Infoshare in Helsinki Region

Challenge:

The Helsinki Region, namely the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen, have historically been quite advanced about collecting and using open data. However, cities in the Helsinki Region were not collaborating with one another effectively, meaning that work was often being duplicated and information was not being shared. The cities wanted to join forces and promote transparency, foster innovation, enhance decision-making and generally improve the provision of public services. Collaborating on open data was identified as one way to do this.  

Approach:

The Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI) initiative, launched in 2011, was a collaborative effort involving city governments, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY), Forum Virium Helsinki, and various public and private sector organisations, NGOs, and the community. The initiative aggregated data from diverse sources, including municipal governments, public sector organisations, government agencies, educational and research institutions, private companies, NGOs, community contributions, and international and regional organisations. The HRI platform was developed to provide a user-friendly interface for accessing and utilising this data, with established data standards and protocols to ensure quality and interoperability. The platform offers open data from the Helsinki Region freely to the public in a structured format, encouraging interaction between data producers and users. The data catalogue uses the CKAN platform for data publishing and WordPress for content management, both managed by a NGINX server. CKAN allows users to publish and access datasets, while WordPress handles user-facing content like blogs and articles. NGINX serves as a reverse proxy, aiding in load balancing and scalability. Security measures include HTTPS for secure data transmission and user authentication, providing a robust solution for managing web content and data efficiently.

Outcomes:

Since its launch, the HRI platform has significantly impacted urban governance, transparency, and innovation in the Helsinki region. Municipal employees can make their data transparent and openly shared, promoting wider utilisation. The HRI website describes around 150 use cases. For instance, real-time snow-plough mapping uses the Stara Snowplow API from the City of Helsinki. This dataset allows the public to access information through an online map interface, showing which routes and highways have been ploughed and which areas are still being worked on. This real-time mapping helps snow-plough operators communicate better with the public, increase safety and efficiency, and reduce the overall impact of snow and ice. Another example is the Open Logistics Map (OLMap), which uses a specific HRI dataset on entrances and gates to buildings in central Helsinki. The OLMap open-source tool supports last-mile delivery solutions in urban areas, aiming to improve the logistics chain through digitalisation. OLMap aids data collection and delivery instruction sharing about urban delivery destinations, intended for logistics professionals but open to anyone. More generally, the HRI platform has enabled better decision-making, improved public services, and fostered a culture of data-driven governance. The initiative has also gained international recognition as a leading example of open data in the public sector, featured in various studies and reports on best practices in open data and smart cities.

Data Sources:

Data is aggregated from a range of sources, including municipal governments, public sector organisations, government agencies, educational and research institutions, private sector companies, non-governmental organisations, community contributions, and international and regional organisations.

Additional information:

• https://hri.fi/en_gb/
• https://hri.fi/data/en_GB/dataset
• https://hri.fi/en_gb/hri-service/information-about-the-service/
• https://ohjeet.dataportaali.com/

Point of Contact:

• hrihel [dot] fi (hri[at]hel[dot]fi)