Jonathan Nyarko Ocran

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR OF FINLAND BY JONATHAN NYARKO OCRAN MAY, 2023 1 PREFACE This booklet was written as part of the requirements of an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree, with a special emphasis on Public Administration. I initially had in mind to research and write about Social Media Marketing in Ghana and was in the middle of this write-up when the university requested that I write on Artificial Intelligence in Finland. I have never visited Finland before, neither do I know anything about its public sector and the application of artificial intelligence in that country. Somewhere in 2022, I participated in a webinar organized by Drift under the auspices of MarketingProfs, which is a specialist marketing organization based in the United States. During this webinar, I was fortunate to have learnt about the “wonders” of artificial intelligence and the fact that an AI chat bot could be “trained” to substitute a human being and serve impeccably as a customer representative between a company and its customers 24 hours per day and 7 days a week. Apart from this webinar, I have had no other knowledge about Artificial Intelligence until recently when Chat GPT became a household name worldwide. I can at best described myself as an “Accidental Artificial Intelligence Specialist” for the public sector. I therefore approached this assignment with an open mind, whilst drawing on my little experience in research coupled with sheer curiosity to learn about this new field. It took me about two months to research and write this booklet and I depended solely on secondary research materials found online. I did not undertake any survey neither did I speak with anybody from Finland on their public sector. Luckily for me, there were a lot of materials available online that I could use to put together this publication. In the process, I have learnt a lot about the application of artificial intelligence in public sector administration. This publication provides information on the public sector of Finland, artificial intelligence and its various components, the vision 2030 of the Government of Finland, the “Aurora AI” project in Finland, areas to which artificial intelligence can be applied in Finland’s various Ministries. Other areas covered include benefits and drawbacks in implementing AI in the public sector, the impact of AI on public sector governance in the world, the influence of AI on public sector personnel and the possible future areas of research on AI in the public sector. Finally, I outlined key recommendations on AI application in the public sector globally. Artificial Intelligence is the “new kid on the block” and the earlier we learn how to use it the better it will become for us all. This publication is my little contribution to the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector, with a special emphasis on Finland. Jonathan Nyarko Ocran Ghana, 22nd May, 2023 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1. Introduction and Background …………………………………………..4 2. Problem Statement and Justification ………………………………….6 3. Literature Review…………………………………………………….....7 3.1 The Public Sector of Finland………………………………………..7 3.2 The Private Sector of Finland………………………………………14 3.3 The Cooperation between the Public and Private Sectors of Finland………………………………………………………………15 3.4 Types of Artificial Intelligence and other cognitive technologies..15 3.5 Tools and Subfields of Artificial Intelligence……………………..17 3.6 Finland’s Vision 2030 or the National 2030 Agenda……………..18 3.7 Finland’s AI Strategy and Policy………………………………….21 3.8 “Aurora AI” of Finland…………………………………………….22 4. Materials and Methods…………………………………………………..24 5. Discussion of Findings from the Literature…………………………….25 5.1 Areas where AI can be applied in Public Administration………..25 5.2 Benefits of implementing AI in Public Services……………………26 5.3 Drawbacks of implementing AI in Public Services………………..27 5.4 Impact of AI on Public Sector Governance in the world…………27 5.5 Influence of AI on Public Sector Personnel……………………….28 5.6 The Future Research Areas on AI in the Public Sector…………29 6. Recommendations on Artificial Intelligence……………………………29 7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………30 8. References…………………………………………………………………32 3 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Finland is a Scandinavian country located in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the North by Norway, to the East by Russia, to the South by the Gulf of Finland, to the South West by the Gulf of Bothnia and to the North West by Sweden (Britannica, 2023a). The population of Finland was 5,545,475 as at the beginning of 2023 with a growth rate of 0.09 percent over that of year 2022 (Macrotrends, 2023a). According to Worldometer (2023) Finland’s population is equivalent to 0.07 percent of the total world population. Its population density in 2023 was 16.23 people per square kilometer, which is 0.09 percent increment over that of 2022 (Macrotrends, 2023b). The land area of Finland is 338,424 Km2, with about 89.85 percent being land and the remaining 10.15 percent being water. The vegetation of Finland is dominated by Conifer, which is made up mainly by Pine and Spruce. However, in the extreme south of the country, there is a large patch of deciduous trees, made up of birch, hazel, aspen, maple, elm, linden and alder. According to the World Bank (2023) the climate of Finland is inclusive of both maritime and continental climates depending on the direction of airflow. The mean annual temperature of Finland is approximately 5.5 degrees Celsius in the South-Western part of the country and decreases towards the North-East. The female population constitutes about 50.67 percent, while the remaining 49.33 percent are male. Finland therefore has 74.1 thousand more female than male (United Nations, 2021). The capital city of Finland is Helsinki, which is the leading seaport and industrial city of the country. Helsinki can be found in the far South of the country on a peninsula that is fringed by natural harbors and extend into the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki is often called the “White city of the North” because many of its buildings were built using the local light-colored granite (Britannica, 2023b). Finland has a large number of foreigners and many of them live in Greater Helsinki. Finland is divided into nineteen (19) administrative regions and seventy (70) sub-regions and all the regions take pride in their own unique characteristics