Making data flow across the sea with X-Road in the Åland Islands

There’s more to the Åland Islands than soft tones and crisp, still sunsets – and that’s digitalisation. But while digital developments are still far from competing with local, regional beauty, the most recent advancements in the islands’ public administration are definitely worth noting.

Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, embarked on a journey to enhance public administration through digitalisation. We caught up with Jani Sjölund, Director of IT at the Government of Åland, to hear how X-Road became the choice to the need for a robust data exchange solution, improving interoperability and citizen services.

Background and institutional framework

The journey towards utilising X-Road in Åland commenced with a vision to enhance data interoperability across government agencies and improve citizen services.

Recognising X-Road's potential based on its success in Estonia, Finland, and other Nordic countries, Åland sought to integrate this solution into its digital infrastructure, leveraging the support and expertise of the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) and the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in Finland (DVV). Early discussions revealed the potential for using X-Road not just as a technical solution but as a catalyst for broader digital transformation within Åland's government operations.

As Jani Sjölund stepped into his role, having joined as the director of IT, he pinpointed enhanced data interoperability across Åland’s public sector as a cornerstone of their digital strategy. This vision was rooted in the broader EU directives emphasising the immediate task of strengthening information security. In parallel, a data exchange platform naturally set out to become a key component to achieving digital agility within the public administration.

The engagement with the Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) was a strategic move designed to leverage their extensive experience with X-Road and ensure a foundation for robust data exchange capabilities within Åland.

“After I joined, one of my first actions was organising workshops with Finland's DVV. These sessions were instrumental in our decision to integrate with Finland's X-Road ecosystem, Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer, rather than creating a separate ecosystem for Åland. The decision to integrate with Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer acknowledges the practical benefits of such a connection. This approach allows Åland to maintain its autonomous digital governance while still benefiting from the established, secure, and efficient infrastructure of Finland's national data ecosystem​​,” Sjölund explains.

Needs and challenges

Åland's digital agenda, influenced by both local governance and the Finnish government, identified the need for a platform that could facilitate seamless data exchange between different government agencies and improve citizen access to services.

"Upon joining the government as the IT director, I was tasked with enhancing our information security and establishing a data exchange platform. We identified the need for interoperability and a citizen portal, already outlined in our digital agenda,” Sjölund says. But a primary challenge to Åland on this path was the fragmentation within its public administration. Various agencies operated in isolation, creating inefficiencies in data exchange and service delivery.

Additionally, the region grappled with the logistical and economic constraints of bringing all municipalities, especially the smaller ones with limited resources, onboard with the X-Road implementation.

“Integrating smaller municipalities and agencies, some with minimal IT resources, into the X-Road ecosystem poses a significant challenge. With Åland comprising 16 municipalities of varying sizes, ensuring that all can participate in and benefit from X-Road is a complex task. But our focus was from the beginning on finding solutions that enable even the smallest communities to offer e-services through X-Road, ensuring equitable digital access across the islands,” Sjölund points out.

The solution

The solution involved integrating with Finland's existing infrastructure while developing and retaining the administrative autonomy Åland enjoys. This strategy facilitated a streamlined administrative process and allowed Åland to benefit from Finland's technical expertise and established processes. The series of workshops Sjölund engaged in, with key stakeholders including DVV and CSC – the IT Center for Science in Finland, laid the groundwork for this integration. In this way, leveraging Finland's X-Road framework, Åland aimed to improve service provision for its citizens, enabling 24/7 access to digital services without requiring physical presence or paperwork.

“One significant advantage of this collaboration is that Åland can use Finland's identification systems for its digital services. This means citizens accessing Åland's portal can use the Suomi.fi e-Identification service, simplifying access and avoiding the need for Åland to develop a separate system for that,” Sjölund explains.

Pragmatism and collaboration, then, in the effort to enhance digital governance in Åland – addressing the specific challenges posed by its autonomy and limited resources. All pairs well with the anticipated increase in data exchange with Finland and Sweden: improved interoperability among local agencies does indeed position Åland to significantly enhance its public service delivery and participate in the benefits of cross-border data exchange between its two neighbouring countries.

“Following our workshops, we tasked our IT service provider with setting up Security Servers, marking a significant step towards operationalising X-Road in Åland. This phase was crucial for developing the competencies needed to manage and utilise the X-Road system effectively. Parallel to the technical setup, we focused on developing e-services, starting with foundational services like the right of domicile registry. These efforts aimed at ensuring that once the technical infrastructure was in place, there would be valuable services ready for our citizens,” Sjölund highlights.

