Oulu leads the way in electronic service development
Oulu City Council and Itella have partnered to provide access to Itella's online customer service NetPosti via the OmaOulu.fi portal. OmaOulu.fi is the City Council's residents' portal, launched in May 2008.
- Oulu City Council has again taken the lead in developing the information society. We are pleased to provide access to NetPosti as part of the OmaOulu.fi service. Thorough NetPosti, Oulu residents can now receive electronic letters and use the online archive. The partnership also allows them to receive and pay electronic invoices and access other services. All letters received via NetPosti can be archived for six years, in line with the Finnish tax authorities' requirements, says Tommi Björklund, director of Itella's NetPosti solutions.
- We continue to develop the OmaOulu.fi portal and, in addition to council services, wish to provide useful products from third-party providers. NetPosti is precisely the kind of service which enhances the OmaOulu.fi portal, says Jaakko Järvenpää, project developer in Oulu City Council's ICT Services.
OmaOulu.fi is a one-stop citizen's service, developed by Oulu City Council and launched last spring. It is an easy way to find and access online services provided by the Council and third-party partners via a single portal, open 24/7 anywhere.
Currently OmaOulu.fi has more than 1,000 registered users, and the number is expected to grow steadily. At the beginning of the new year, the Council will launch Oulu10, a one-stop-shop for council services. As OmaOulu.fi will provide online access to the services available at the Oulu10 service points, the new initiative is expected to bring a significant number of new users.
- Oulu City Council wanted to promote residents' opportunities to make a difference in the activities and decisions taking place in their own town. We invite residents to provide us with feedback so that we can develop OmaOulu into a service channel that best meets the residents' needs and preferences. We expect a growing interest in OmaOulu.fi and NetPosti as we continue to expand the service, Mr Järvenpää says.
Following registration, residents can customise the service portal. The personal site provides access to the services the resident has selected, such as a map search, e-mail and instant messaging with other registered OmaOulu users. All content is offered free of charge following registration. In the future, a single sign-on eliminates the need to sign on separately for each service.
- NetPosti is a great addition to the OmaOulu.fi service. It offers a secure and free method of receiving and archiving all important documents, such as invoices, nursery applications and decisions, insurance policies, payslips and warranties. Via NetPosti, residents can also fill in and send over 1,100 forms to the authorities, such as «residents' initiatives to Oulu City Council or crime reports to the police, Mr Björklund says.
Omaoulu.fi has been nominated as Finland's entry to the international World Summit Award competition in the eGovernment & Institutions category. The best project has been selected from each of the eight categories to represent Finland in the competition between the finest information society applications from 168 countries. The WSA jury will meet in March 2009, and the top 40 projects worldwide will be awarded in May 2009 in Monterrey, Mexico.
Further information:
Tommi Björklund, Director of NetPosti Solutions, NetPosti Services, Itella Corporation, tel. +358 (0)50 3866 203, email firstname.lastname@itella.com
Ilari Heikkinen, Directr of ICT Services, Oulu City Council, tel. +358 (0)44 703 1677, email firstname.lastname@ouka.fi
NetPosti is a secure online consumer service, combining a mailbox, a six-year archive and over 1,000 electronic forms. NetPosti currently provides a mailing service from 3,000 companies and over 1,000 public administration forms. The service has over 140,000 users. In 2007, over 1.1 million electronic letters were delivered to consumers via the service. To find out more about NetPosti, visit www.netposti.fi
OmaOulu.fi is Oulu City Council's customer service portal, providing online access to council services. Users create a customised site, where they can easily access the services they have chosen. OmaOulu's constantly expanding content provision currently includes the council's existing online services, e-mail, personal calendar, a document storage, photo album and various community services. To find out more about the service, visit www.omaoulu.fi