and endowments (European Union, 2023). The smallest region is called Aland, which is an autonomous archipelago in the Southwestern part of the country. Ninety-three (93) percent of Finland’s population live in cities and towns, while the remaining Seven (7) percent can be found in the rural areas. Politically, Finland is a Parliamentary Republic, with the Head of Government as the Prime Minister and the President as the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Ms. Sanna Marin. Finland became of the Member of the European Union on 1 st January, 1995 and adopted the Euro as its national currency on 1 st January, 1999. Finland’s official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US 276 billion dollars as at the end of 2022 in purchasing power parity terms (World Economics, 2023). The country’s GDP per Capita is expected to reach US46,344 dollars by the end of 2023 (Trading Economics, 2023). The economy of Finland is a mixed one, which combines a free market system with a generous Nordic welfare system. Its economy is characterized by a high level of industrialization, a small domestic market and an openness to trade (Clausnitzer, 2022). Finland’s major economic sector is manufacturing, with electronics, machinery, vehicles and other engineered products being the key areas. The country also has timber, minerals and freshwater resources (Britannica, 2023c). Finland offers key investment opportunities in the energy, cleantech, software, 4 healthcare technologies, agriculture, travel and tourism as well as safety and security sectors. Socially, Finnish society is not a formal one; rather it is relatively a relaxed one both at home and work. Finnish culture is notably an egalitarian one, where both men and women participate almost equally in all activities of the society. Both men and women share responsibility at the level of the family, work and government equally. Traditional cuisine in Finland is heavily based on potatoes, fish, pork and dairy products. Finland is touted for having one of the best education systems in the world. Its education system contains nine years of compulsory basic education, early education and care, pre-primary, upper secondary education, higher education and finally adult education. Teachers in Finland spend fewer hours at school and use the extra time gained in building a solid curriculum and assessing their students (Hancock, 2011). Finland currently provides top-level education in Artificial Intelligence at its Universities and is raising the awareness of its citizens on Artificial Intelligence through the provision of free public online courses, including one on the “Elements of Artificial Intelligence”. Finland’s healthcare system can be described as being a success because it has enhanced health care delivery and increased life expectancy in the country. Public health care in Finland is not free but the charges demanded are reasonable or affordable. Environmentally, Finland has an ambitious plan of attaining carbon neutrality by 2035. It is currently focused strongly on curbing water pollution, industrial emissions and cleaning polluted waterways. However, curbing farm-related waterway pollution is posing a challenge to the country (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2022). Forest protection has become a top priority in Finland. Finland’s emission was 55.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019. Finland’s total emission accounted for 1.5 percent of the total European Union emissions in 2019 and fell by 22 percent between 2015 and 2019 (European Parliament, 2021). Finland’s high emission levels is not unexpected given that their economy rests largely on industrialization. According to the World Bank (2021) and cited by Trading Economics (2023), electricity coverage in Finland was 100 percent as at the end of 2020. Internet access in Finland was estimated as 97.59 percent as at December, 2022 (Trading Economics, 2023). In July, 2010, Finland became the first country in the world to make internet access a legal right for its citizens. Finland’s vision and goal is to become the leading country in Artificial Intelligence. As a technology superpower, it seeks to fully utilize all the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence throughout the Finnish society. To realize this goal, every part of the country would be offered an internet access. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a game-changing publication on Artificial Intelligence titled “Finland’s Age of Artificial Intelligence - Turning Finland into a leading country in the application of Artificial Intelligence” outlined eight (8) key policy recommendations for turning the country’s vision into a reality. These included: (i) (ii) (iii) Enhance the competitiveness of Finland’s companies through the use of Artificial Intelligence. Utilize data in all sectors of the country. Speed up and simplify the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. 5 (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) Develop and attract top-level expertise in Artificial Intelligence. Make bold decisions and investments on Artificial Intelligence. Build the world’s best public services. Establish new cooperation model for Artificial Intelligence. Make Finland a trendsetter in the age of Artificial Intelligence (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, 2017). The Ministry of Finance of Finland developed the Aurora AI initiative, which seeks to implement the afore-mentioned policy recommendations and make Finland a technology development pioneer. The Aurora AI initiative became operational at the end of 2022 and it is leveraging Artificial Intelligence in service delivery and serving the Finnish people better. The Aurora AI programme is a government programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Finland already has one of the best public sectors in the world and the country is seeking to use Artificial Intelligence to make it even more efficient, especially within the education and health sectors of the economy. A lot has taken place since the landmark publication by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland in 2017. This is the opportune time to assess the benefits and drawbacks or challenges on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector as well as its impact on public sector governance globally. It will also be worthwhile to learn about the influence of Artificial Intelligence on personnel within the public sector. Furthermore, it will be necessary to pinpoint areas where Artificial Intelligence can be introduced into public administration in Finland. This report therefore seeks to unearth existing information and fill the information gaps in the specific areas mentioned above. 