Finland – It Works
Faith in technology In Finland, the approach to problems and challenges does not consist of visions and declarations; instead, we divide them into smaller issues and divide the work. In Finland, problems are usually not solved by eradicating the cause. Instead, we seek ways of solving the problem, often with the help of technology. The entire history of the Finnish welfare state is a narrative of how we come up with solutions to allow us to live in the Nordic conditions and yet thrive. A technology-oriented mindset is not solely a special trait of those with an educational background in the field of engineering. New technologies interest the whole nation, not just a particular group of pioneering innovators. For example, electricity and the telephone arrived in Finland very soon after they had been invented, and Finnish IT skills and the readiness to adopt new technologies brought about Nokia’s success. The idea that a mobile phone belongs in every hand is Finnish in origin. Finland had the world’s highest mobile phone penetration rate the 1990s. The use of mobile phones is one phase in a long continuum in which various networks and equipment (the railway, comprehensive school, radio, TV and now, gradually, the broadband) have spread throughout the sparsely populated country. Finland was also the first country in the world to enact a law on the right of all citizens to a broadband connection. The fact that a number of people who have received a technical education can be found in every group of friends, hobby group and housing association has helped spread the technological mindset in Finland. The Finnish labour force now includes some 70,000 engineers with a post-secondary degree and almost as many with a master’s degree. This means an engineering work force of more than one hundred thousand Finns. That is more than five percent of the Finnish workforce. The faith in technology is easy to see by studying Finnish politics in the 2000s. In the past ten years, a huge amount of political resources have been spent on making energy policy decisions. Now, almost every Finn has an opinion on what kind of technology should be employed to solve the energy issue. Thus, problems are rarely political, let alone moral. This belief in how the world can be modified to suit humankind brings with it a fundamental attitude to life. Finland is a country where engineering skill provides the answer even to the disposal of nuclear waste. In other countries this would be an ethical problem, here, it is a practical one.
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