The implementation of X-Road, all in all, is more than just a technical upgrade; it’s about transforming how services are delivered to citizens. By facilitating seamless data exchange and enhancing security, X-Road in Åland allows the local public administration to improve service levels dramatically. “Our goal is to ensure that citizens can access services anywhere, anytime, without the requirement for physical presence or adherence to office hours. It’s what took us to commit to X-Road as a fitting technical enabler, and stresses its potential to elevate Åland's overall digital landscape,” Sjölund concludes.

Estonia and Finland launch automated data exchange between population registers

In September 2020, cross-border interoperability between Estonia and Finland took another step further with the launch of automated data exchange between the countries’ national population registers. With the support of X-Road, the solution replaces the previous batch data processing and improves information accuracy and security.

Automating the exchange of population data is the third cross-border interoperability link in place between Estonia and Finland, after connecting the countries’ business registers and tax boards in 2019.

Together with Timo Salovaara, Deputy Director General at the Finnish Digital Agency (DVV), we outline the main features of the cooperation and solution at hand.

BACKGROUND AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

The exchange of population data between Finland and Estonia dates back to the signing of a collaboration agreement between the countries’ population register authorities in 2005. The document provided a framework for the exchange of details of citizens living in the other country, when and where necessary. Relevant subjects cover the following:

1)    Deaths

2)    Name changes

3)    Changes of address

4)    Information on their dependent children.

The collaboration created a framework that has enabled batch-based data exchange between Finland and Estonia for almost 15 years, with data being requested and provided on average once a year.

The increasing digitalization of the Finnish population register, and the national data exchange layer, have now led to a partial institutional overlap. Automating the existing collaboration seemed, logically, the next step. “The DVV is the owner of the population register in Finland and, since 2014, we also own the national X-Road infrastructure – the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer,” Salovaara explains. “So, with the existing data exchange framework that we have in place with Estonia, these two things meet here,” he observes. 

The technical foundation for cross-border interoperability between Estonia and Finland was established in 2018 with the federation of the two countries’ national X-Road. While connecting the national ecosystems paved the way for an array of technical possibilities, their development and implementation have been dependent on resolving legal intricacies. “Despite this, we decided to use X-Road to update the information exchange system from 2005, as we already had the legal framework in place,” Salovaara states. 

NEEDS AND CHALLENGES

Data exchange automation responds to the need for greater data accuracy and a decreased manual workload – all while maintaining and improving underlying security. 

“Previously, we had a facility that allowed uploading a file into a system, which could be accessed by the Estonian Ministry of Interior,” Salovaara says about the process in place since 2005. “Our Estonian colleagues could log into the service, access the file prepared by us and then update their records in the population register based on that. While all of this was secure and audited, it was not as practical and required a lot of effort. 

The new automated solution secures the data exchange, ensuring improved maintenance of the entire system at the same time. 

“For example, we have a similar arrangement with the Nordic countries concerning population data exchange,” Salovaara brings forth. “But we are using legacy systems from the beginning of the century. When updating information security protocols, we need to wait until the last country is ready to make the updates before completing the process,” he continues. With a standardized interoperability solution, such as X-Road, the system updates are conducted faster and more securely. 

Besides the legal boundaries set by the original collaboration agreement from 2005, the technical implementation of the solution did not see any significant challenges. “We can say that technology is no longer the barrier, especially in this case where both parties already had experience with X-Road infrastructure,” Salovaara observes. “This means we can focus more on the substance and needs of the specific use case, as well as the legal details surrounding new types of data exchange,” he says. 

THE SOLUTION

X-Road has now automated the data transfer between the population registers of Estonia and Finland, improving information accuracy and timeliness as well as increasing the efficiency and security of the data exchange process.

The solution breathes new life into this long-standing collaboration. Population authorities can now easily access up-to-date information on their citizens whenever necessary; e.g. when preparing for national elections. While the legal framework established by the 2005 agreement currently limits the type of information that can be mutually accessed, the solution is a significant stepping stone to expanding the scope of data exchange in the future. 

Further negotiations are ongoing between Estonia and Finland, but a similar technical solution between population registers also has significant potential beyond the Baltic Sea region. With the free movement of people in Europe, there would, for example, be a need to standardize data exchange between EU member states. 