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION Even though, a number of policies, strategies and a programme have been initiated in Finland to promote the use of Artificial Intelligence in the country, especially in the delivery of public services to the Finnish society, no independent study has been conducted to ascertain the outcome of the implementation of this programme. The full operationalization of the use of Artificial Intelligence in the delivery of public services in Finland started towards the end of 2022. So, one may argue that it is too early to determine whether the application of Artificial Intelligence in service delivery in Finland has been successful or not. However, the programme to incorporate artificial intelligence in services delivery was pre-tested from 2020 to 2022, so some information should be available to ascertain the potential success of this programme. The research question of this study therefore is to ascertain whether the use of artificial intelligence enhanced public administration and service delivery in Finland or not. And if the answer is Yes, one may also ask to what extent? The available literature on this topic would be gleaned to answer this question. The specific objectives of this study are as follows: (i) (ii) To pinpoint the areas where Artificial Intelligence can be introduced into public administration, To find out the benefits of implementing Artificial Intelligence in public services 6 (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) To ascertain the drawbacks of implementing Artificial Intelligence in public services To assess the impact of Artificial Intelligence on public sector governance globally. To ascertain the influence of Artificial Intelligence on public sector personnel Based on (i) to (v) make recommendations on how artificial intelligence can be adopted to enhance public administration and service delivery. 3. LITERATURE REVIEW The literature reviews unearthed information on the public and private sectors of Finland and how Artificial Intelligence is being deployed in these sectors of the economy. A possible cooperation between the private and public sectors of Finland was also be highlighted. Then, the different types of Artificial Intelligence and other cognitive technologies are described and their future outlook given. The key tenets of Finland’s Vision 2030 or the National 2030 Agenda are provided and the status of implementation of these tenets are given. The review then considered Finland’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy and Policy, including the Aurora Artificial Intelligence programme in Finland. Institutional support for Artificial Intelligence in Finland was looked at, after which, the application of Artificial Intelligence in Finland’s public sector was considered. 3.1 The Public Sector of Finland In this review, the public sector of Finland is inclusive of people working with the Central government, Local government and the Ministries as well as their allied agencies in the public sector. As at 2021, the total number of people employed in the public sector, central government and local government of Finland was 1.274 million people, while about 1.6 million were in private-sector employment (Clausnitzer, 2023). According to Suomi (2023a) Finland is a constitutional republic, where real power belongs to the people. The highest state bodies in Finland are the Parliament, the President of the Republic and the Government, headed by the Prime Minister. The Government must have the support of Parliament in all matters that fall under the purview of Parliament before it can act. Finland’s Parliament is a two hundred (200)member body and its members are elected every four years in a direct, proportional and secret ballot (Suomi, 2023a). Apart from enacting laws, the Parliament of Finland also reviews and approves the state budgets presented by the government of the day. Parliament is also responsible for the approval of international agreements, treaties and conventions. The Parliament also has oversight responsibility to the government in power. The government of Finland is made up of the Prime Minister and her selected Ministers of State. These Ministers are in charge of the sector Ministries to which they have been assigned. The Government is the highest Executive body and outlines and shapes the foreign policy of Finland in cooperation with the President. The President of the Republic of Finland is elected for a term of six years in a direct election. The President can however be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. He or She is responsible for approving laws passed by Parliament as well as the state budget 7 presented by Government to Parliament. The President is also the Commander-inChief of the Finnish Defense Forces. The Judicial system of Finland is made up of the independent courts, the advocates, the public legal aid system and the prosecution service (Suomi, 2023b). The law enforcement body and the Criminal Sanctions Agency are responsible for enforcing court decisions and are part of the Finnish judicial system. However, the Police are not part of this system as they are responsible for investigating issues before they are brought to court. The Police can impose fines without court decisions. The Judicial system of Finland is an independent body and deal with cases based on the laws of the country. There are also general courts, administrative courts and special courts in Finland. Finland has twenty (20) district general courts, which handle criminal cases, civil cases and petitionary matters (Suomi, 2023c). The decisions of these district courts can however be appealed against at one of the five (5) Appeal Courts in the country. Similarly, the decisions of the Appeal Courts can be contested at the Supreme Court of Finland. There are also six (6) regional administrative courts in Finland, which consider appeals against decisions made by the authorities and legal disputes between the authorities and companies or citizens. The decision of the administrative courts can be appealed against at the Supreme Administrative Court. Finland also has special courts on issues bordering the market, labor and insurance. The decision of the market court can be contested at the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court or the Supreme Court. However, decisions passed by the labour and insurance courts cannot be appealed against. Finland operates a three-tiered administrative system, made up of the Central Government, Regional State Administration and the Local State administration. At the Central government level, there are various Ministries and National Agencies operating within their respective administrative branches. These Ministries include Foreign Affairs, Interior, Justice, Defence, Finance, Education and Culture, Economic Affairs and Employment, Agriculture and Forestry, Transport and Communication, Social Affairs and Health and the Environment and Climate Change. