The Antila-Suurpää family, residing in Helsinki, is emblematic of how digital services have become integral to managing daily routines and errands. Despite the adults, Petra Antila and Tuomas Suurpää, considering themselves not particularly tech-savvy, they leverage more than a dozen applications for electronic services.
Petra’s phone hosts various apps, including banking, parking, medical, public healthcare, child’s football team communication, public transport, library services, museum updates, and parcel tracking. These online services have seamlessly integrated into their work, school, leisure, and public service interactions. According to Tuomas, “Digital services are an inseparable part of our society.”
The family’s reliance on digital tools extends to coordinating their children’s extracurricular activities. For example, Frans, the youngest, participates in football, and Petra uses the MyClub app for communication with the team, handling payment invoices, and ensuring smooth transportation to training sessions and matches.
Their eldest, Frida, involved in competitive cheerleading, utilizes the Wilma app for school communications. Wilma fosters messaging between home and school regarding attendance, homework, exams, and grades. The app streamlines communication between parents and teachers, providing insights into children’s daily school life.
Additionally, the family manages finances, from transactions to investments, and interacts with various public authorities through online services. The tax authority’s online service, used by Tuomas, allows easy access to tax-related information and submissions. Kanta, a nationwide service, consolidates private, occupational, and school healthcare data, including doctors’ reports, laboratory results, and prescriptions.
Public administration services are streamlined through Suomi.fi, offering a centralized platform for accessing different services. The family experiences the efficiency of digital services, saving time, effort, and paper in their daily lives.