“Currently, if someone moves to Finland, we verify their identity by using their passport and verify their family relations with legalized paper certificates given by the authorities of their country of origin,” Salovaara explains, bringing up a typical case. “But requesting and providing these documents takes time – from both the public authorities and the citizens – and at least theoretically, the risk of forged paper documents remains. To have the most accurate data at all times, this information could be requested directly from other countries’ population registers. If these kinds of arrangements can be made, facilities like the X-Road would be very useful in the technical implementation of the data exchange!”

Automating data transfer between the population registers of Estonia and Finland serves as another example of how X-Road can simplify and enhance international collaboration, for both citizens and the state. 

Improving environmental services in the Greater Helsinki area

With the purpose of increasing its capabilities in data exchange and access to key information, the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) is currently working on joining Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer, the Finnish X-Road environment, to foster the provision of water services and waste management in the Greater Helsinki area.

The project is currently undergoing the set-up phase, testing connections between information systems of relevant public authorities. Timo Vakkilainen, Project and Development Manager of Digital Services at HSY, describes how connecting information systems to the data exchange layer will impact the quality of performance for service users and the environment.

Background and institutional framework

In Finland, the open source data exchange layer solution X-Road ensures confidentiality, integrity and interoperability between information systems. The development of Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer, the national X-Road environment, took place under the three-year-long National Service Architecture Programme (KaPa). Throughout the past two years, the Suomi.fi Web Service portal has been established as the single gateway to e-services for citizens and companies, shifting administrative tasks and practices to the digital environment.

As it often happens in e-governance, legislative changes proved to be necessary to enable the transition. The Act on Common Administrative E-Service Support Services (2016) required public authorities to join the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer, and HSY makes no exception. The environmental agency was looking into connecting with other public authorities such as the Population Register Center, the Patent and Registration Office, the National Land Survey of Finland. Now, by joining the Finnish X-Road environment, together with the use of Suomi.fi e-Authorizations and e-Identification services, HSY is aiming to collect information necessary to its activities in more efficient and accurate ways.

Needs and challenges

The accuracy of information is indeed one of the main concerns for HSY. In order to effectively provide services on water and waste management to the population of the Greater Helsinki area, counting over one million inhabitants, data on consumption and collected waste amounts and costs must be as up-to-date as possible. 

Though we may not be talking about real-time information, surely owners’ addresses for billing and other types of communications have to be spot on. At the same time, the financial situation of companies becoming customers of the HSY, or currently being listed as such, is also relevant. Such type of information can be gathered either from other public registers or through self-service reporting. Interoperability between public authorities can enhance necessary data exchange, and digital authentication tools enable users to submit reports themselves. 

However, before getting to fully roll out an efficient digital ecosystem, public entities sometimes have to go through a series of obstacles pertaining technical know-how and legislative frameworks. Though joining the Finnish X-Road was meant to be as easy as possible for any organization, “we realized from the beginning that we just did not have the resources to implement and maintain the servers needed to connect to Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer,” Vakkilainen explains. “Luckily we managed to initially buy the Security Servers ‘as a service’ from a partner company and we implemented them in their cloud,” Vakkilainen says.

At the same time, the once-only principle had not yet been achieved as common practice in the Finnish data exchange environment. “Some legal obstacles did not make consuming services via Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer work as seamlessly for everyone as it was supposed to. We would still need to send official requests for personal data to different actors” Vakkilainen warns, making the case for technical and legislative developments to progress as parallel lines towards the creation of a truly efficient digital ecosystem.

The solution

By joining the national Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer, HSY will be able to request up-to-date information from other relevant public registers and increase the effectiveness of its operations. “I think we saw the advantages quite well from the beginning, without any push or pull from other actors. Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer offers a great platform for data exchange and makes it easier to build new digitized services based on interoperability between national registers, for both citizens and companies,” Vakkilainen highlights.

To take advantage of the possibilities offered by different Suomi.fi services, provided by the Population Register Centre as the responsible authority, HSY is pairing efficient data exchange with e-Identification and e-Authorizations as well – the latter of which has been shortlisted for the Sharing & Reuse Awards 2019 of the European Commission platform Joinup. “HSY works to significantly increase the efficiency of its services for private users, companies, and institutions in Greater Helsinki. With servers relying now on HSY’s Azure Cloud and currently being tested, rolling out the first services will take place already in the next few months,” Vakkilainen announces.

From self-service reporting through secure identification to gathering accurate information about users and consumption. Interoperability can boost the effectiveness of environmental services provided for over one million citizens in Finland. As a municipal body and an institution, HSY saw digital development as an opportunity to be closer to people and enterprises in caring for the quality of the lived environment.