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for foreign and security policy, development policy and trade policy as well as handling of foreign policy issues and international relations (Suomi, 2023e). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also work with other branches of government in the coordination and handling of International Affairs. There are three members of the current government that are responsible for the affairs of this Ministry. These include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade and the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality. However, the Ministry is led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The highest civil servant in this ministry is the Secretary of State, work as the Head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Minister. The Secretary of State is ably assisted by four (4) Under-Secretaries of State. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has eight (8) departments, namely the Political department, the Department for International Trade, and the Department for Development Policy. Together, these three departments are responsible for policy coordination. There are also four departments that handle Regional matters. These include the Department for Europe, Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the Department for Africa and the Middle East. In addition, there is 8 also the Department of Communications. Each of the Regional Departments has a Roving Ambassador, who is responsible for the affairs of that geographical area. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide the following services: - Legal services, Consular services, Protocol services, Administrative services, Financial management services, Policy planning and research, National security and Development evaluation services (Suomi, 2023e). The Ministry of Justice is led by the Minister of Justice and ably assisted by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry. According to Suomi (2023f) the Justice Ministry of Finland maintains and ensures legal order and legal protection, reinforces the structures and institutions of democracy and safeguards the fundamental rights of Finnish citizens. The Ministry is also responsible for drafting key legislation on maintaining legal order and see to the proper functioning of the judicial system of Finland. The vision of the Justice Ministry is to have an open, active and safe society in Finland, where people can be rest assured that their rights would be respected (Suomi, 2023f). The Justice Ministry has four departments, namely the Department for Administration and Oversight, the Department for Democracy and Public Law, the Department of Criminal Policy and Criminal Law and the Department for Private Law and Administration of Justice. In addition, there is also the Management Support and Core Services. All the departments are headed by Director-General. The administrative wing of the Ministry of Justice is made up of the Court system, the National Prosecution Authority, the Criminal Sanctions Agency, the Debt Enforcement Authority, the Legal Aid Unit, the Financial and Debt Counselling Services and the Register Center, the Consumer Disputes Board, the European Institution for Crime Prevention and Control and Bankruptcy Unit (Suomi, 2023f). In addition, the Justice Ministry has an Ombudsman for Equality, the Data Protection Ombudsman, the Intelligence Ombudsman, the Non-discrimination Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children. The areas of expertise and services rendered by the Justice Ministry are ensuring fundamental rights, especially linguistic rights and equality, facilitating democracy and elections, crime prevention and punishment, ensuring the rule of law and legal protection, drafting of laws, developing laws on international and European Union affairs, offering legal assistance and ensuring that the rights of consumers, families and communities are safeguarded (Suomi, 2023f). Other services of the ministry are registering of a political party, soliciting the views of citizens on various projects, petitioning for pardon, supporting citizens’ initiatives, granting of authorization and the participation of youth in decision-making. The Ministry of Interior is headed by the sector Minister and assisted by the Permanent Secretary. This ministry was established to ensure internal security and migration, facilitates the acquisition of Finnish citizenship, provides rescue services, handles emergency response center operations, deals with border security and provides maritime search and rescue services, among others (Suomi, 2023g). The Ministry of Interior has five departments, namely the Police Department, Department for Rescue Services, the Department for Migration, the Border Guard Department, and the Department for Administration and Development (Suomi, 2023g). The Units that report directly to the Permanent Secretary are the International Affairs Unit, the National Security Unit, the Communications Unit, the Internal Audit unit and the Management. 9 The Minister of Defence is the leader of the Ministry of Defence and he is ably supported by the Permanent Secretary of this ministry. