disposition transcends its own history, context and experiences. Although a body of literature has emerged that underscores the relationship of IT and culture, the larger premise of this project is that culture at the national or institutional level can influence the way implementation and use of information technology unfolds and vice versa. While culture at the national, organizational or subunit level may exert a subtle and yet powerful influence on people and organizations, information flows and information technologies are often closely intertwined with culture.⁵ Culture theory has been used in studies that seek to explain social behaviors and outcomes in organizational settings,⁶ administrative practices, technology transfer practices, the development and use of ICTs, and the potential for cultural transformation through technology use.

Hence, to the extent that information technology use may be a reflection of social and economic development, it is still subject to the various cultural interpretations of those using it. These interpretations may influence changes in civic attitudes and/or dispositions toward political institutions and the social values (social capital) attached to the utility and effectiveness of their programmatic responsibilities and initiatives. In this regard, Finland serves as a model case. Among the Finns, cultural expressions are at the center of everyday lives, and they find fulfillment in each mundane and ordinary undertaking. It is a life in which almost everything is nuanced or rather “reasoned,” even in seating arrangements: There must be a balance on both sides instead of everyone or most of the people sitting on one side. Equally, the Finns are very proud of their language and give very little concern to speaking it in meetings in the presence of foreigners, even when it is obvious to them that the foreigner does not speak or understand Finnish. It is this self-awareness and an almost ubiquitous validation of Finnish identity through language that is at the core of being a Finn. There is the strong belief that when you are in an environment you have to reinvent yourself to adjust to the prevailing circumstances and challenges of that environment.

The Finns are very practical and particularly thoughtful in their approach to things and human events. There are three broad elements that define Finnish culture. First is a marriage of grand idealism, futurism and a pioneering tradition rooted in a mindset that continuously seeks practical solutions to all of mankind’s enduring problems. Second, it is a culture built on a national vision for a larger global future characterized by rapid renewal through social innovation. One such innovation could be tied to the post-civil war attitude of the Finns as they decided to rebuild the nation on the principle of equality. A central question that is often asked about the Finnish vision is: What do we need in order to resolve the many difficult issues facing the world? And from this would emerge a not-so surprising answer: experience (in solving problems), ingenuity (in finding inventive solutions to new problems) and courage (in taking on problems that seem impossible to solve). Inventiveness and a do-it-yourself spirit offer a pathway to unique and unusual solutions.

Changes in the Production Structure

Finland’s agricultural productivity accounted for 62% of its GDP in 1860 but declined to about 30% by 1950, while the share of total industry started at .08% in 1860 but rose to 30% in 1950. As a result of economies of scale and market competition, total industrial production as a percentage of GDP remained at 20% in 2010, while the share of agricultural productivity declined to approximately .04% of GDP.⁷ What can be observed is that in the intermediate period of Finland’s industrial development, the country did not demonstrate obvious manufacturing capacity that could compete comparatively in the international market. Much of that changed after World War II, due partly to the increased demand for wood and paper products and the requisite need to develop new paper machines as well as the forestry economy.⁸ Today, industrial productivity is about 30% of GDP; services at 67% of GDP; agriculture and exports account for .03% and 39%, respectively; and an approximate GDP per capita of Euro 35,559.

Historically, although Finland’s industrial development relied heavily on the forestry industry, it imported most of its paper machines up until the 1950s. “The first machines were exported from Finland during the period that it was paying war reparations to the Soviet Union, but by the 1990s Finland was the world leader in paper machine industry and paper manufacturing technology.”⁹ By instituting a series of national policy development objectives such as technological education and research, investment in machine building and innovation, developments in paper technology, research and product development tied to the paper machine industry and a strong political will to see it through, Finland was able to turn the suffocating political pressure for reparations into a potent economic and technological advantage.

As pointed out by Nykanen and Paulapuro,¹⁰ the increased use of paper in Finland is directly linked to university teaching, and it was only when the University of Turku started its own printing press in 1641 that the amount of literature grew east of the Gulf of Bothnia. Most prominent in this was when Bishop Johannes Gezelius Senior started his own printing press in 1688 to spread Protestant literature to the people. The oldest Finnish paper mill was started in Finland during the Swedish rule. Then the German paper expert Oberhar built a paper mill on Thornasbole Estate in the parish of Pohja in 1667. Ownership of the mill was immediately transferred to Bishop Gezekius Senior, and the operation of the mill was incorporated into the production of his printing press. Furthermore, electrical engineering arrived in Finland at a very early stage once Thomas Edison created the opportunity for the extensive utilization of electricity in manufacturing. In 1882, the Finlayson factory in Tampere was fitted with electrical lighting a mere two years after the electric light bulb had been introduced to the world.¹¹ It would therefore be very difficult to separate the rising need for paper products and an early national emphasis on education, research and innovation as the building blocks of Finland’s contemporary economic and technological prowess.

Conflict and Adversity: Shaping the Cultural Mindset

While cultures create continuity and persist across generations of members, they are not static, but rather dynamic. Cultures continually change and adapt, more or less as a result of changes in the larger political and social environment of which they are a part.¹² The cumulative effects of the Finnish people’s historical and political experiences have played a central role in shaping the nationalistic mindset of the Finns as well as the extant political culture. It is an experience, though regrettable in certain respects, that has worked well to reinforce the Finnish attitude and its place in the community of nations. At critical historical junctures, the resultant effects of these experiences have turned out to be quite epic and enduring in their manifestations. But then, it would be safe to ask a question that has been asked many times before: Who are the Finns and from whence do they originate?

According to historical highlights provided by the United States Department of State Background Notes,¹³ the origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of conjecture, although many scholars argue that their original home was in what is now central Siberia. The Finns arrived in their present territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into the more remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish—the language of Finland’s small Lapp minority—both are Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family. Finland’s nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden’s King Eric. Dur...