The Ministry of the Interior made use of the Suomi.fi Web Service to publish an individual emergency planning guide – Suomi.fi is a functional platform for providing instructions to citizens

In November, the Ministry of the Interior published a preparedness guide for citizens in the Suomi.fi Web Service. The guide was widely discussed both in Finland and abroad, including the main media in the United States.

The record-breaking guide has been visited more than 560,000 times since the beginning of November. The feedback has been mainly positive.

The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for planning and producing the content and for content cooperation with the support of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Suomi.fi was a natural choice for the Ministry of the Interior

Information on individual emergency plans has been scattered around 30 different websites. The aim of the Ministry of the Interior was to compile all instructions on a single website.

Suomi.fi was selected as a platform for the guide due to its reach and crisis resilience and because people are familiar with it.

“Suomi.fi was a natural choice for us. It is a neutral and reliable website maintained by a public authority, which also works in times of crisis. Suomi.fi also offered a ready-made and functional guide concept,” explains Director of Communications Eriikka Koistinen from the Ministry of the Interior.

One important reason for choosing Suomi.fi was its status as an established channel for official communications. Suomi.fi is known by more than 80 per cent of Finns, an established audience for official information.

“There was no need to think about a separate website – Suomi.fi reaches citizens directly in a reliable environment,” states Koistinen.

The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for the project, sparred and supported by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency

The Suomi.fi editorial team has so far been responsible for all guides implemented in Suomi.fi. The Ministry of the Interior is the first external organisation to oversee the planning and implementation of a guide.

“This was an interesting new way for us to build a guide in the Suomi.fi Web Service. The experience was very positive in all respects. In addition to top-notch actors, our success was made possible by the fact that the Ministry of the Interior had much to offer for the guide from the beginning and inherent ownership on the important topic. Their accurate and extensive knowledge on the topic and good network contacts accelerated the work from the beginning,” says Chief Specialist Lauri Markkanen from the Suomi.fi editorial team.

The ministry was not left alone with the content production process; the person responsible for the project had a partner in the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s editorial team and tools for content and technical design.

“The cooperation was smooth. We received support from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at all stages,” Koistinen describes.

Cooperation helped clarify content

A network of 26 public administration and third-sector actors participated in the planning of the guide. The content cooperation model prepared by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency was used in the project. It supports cooperation between several actors in designing a guide and content production.

According to Koistinen, cooperation was straightforward and provided valuable insights on the structure of the guide.

“Together, we were able to reflect on what would work best in content aimed at citizens. This made our work easier and the package clearer,” she says.

A recommended experience for other authorities

Koistinen recommends the Suomi.fi Web Service and content cooperation to other authorities that are planning to publish instructions and guides aimed at citizens.

“Cooperation provides confidence in content production and saves time. The result is high-quality and easy to achieve,” she summarises.

International attention was a surprise

At the time of publication, the guide had a running start, as international media became interested in the preparedness guides that happened to be published on the same day in both Finland and Sweden. New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Al-Jazeera and Times of India, among others, reported on the guide. Finnish media extensively reported on the guide as well.

Additional information
On the content collaboration model on the Suomi.fi for Service Developers website
If you are interested in publishing content in the Suomi.fi Web Service, contact the editorial team: suomifi@suomi.fi