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for national defense policy and national security as well as international cooperation in defense policy matters (Suomi, 2023h). Finland has adopted the total defence concept, which combines and extend the concept of military defense and civil defense (Suomi, 2023h). The Defense ministry has three departments, namely the Defense Policy Department, the Administration Policy Department and the Resource Policy Department. In addition, the ministry has two other units and the Secretariat of the Security Committee and the Secretariat of the Advisory Board for Defense Information. Work within the main departments is divided into several units. The Defense Ministry gives permit or authorization before a non-European Union and NonEuropean Economic Area (EEA) citizen can purchase real estate in Finland (Suomi, 2023h). However, if the buyer has a spouse or partner who is a citizen of Finland and other European Union member state an exception to the permit can be given. The Ministry offers its expertise to arrange for international defense cooperation and international military exercise cooperation as well as in arms control and matters bordering on security and space (Suomi, 2023h). The Ministry of Finance of Finland is headed by the Sector Minister, who is supported by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry. The tasks of the ministry are to ensure the stability of general government finances and make public administration more efficient, effective and adaptable, while building the foundation for a sustainable economic growth (Suomi, 2023i). It works towards a people-oriented digital transformation, including Artificial Intelligence and the better utilization of data in society (Suomi, 2023i). It is also responsible for maintaining confidence in the stability, efficiency and fairness of financial markets in Finland. The ministry prepares the annual budget of the government, including the government economic and fiscal policy and offer its expertise in tax policy (Suomi, 2023i). In addition, this ministry develops the financial markets policy of Finland and contributes in shaping local government legislation and local government finances. It is also its responsibility to provide guiding principles for improved public governance, management of the finances of the central government and direction for rolling out digital services and practices within the public sector (Suomi, 2023i). This ministry therefore has a major role to play in the increased use of Artificial Intelligence within the public sector of Finland. The ministry has departments on Economics, Budget, Tax and Financial markets as well as the Department for local Government and Regional Administration (Suomi, 2023i). In addition, it has departments that oversee the Public Sector’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development and Administrative Governance and Development as well as Personnel and Public Governance. The Ministry has a Unit on International Financial Affairs and the Secretariat for European Union affairs. The Government’s Financial Controller also operates under this ministry. Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture is headed by the Minister of Education and the Minister for Science and Culture and supported by the Permanent Secretary for this ministry. The Ministry is responsible for the development of education, science, culture, sports and youth policies and cooperation in these fields internationally (Suomi, 2023j). The goal of this ministry is to provide excellent education and cultural services and help citizens gain the requisite skills for the job market (Suomi, 2023j). It 10 seeks to strengthen Finnish culture and promote international cooperation in the sectors that fall under its mandate. The ministry has five departments, namely Department for General Education and Early Childhood Education, Department for Vocational Education and Training, Department for Higher Education and Science Policy, Department for Art and Cultural Policy and Department for Youth and Sport Policy (Suomi, 2023j). The ministry also has supporting units on Administration, Finance, Communications, Upper Secondary School Reform and a Secretariat for International Relations. The Ministry of Education and Culture would play a great role in any institutionalization of Artificial Intelligence within the Finnish educational system. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is led by the Minister of Economic Affairs and the Minister of Employment, with each of them overseeing matters relating to his sector. They are ably supported by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry. The ministry has four departments, namely the Department for Employment and Markets, the Department of Energy, the Department of Innovation and Enterprise Financing and the Department of Regions and Growth Services (Suomi, 2023k). In addition, the ministry has separate Units for Corporate Steering, Labor Migration and Integration, Human Resource and Administration and Media and Communications. The Offices of the National Conciliator, the Ombudsman and the Labor Council are all under this ministry. The ministry is responsible for the following functions and activities: - (i) the development of industry policy, (ii) the development of innovation and technology policy, (iii) the internationalization of enterprises and technical safety, (iv) the functionality of markets, (v) the promotion of competition and development of consumer policy, (vi) handling of matters pertaining to employment and unemployment, (vii) the provision of services related to public employment (viii) workenvironment issues (ix) collective bargaining agreements, (x) the arbitration of industrial disputes, (xi) energy policy (xii) effective functioning of Centers for Economic Development and Transport and (viii) the integration of immigrants into Finnish workplace as well as labor migration (Suomi, 2023k). The Ministry authored the landmark publication on Artificial Intelligence in 2017 and will play a major role in the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence into both the Public and Private sectors of Finland. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is headed by the Sector Minister and assisted by Special Advisors, State Secretaries and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry. The ministry has two departments, namely the Food Department and the Natural Resources Department, which are headed by a Director-General (Suomi, 2023l). It also has Divisions on Information and Research as well as Administration and Development. In addition, this ministry has a Unit on European Union Coordination and International Affairs. The Ministry oversees domestic food production and the sustainable use of renewable natural resources (Suomi, 2023l). It also creates the platform for the economic use of food, agriculture and natural resources in Finland. It is also the responsibility of this ministry to ensure food safety and the maintenance of high standards of food protection against unwholesome food as well as ensuring animal health and welfare. In addition, it handles the sustainable utilization of arable