The business registers of Estonia and Finland start cross-border interoperability

The end of February 2019 brought great news for the enhancement of interoperability across borders. National business registers in Estonia and Finland are starting to exchange data between each other taking advantage of the opportunities given by X-Road, as the gateway to higher information accuracy and efficiency in handling queries.

Both parties involved have officially put their signatures on the agreement. Now, we take you through the main features of the cooperation on this project with Antti Riivari, Director General of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH), and Ingmar Vali, Head of Court Registration Department at the Estonian Ministry of Justice.

Background and institutional framework

The process that led to the signing of the agreement followed two parallel lines, not always moving towards the same goal at the same speed – there is a political side, and there is a technical side. Contrarily to what we could believe to be the issue in countries with a longer legacyon their shoulders, the technical aspects of the cooperation between the two business registers seemed to be cleared out by the end of 2017 already. However, in order to lay out and understand specifically what kind of data is going to be exchanged, and who has access to that information, there is the need for a specific agreement.

The final document with such information has been officially signed in February 2019, but it falls into place in the general institutional framework on digital cross-border cooperation between Estonia and Finland. Back in 2016, the Estonian and the Finnish Prime Ministers signed the joint declaration establishing the main lines of development to pursue for an international ecosystem in information exchange. Shortly afterwards, it became clear how the countries’ business registers could be among the first departments in the public sector to enjoy the advantages given by the implementation of X-Road.

Two things turned out to be necessary for this cooperation to come to life – refining the nation-wide implementation of X-Road in Finland and the compatibility with the Estonian system, as well as a specific definition of the people and the type of data that were to be involved in the information exchange. Though the cooperation on making the two systems match started right after the needs had been identified, it was only in 2018 that Estonia and Finland initially discussed the institutional draft agreement. Now in its official version, the document gives the green light to a few last operational tests and the practical beginning of the data exchange.

Needs and challenges

Antti Riivari (PRH) says it with a metaphor: “You need the road to drive on, and then you can have very different types of cars going to different places, but first you need the road.” X-Road in Finland was intended to provide a platform for all its departments and databases to communicate and cooperate. Then, after this initial phase, government agencies could actually proceed with more advanced practices of data exchange.

Despite not involving huge traffic of data and connections (for now), the Estonian and Finnish business registers identified a set of needs related to three main dimensions – quality of the data, efficiency, cost-effectiveness.

The topic of data accuracy is strictly connected to the long-lasting need for more security. “Let’s say that there is a company coming to Estonia to start a sub-unit or a branch here. If the mother company has some problems related to bankruptcy, or court cases, or annual reports, the business register in Estonia needs to know what is going on”, is the fitting example presented by Ingmar Vali (Ministry of Justice). Thus, enhancing the registers’ capability to gather the information they need results in a higher confidence in the data itself and less bureaucracy for both public and private actors, making checks and approvals more precise and quicker.

“But despite the general absence of problematic issues, an obstacle has been represented by fees”, Vali explains. While information can be accessed free of chargein the Estonian case, most business registers from other European countries require payments to access specific data. With the Finnish business register making no exception in this sense, this element accounted for the main talking point in the definition of the cooperation.

The solution

X-Road is now allowing the business register of Estonia and Finland to exchange queries directly, increasing the efficiency of the communications and improving the accuracy of the data. 

The recently signed agreement also generates more advantages for both the agencies and entrepreneurs – in the first place by cutting the costs of submitting requests, and in the second by eliminating the unnecessary paperwork that would have been required in country-to-country transactions. “It’s a need-driven process, we’re making sure that everything works as it should, and then we’ll explore future possibilities step by step. We now want to define and connect the authorities that would be most keen on accessing information on Estonian companies”, Riivari says.

Basic company details aside, the improved quality of the data and information security brings data exchange to the next level. “After reaching the full-scale implementation phase, borders and paper movement will basically stop, which is our goal because it makes everything more efficient and less costly. Imagine if these principles would take over across Europe! Estonia and Finland, in this sense, are doing well in setting an example for this idea”, Vali states.

By having X-Road as a national data exchange layer solution in Finland and Estonia, plugging in units and departments of the public administration to an X-Road trust federation between two countries comes easier. The case of the two business registers is another sign of how technology can favour international cooperation, and make routine work smoother and more efficient for both users and service providers.

