AmCham Finland Encourages the Finnish Government to Make Data More Accessible
The American Chamber of Commerce in Finland (AmCham Finland) encourages the current government to commit to making publicly-funded data more affordable, and therefore more accessible to all customers.
In a press release by the Ministry of Transport and Communications on March 3rd, 2011, the following statement was made:
“Information materials should be openly available and re-useable with coherent, transparent, and equal terms. Materials should be predominantly free of charge.”
On page 55 of the official English translation of the 2011-2015 Government programme, the following passage outlines the government’s intention to do so:
“Information resources produced using public funding will be opened up for public and corporate access. The goal is to make digital data materials managed by the public sector available to citizens, companies, enterprises and organisations, authorities, and for research and education purposes in an easily reusable format via information networks.”
Our support for the timely implementation of this commitment is based upon the following points, which have been clearly demonstrated by recent research. A 2011 paper written by Heli Koski of the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA), which focuses particularly on geographical information, indicates that:
• The move to marginal cost pricing from cost-recovery pricing has been shown to demonstrate clear benefits within a year of implementation
• Countries that provide this information for no more than the marginal cost have experienced, on average, 15% higher firm growth than countries which do not
• Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) receive the greatest benefit from this change
Effectively, the pricing structure of the current system makes it difficult for growth companies with limited resources to access information that is crucial to their success. In our opinion, considering the importance of growth companies to the Finnish economy, the benefits of moving to a free or marginal cost-based system more than outweigh the cost of providing the information that has already been produced using public funds.
In addition, a significant quantity of publicly-funded information is produced at the municipal level. By opening up access to publicly-funded in their jurisdictions, Finnish municipalities could become more attractive to small businesses, which are largely responsible for economic growth.
In conclusion, AmCham Finland recommends that both the central government and municipal governments implement a revised pricing structure for information resources produced using public funds, moving to a free or marginal cost-based system, and therefore making this information more freely available to all.
AmCham Finland’s Policy Committee
Chairman: Max Mickelsson – Government Affairs Lead, Microsoft Oy
Vice-Chairman: Teppo Rantanen – CEO, Deloitte & Touche Oy
Members: Tommi Lassila – Vice President and Country Manager, American Express
Ilpo Tolonen – Managing Director, MSD Finland
Pentti Miettinen – Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Patria Oyj
Matti Saarinen – Managing Partner Helsinki, Kreab Gavin Anderson
Jarmo Alm – Senior Vice President, Stora Enso Oyj
Leena Munter – Managing Director, Manpower Oy
Antti Oksanen – Editor-in-Chief, Talentum Oy
Board Liaison: Mikko Suonenlahti – Partner, DFJ Esprit
Coordinator: Matthew Wood – Economic Policy, AmCham Finland
matthew.wood@amcham.fi +358 45 201 1039