land, forests, water, fish and game both now and the future (Suomi, 2023l. The ministry is pursuing three goals, which include seeing to it that Finland utilizes its natural resources sustainably, that Finnish food chains are competitive and responds to 11 consumer needs and lastly to ensure that Finland’s food safety is up to international standards (Suomi, 2023l). The Ministry of Transport and Communications is led by the Sector Minister and supported by the Permanent Secretary. The vision of this ministry is to ensure the wellbeing and competitive of Finnish citizens and businesses through the provision of highquality transport and communication networks (Suomi, 2023m). The Ministry has four departments, namely the Corporate Governance Department, Services Department, Data, Safety and Security Department and the Networks Department (Suomi, 2023m). Each of the departments are headed by a Director-General. The goal of this ministry is to develop policies which when implemented would promote mobility of information, goods and people and ensure that people’s everyday life run smoothly (Suomi, 2023m). The ministry also seeks to provide and promote an efficient transport system, low-emission transport and efficient communications and information exchange (Suomi, 2023m). This ministry will also play a cardinal role in the rolling out of Artificial Intelligence in Finland. The Sector Minister is the head of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and is supported by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry. The ministry is in charge of Finland’s social and health policies. To this end, it prepares legislation on social welfare and health for the country (Suomi, 2023n). Social welfare in Finland is inclusive of all matters related to social security and well-being, including the provision of social welfare services to its citizens in accordance to existing legislation. Finland has one of the world’s most elaborate social services for its citizens (Suomi, 2023n). These services include providing support to people to cope with everyday life, provide housing-related support, give financial support, prevent social exclusion and promote inclusion, support victims of domestic and family violence and support family and friends of those in need of support (Suomi, 2023n). Finland’s general social services is encapsulated in its Social Welfare Act of 2021 and the country’s Constitution (Suomi, 2023n). The country’s health care system is anchored on preventive, corrective and rehabilitating health services that is made available to the entire population of the country. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change is the head of the Ministry of Climate Change and she is assisted by the Permanent Secretary assigned to this ministry. The Ministry has four departments, namely the Natural Environment Department, the Built Environment Department, Climate and Environmental Protection Department and the Ministerial Governance and International Affairs Department (Suomi, 2023o). In addition, the ministry has a supportive unit on Communications. Each of the departments is led by a Director-General. The ministry ensures that a better environment is maintained both for current and future generations. It therefore provides leadership in sustainable development and the creation of good living environment, while protecting biodiversity (Suomi, 2023o). The ministry’s work is guided by its values such as open transparency, responsible shaper of the future and the recognition of expertise (Suomi, 2023o). As it can be gleaned from the overview of the Sector Ministries of Finland, the Central government is responsible for policy development and implementation as well as the implementation of laws enacted by the Parliament of Finland. The Sector Minister act 12 as both the political and administrative head of the sectors under his or her jurisdiction. The Ministries are also responsible for steering, supervising and developing of national agencies that fall under their purview. The Ministries also help in developing public services in close collaboration with Regional State Administrators and municipalities (Suomi, 2023d). Central government agencies are responsible for administration, supervision, the issuing of permits, initiation of development of projects, and the conduct of research-related activities. These agencies collect information and data, including the registration of citizens for various activities. It is instructive to point out that the Bank of Finland and the Social Insurance institution, also known Kela, fall under the direct supervision and control of the Finnish Parliament under the Finnish Constitution. Also, because Finland is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its national currency, the Bank of Finland is answerable to the European Central Bank and is part of the Central banks of the European Union. However, the Bank of Finland administratively provides financial supervisory roles within the country independently. However, the Social Insurance Institution’s work is supervised by the Finnish Parliament. Finland also has Regional State Administrative Agencies and Centers for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, which fall under the various sector Ministries concerned and act as the Regional Administrative authorities of the State. These organs promote regional equality by conducting executive and supervisory roles in their own geographical are of the country. They coordinate and supervise social welfare and health care programmes, issuing of licenses to existing and new retailers, supervise and develop occupational safety and health to Finnish workers and offer permits and compensation to citizens under the Environment Protection Act and the Water Act. The Centers for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment develop and enforce laws in these sector areas in each geographical area of the country to promote good living environments and competitiveness of industries. There are also Regional Councils, which serve as statutory joint municipal authorities. These Councils act as Regional planning and development authorities at the local level and ensure that the interests of the regions are safeguarded. The tasks of State administrators at the local level are done by the Police department, other Enforcement offices, Prosecutors, Tax offices, Custom offices, employment and development offices and the public legal aid offices (Suomi, 2023d). Finland has a public service information bureau, which offers advisory services to the general public on where and who to consult to take care of you. This service is opened from 8:00am to 21:00pm from Monday to Friday and on Saturday from 9:00am to 15:00pm. The service is however not available on Sundays and Public holidays. The service can be accessed via chat, telephone, electronic form and text messaging. The agency responsible for maintaining and managing public service information is the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. It is quite obvious from the foregoing that Finland has an expansive public services and the country is bent on enhancing further the delivery of these services. 