Estonia and Finland heading towards real-time data exchange on taxation

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) and the Finnish Tax Administration (VERO) are moving towards a cooperation that would allow the agencies to exchange data in a more accurate and efficient way. And speaking of ways, what could serve the purpose better than the reliable and well-tested infrastructure of X-Road?

With the project currently on hold, but at a stage where preliminary talks and declarations of intention have already been explored, Anna Aleksejeva (EMTA) and Ann-Sofi Johansson (VERO) tell us about needs and benefits that this project will be dealing with.

Background and institutional framework

The northern and the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland celebrated the 100thanniversary of their independence respectively in 2017 and 2018. However, by that time, Estonia and Finland had already reached a crucial agreement enhancing the long-standing cooperation between the two countries: at the coming of age of the two Republics, Prime Ministers of both sides had signed a joint declaration in 2016 enhancing cross-border data exchange and the development of digital services in different fields. Tax records and fiscal matters, naturally, were included in the declaration as well.

The tax boards of Estonia and Finland have started a project aimed at fostering the exchange of information via X-Road, as the platform provides the best solution for the countries to share data in a secured, stable, and efficient digital environment. Legal obstacles have not presented concerns, and a draft agreement awaits to receive the final signatures; however, the current project, started in December 2016 and temporarily put aside exactly one year later, encountered a few bumps on technicalities regarding the databases that were to be connected. Currently on hold, both parties remain strongly interested in the project and work towards solving the last issues that can make this cooperation start in practice as well. 

The interest manifested by Estonia and Finland does not represent a novelty in this sense, not even for what concerns tax-related data exchange. The forefather of the current project could be identified in the BSR TaxI plan from 2014 and 2015, aimed at gathering tax authorities and state information agencies from Estonia, Sweden, and Latvia, and explore the possibilities for cross-border cooperation “on the electronic exchange of tax information in the Baltic Sea Region”. Though Finnish tax authorities did not take part to that project, both Estonia and Finland took the chance to openly express interest in starting bilateral agreements that would make such kind of cooperation come to life. As it then turned out, tax-related topics became part of the broader, more comprehensive agreement that the two countries reached in order to establish a smart process of information exchange.

Needs and challenges

Due to the current status of the project, it’s not easy to provide numbers on how many people and companies would be positively affected by this project. The needs to be tackled, instead, are clear and shared between the tax authorities of the two countries. “It is difficult to summarise and process the number of requests we receive”, explains Aleksejeva, Chief Expert at the International Information Exchange unit of EMTA, “as these often include information from foreign databases and additional documents that need to be analysed by an employee”. It is primarily a matter of human resources, since “human labour is frequently involved and now it can take from 1 up to 20 months to get the information we need”, Aleksejeva explains.

Ann-Sofi Johansson, Manager at the International Information Exchange department of VERO, gives us an idea of the pipeline involved in the process of requesting information. We are currently presented with a situation where employees need to overlook the process of auditing and requesting information from foreign authorities from the beginning to the end. “Saving resources is important, for example in the case of an audit: right now, if we need information from Estonia, first we have someone defining what kind of information is needed; then someone sends the request; then there’s another person on the other side receiving and processing the request, and so on and so on”, Johansson says.

Connecting agencies and databases, once that issues of compatibility and readability of the data are overcome, will allow the two Tax Boards to save human and economic resources, and to increase the accuracy of the data exchanged.

The solution

The reliability and scalability of X-Road has been put to test in different contexts and situations already. The reasons that make its implementation so appealing in this case are connected to what made it the backbone of e-Estonia, serving the needs of a whole country since 2001: efficiency, accuracy, security.

The path Estonia and Finland already decided to take, first with the Prime Ministers’ declaration, and then with the start of different projects aimed at enforcing such cooperation, implies the use of X-Road in its adaptability to diverse situations. As both the Estonian and the Finnish Tax Boards have recognized, the current project will bring significant advantages to the two agencies in dealing with income declarations, VAT information, and international audits.

“What we need to have is real-time information right from the start,” Johansson states, “as the world keeps moving faster, and it is important for us to dispose of correct information, at the right time, to formulate correct data on taxation”. The benefits do not affect only the quality of the information exchanged, but also the general workflow managed by the two agencies. “X-Road would be the perfect solution to avoid unnecessary manual analysis of data and to automate the information exchange between databases for simple requests,” Aleksejeva highlights.

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board and the Finnish Tax Administration remain interested in the project, and are currently working on the issues of compatibility and readiness to make the cooperation effectively see the light.