DigiO­ne – a unique educa­tio­nal col­la­bo­ra­tion launc­hed by five cities

The cities of Oulu, Espoo, Tam­pe­re, Tur­ku and Van­taa are star­ting a col­la­bo­ra­tion cal­led DigiO­ne. The objec­ti­ve is to crea­te a digi­tal plat­form that brings ser­vices for lear­ning and educa­tion toget­her. The aim is to grow an eco­sys­tem in the field of educa­tion around the ser­vice plat­form, to which all actors in the field of educa­tion can join.

Infor­ma­tion and sys­tems in one loca­tion

The DigiO­ne col­la­bo­ra­tion, launc­hed by the City of Van­taa and fun­ded by Busi­ness Fin­land, is buil­ding a user-friend­ly and inte­ro­pe­rable digi­tal educa­tion ser­vice plat­form. DigiO­ne is a natio­nal digi­tal ser­vice plat­form that brings toget­her educa­tion sys­tems and, in a user-friend­ly way, all the infor­ma­tion, sys­tems and ser­vices used by teac­hers, lear­ners, princi­pals, guar­dians and admi­ni­stra­tors.

The cities of Espoo, Oulu, Tam­pe­re, Tur­ku and Van­taa as well as Kun­tien Tie­ra have made a co-ope­ra­tion agree­ment whe­re­by the par­ties will joint­ly deve­lop and build a new com­mon ser­vice plat­form and eco­sys­tem on an equal foo­ting, simi­lar to the alliance model. The aim is to crea­te an enti­ty that expands into a nationwi­de solu­tion. Later, all inte­res­ted educa­tion pro­vi­ders can join the DigiO­ne ser­vice plat­form and eco­sys­tem in sta­ges.

“DigiO­ne is a sig­ni­ficant and unique example of coo­pe­ra­tion between cities. Oulu is renow­ned as a city of educa­tion: we have a strong educa­tio­nal field, which is why we want to be at the forefront of deve­lo­ping a digi­tal ser­vice plat­form for lear­ning and educa­tion,” says the May­or of Oulu Päi­vi Laa­ja­la.

”At the moment, infor­ma­tion is scat­te­red across seve­ral sys­tems. The­re are no natio­nal data models, so know­led­ge-based mana­ge­ment takes places in silos ins­tead of being lear­ner-cent­ric. We want to take part in sha­ping the peda­go­gic tran­si­tion and ensu­re that ser­vices meet the needs of eve­ry­day life and are tru­ly easy to use,” adds Mika Pent­ti­lä, the direc­tor of Educa­tio­nal and Cul­tu­ral Ser­vices of Oulu.

Ini­tial­ly ser­vices for basic educa­tion and gene­ral upper secon­da­ry educa­tion

The par­tici­pa­ting cities want to inclu­de in the ser­vice plat­form as many ser­vice and sys­tem suppliers, munici­pa­li­ties and cities as pos­sible, as well as other actors in the field. The desi­re is to crea­te an educa­tion-focused eco­sys­tem around the digi­tal ser­vice plat­form that covers ser­vices throug­hout the learner’s lifecycle.

During the pro­ject, ser­vices will be pro­vi­ded for basic educa­tion and gene­ral upper secon­da­ry educa­tion. The aim is later to build ser­vices for ear­ly child­hood educa­tion and voca­tio­nal trai­ning to ensu­re a healt­hy lear­ning path.

The need for deve­lop­ment is based on the chan­ges requi­red by the cur­ricu­la and the new and rapid­ly evol­ving oppor­tu­ni­ties brought by digi­ta­liza­tion, and during the excep­tio­nal circums­tances of the spring of 2020, it has beco­me even more pro­nounced that the­se need to be uti­lized.

In the futu­re, it will be even more impor­tant that infor­ma­tion flows between ser­vices and that infor­ma­tion is avai­lable to sup­port mana­ge­ment, deci­sion-making, and research.

“DigiO­ne is a major pro­ject to pro­mo­te the digi­ta­liza­tion of teac­hing and lear­ning and the inte­ro­pe­ra­bi­li­ty of infor­ma­tion. The pro­ject will also enrich the natio­nal deba­te. It is great that DigiO­ne is being built in exten­si­ve coo­pe­ra­tion with various actors and sta­ke­hol­ders,” says the direc­tor of the Natio­nal Board of Educa­tion Olli-Pek­ka Hei­no­nen.

Qua­li­ty and savings

Coo­pe­ra­tion in the munici­pal field enables new types of ser­vices that uti­lize digi­ta­liza­tion and pro­mo­te the qua­li­ty of educa­tio­nal ser­vices. Sig­ni­ficant ove­rall savings can also be achie­ved through new ser­vices and col­la­bo­ra­tion. The bene­fits of digi­ta­liza­tion can be bet­ter exploi­ted when munici­pa­li­ties car­ry out deve­lop­ment and procu­re­ment toget­her ins­tead of buil­ding their own plat­forms and ser­vices.

For furt­her infor­ma­tion: digione.fi