13 3.2 The Private Sector of Finland The private sector of Finland is made up of companies of varied sizes, including state majority-owned or municipality-own ones, sole proprietor, an enterprise, a cooperative, a foundation or an association as well as those who are self-employed. There are several organizations that have been set up to promote the growth and development of the private sector. Business Finland is one of such organizations. It provides funding, trade, travel and investment promotion in the country. Business Finland also provide market opportunity services to Finnish companies so that they can expand their businesses abroad. The Government of Finland has put at the disposal of business enterprises various incentives to promote their businesses. These include funding for innovation, tax rebates and credits and supportive organizations such as Business Finland. According to the European Center, ICEG (2011) Finland has one of the most successful innovation systems in the world. Technology starts-ups in Finland benefit from the latest research outputs in technology such as Artificial Intelligence from the country’s research institutions and they are offered the needed financing to test these technologies on the market (Castonguay, 2016). Business Finland is the government’s organization that promotes collaboration and partnerships between companies and research institutions for the development of international business ecosystems. It also markets Finland as a good destination for investments and innovation. Business Finland has about 760 specialists in 40 foreign locations and has 16 offices worldwide. The new strategy adopted by Business Finland is to become more customer-centric and act proactively in seizing opportunities that get thrown up both nationally and internationally. By providing these services, Business Finland generates prosperity for Finnish citizens as well as growth and wellbeing for the Finnish economy and society. The key sectors of the Finnish economy are the services sector, which constitutes about 72.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Bradfordjacobs, 2023). The next important sectors are manufacturing and refining. However, with respect to foreign trade, the key economic sector is manufacturing and the largest industries are electronic, vehicles, machinery and other engineered metal products. The forestry and chemicals sectors are also important to Finland. According to OECD (2014) Finland’s high-technology manufacturing is ranked second in the world after Ireland. It is therefore understandable why the Finnish Government is prioritizing innovation, especially in Artificial Intelligence. The Private Sector of Finland plays a key role in the country’s development policy (Hooli, 2021). Instead of spreading its resources thinly across many developing countries, it has now restricted itself to a few of them. Again, it gives preference to trade instead of providing development assistance. It principally uses its private sector to bring jobs, capital, technology and know-how to developing countries. In return, developing countries offer a new and vast market opportunities and partnership for development. Finland’s development policy stresses on responsible business activities and undertakings that bring win-win outcomes for the parties in a sustainable manner. According to Justila (2011) public responsibility in Finland has narrowed from 1990 to 2010, whereas the sphere of the private sector has expanded during the same 14 period. The situation can be attributed to tax cuts that had contracted revenue and reduced funding for public services. 3.3 The Cooperation between the Public and Private Sectors Within the tenets of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the Government of Finland has recognized that for extreme poverty to be eradicated and environmental sustainability achieved in the world, the public sector and the private sectors must work together (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, 2023). In this vein, public sector organizations in Finland actively work and support private sector operatives to promote the growth and development of business enterprises. The United Nations estimates that developing countries must invest about 3,300 to 4,500 billion US dollars annually before the Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved by 2030. This calls for development cooperation by Finland with developing countries so that the needed structures for creating an enabling environment for business can be established. Finland’s development policy is therefore anchored on aid-for-trade and has the objective of strengthening the capacity of developing countries to trade with other countries globally. Finland’s support to developing countries is focused on strengthening internal and foreign trade, building productive capacity, creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, promoting entrepreneurship and businesses and building trade-related infrastructure. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland therefore provides support to Finnish companies for appropriating business opportunities and entering into partnerships with business entities in developing countries. This is done with the belief that business activities would promote economic, social and environmental development in the target country in which Finnish companies are doing business in. Before funds are given to Finnish companies they must go through a competitive tendering process via the public procurement system. Finnish companies can also access direct funding from organizations such as Finn fund, Finn partnership, and the Public Sector Investment Facility. In addition, there is also the Development Market Platform (Dev Plat), which is an initiative between Business Finland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. It also provides funding for development innovation such as Artificial Intelligence that are consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. Other channels of funding for Finnish businesses are the Finnish Business Partnership programme that provides start-up grants for business activities in developing countries and the DevPlat, which offers relevant information, advice, contacts and project funding related to developing markets. Furthermore, there is the Finnfund that provides equity financing and investment loans to existing companies with business interests in developing countries. In addition, there is also the Public Sector Investment Facility that supports both public and private sectors investments in developing countries. For climate–related projects, Finland has a Climate Fund that provide investment and grant-based funding for such projects. 