Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, and Solita have studied the opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) in a unique partnership that raised both national and international interest. What kinds of new things can AI offer Kela? How can future services be produced more effectively? “Our goal is for AI to improve daily lives in Finland as much as possible. This is an incredibly strategic partnership, which will have a significant effect on peoples’ lives”, says Janne Pulkkinen, Innovation Director at Kela.
Kela and Solita’s project, which began in early 2023, attempts to understand AI as a social, technological and societal phenomenon. Its goal is to create functional and widely effective social service concepts based on verified opportunities.
What’s key about the partnership has been studying the operational needs in a strategy-first manner: making AI serve. Kela and Solita have built a strategic picture that combines innovation, foresight and strategy.
Improved understanding of the ways social and technological transition influences Kela’s operations
Identification of areas that most benefit from AI
Better management practices in activities that aim to make use of AI
Discovery of areas in which it is worth including AI implementation and learning to find the ways to advance AI projects
Significant long-term benefits and societal savings through the use of AI
AI applications that make citizens’ and Kela employees’ daily lives easier
Kela wants to apply AI to things that will benefit Kela and its customers the most, such as on identifying the need for support and support applications. The goal of the partnership is to make use of AI to build service concepts that improve the service experience of Kela’s customers and help to produce services more effectively.
The aim is that society can better respond to changing social needs in a more individual-focused manner with an eye on life situations without the costs of service production growing to an unsustainable level.
“It is impossible to respond to individual, changing needs without smart automation or AI. We want to grow concepts in Kela’s operations in a way that they better match the citizens’ expectations and change daily lives at Kela and Finland as a whole”, says Solita’s leading consultant Marko Taipale.
This is an incredibly significant project both for us and our society.
Ville Nore Head of Innovation & Growth, Kela
Solita has made use of Kela’s previous future scenario work and considered the possible roles AI could play in the various scenarios that Kela strategically considers. How can AI change our view of the future? What kind of changes could be possible with AI?
Additionally, the project is a continuation of a previous Solita-Kela project on mental health phenomena.
Of the different scenarios that Kela presented, the most positive was a kind of “digital wonderland”. All activities that aim to make use of AI were focused on strengthening this positive scenario.
“In light of the scenarios from Kela’s foresight work, we are reaching for the ‘digital wonderland’. AI does have a role in every scenario, and it cannot be ignored. You have to focus on AI – whichever way the wind blows”, says Solita’s Taipale.
Society’s expectations of various AI solutions are high. However, much of them are hype; wide-ranging effective solutions have not really been implemented in Finland.
The partnership is currently in the social innovation potential solution experiment phase. During this phase, AI solutions are being actively deployed within the real organisational context of Kela but in a small scale to gain fast evidence. The primary objective is to understand the tangible impact of these AI solutions and uncover any unforeseen effects that may arise from the integration of this new technology.
All businesses and organisations are desperately thinking about how to use artificial intelligence.
What’s key about the Kela-Solita partnership is the transition from identifying phenomena to creating solutions.
Solita has helped Kela study its operational needs in a strategy-first, systematic manner: First, we create a strategy and a vision of what we want and where.
Only after those are done, can we consider the role of AI and how it can be used to achieve our chosen targets.
“For AI solutions to be effective, they must always be linked to business and the company or organisation’s strategy. What’s been most important has been our highly strategic approach to the opportunities of AI. Step by step, we can grow the influence of generative AI in Kela’s operations”, says Solita’s Taipale.
Kela’s trust in Solita as a partner is strong.
“We have taken the Solita folks in as if they were our own people. We will work together to achieve a greater, strategic goal. This work is important to us, and we do it transparently”, says Kela’s Nore.
“We have different capabilities, which we have combined to achieve sufficient diversity. Together, we have decided our direction, carried out testing and trials. All the time, we share responsibility and reach for new kinds of solutions that can truly improve our customers’ experience and overhaul our services. This requires courage and trust on both sides that we can work together to reach a common goal”, says Kela’s Pulkkinen.
“AI can work to find out benefit eligibility: based on available data, it could be made to suggest the benefits a particular citizen can apply for”, says Solita’s Taipale.
All the time, we share responsibility and reach for new kinds of solutions that can truly improve our customers’ experience and overhaul our services. This requires courage and trust on both sides that we can work together to reach a common goal.
Janne Pulkkinen Chief Innovation Officer, Kela, the Social Security Institute of Finland
There is a fundamental change about to take place in Finnish society.
An aging population has ever more diverse needs for services and support, which are difficult to predict. Both global and local phenomena bring forth needs for new types of services for everyone, and the rate of change is only going higher.
This is a difficult problem that cannot be solved with more hands on deck at Kela.
“We need different solutions – automation, cloud technology, data, and creative solutions that are based on AI. For instance, AI can work to find out benefit eligibility: based on available data, it could be made to suggest the benefits a particular citizen can apply for”, says Solita’s Taipale.
“AI ethics are a matter that must be carefully considered when developing new services. The solutions have to be transparent – legislation will also provide a framework for using AI. With this project, we have tried to find good practices and tested the use of AI for making the benefit administrators’ work easier”, continues Taipale.
We need different solutions – automation, cloud technology, data, and creative solutions that are based on AI. For instance, AI can work to find out benefit eligibility: based on available data, it could be made to suggest the benefits a particular citizen can apply for.
Marko Taipale Principal Consultant, Solita
Changes to Kela’s operating methods have a significant societal importance.
This AI project, upon completion, is expected to make nearly every Finn’s life easier and have a long-term effect on Finland’s GDP per capita. AI will also change daily work for Kela employees. For instance, automating the administration of benefits will eliminate routine work, leaving more time for demanding tasks that require expertise. Employees have a significant role in making use of the opportunities of AI, from the perspective of both efficiency and meaningfulness. This unique partnership has managed to raise a great deal of interest in Finland and abroad.
“Based on THL’s assessment, a single marginalised young person costs society EUR 1.2 million. If we can prevent marginalisation on a large scale, it will have a significant economic effect. This is only one possible application of AI. The potential effects will be significant”, says Kela’s Pulkkinen.
Kela and Solita have succeeded in building a model in which they can verify things step by step. What’s also advanced is Kela’s method for handling different hypotheses with citizens.
“We want to work closely with people and involve them. We believe that this is highly influential. Ultimately, what we do is proceed from identifying phenomena to figuring out their concrete effect”, says Pulkkinen.
Through this partnership, Kela has found and verified the most significant opportunities of AI and built functional service concepts.
“An important goal has been for a large public body to find the ways to build service concepts in a way that they become a part of Kela’s everyday work. Our grand, shared goal proceeds towards the ‘digital wonderland’, in which government debt is balanced and health and wellbeing services have been reformed in a sustainable manner”, says Taipale.
We want to work closely with people and involve them. We believe that this is highly influential. Ultimately, what we do is proceed from identifying phenomena to figuring out their concrete effect.
Janne Pulkkinen Chief Innovation Officer, Kela, the Social Security Institute of Finland
Marko Taipale Principal Consultant, Solita
[email protected] +358 405 786 447