3.4 Types of Artificial Intelligence and other Cognitive technologies According to Principe (2023) Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science that develops algorithms and programmes to solve a problem or answer a question that enables various machines to operate like humans. Artificial Intelligence started in the 1950s, when Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test to determine whether a machine could mimic human intelligence (Marr, 2023a). Then in the 1960s John McCarthy developed the first Artificial Intelligence programming language called LISP, which led 15 later to the development of Expert systems in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1990s marked an era, when a focus was placed on the development of machine learning and data processing systems. This period also witnessed the rise in the use of neural networks and the development of support vector machines, which enabled Artificial Intelligence systems to learn from data. Artificial Intelligence research expanded into areas such as Computer vision, Natural language processing (NLP) and Robotics, which paved the way for the Artificial Intelligence revolution the world is experiencing today. The current explosion in Artificial Intelligence can be credited to the work of Open AI, which developed the deep learning techniques and the large-scale neural networks such as Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT), which led to the release of GPT-3 in 2020. The most recent version of GPT is the GPT-4, which has advanced capabilities than its predecessors. According to Marr (2023b) Artificial Intelligence can be categorized into four major types based on its ability and capacity to emulate and replicate human functioning. These Artificial Intelligence types include Reactive Machines or Artificial Intelligence, Limited Memory Artificial Intelligence, Theory of Mind Artificial Intelligence and Self-aware Artificial Intelligence. The four types of Artificial Intelligence are not the same but vary in sophistication. Reactive Artificial Intelligence is the most basic form of Artificial Intelligence and it is often programmed to provide predictable output based on the input fed to it. The degree of sophistication here is also very low. Reactive Artificial Intelligence responds to identical situations in the same exact way all the time and it is not able to learn actions or conceive of past or future actions (Marr, 2023b). A typical example of a Reactive Artificial Intelligence is the chess playing Artificial Intelligence system called Deep Blue, which was developed by IBM and which defeated chess world champion, Garry Kasparov in a chess contest held in 1997. Reactive Artificial Intelligence cannot function beyond the activities or tasks they were designed for. They are therefore limited in function and needs to be improved. This limitation notwithstanding, Reactive Artificial Intelligence provided the foundation upon which the next generation of Artificial Intelligence was developed. This next generation Artificial Intelligence is called Limited Memory Artificial Intelligence. This type of Artificial Intelligence can learn from the past and gain experiential knowledge as it is exposed to more and more information and data. It uses historical and observational it is exposed to together with pre-programmed information to perform complex classification tasks and predictions. Currently, majority of Artificial Intelligence applications in the world today are of the Limited Artificial Intelligence type. Examples of this Artificial Intelligence include the AI Chat bot that exchanges communications with Customers of a company on its website 24 hours a day and 7days in a week and Artificial Intelligence that powers self-driving vehicles. However, this type of Artificial Intelligence is also limited in its applications for mankind. Theory of Mind Artificial Intelligence is the next level of Artificial Intelligence in terms of its superior functioning and sophistication. This type of Artificial Intelligence enables a human being to have meaningful communication with an emotionally-intelligent robot that mimic a real human being. According to Marr (2023b) machines with theory of mind artificial intelligence capabilities can understand and remember emotions and respond accordingly as it is exposed to more and more data from human beings. However, mimicking human-beings is difficult for machines, so there is more work to done on theory of mind artificial intelligence. A good example of theory of mind artificial intelligence is the humanoid robot called Sophia, which was developed by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong. Self-aware Artificial Intelligence is the most advanced Artificial Intelligence. This type of Artificial Intelligence can be aware of its emotions as well as the emotions of others around it and may have a degree of consciousness and 16 intelligence similar to that of human-beings. In effect, self-aware artificial intelligence machines will have emotions, needs and desires very much like human-beings. This type of Artificial Intelligence is yet to be developed. It is currently at the conception stage as the algorithms needed for its functioning are yet to be developed. As Artificial Intelligence advances, it may get to the stage, where super intelligent robots may be developed with the afore-mentioned characteristics. Apart from the above categorization of Artificial Intelligence, Joshi (2022) posits that there is also an alternative system of classifying Artificial Intelligence, which is used predominantly in the technology world. This system of classification divides artificial intelligence into three major parts, namely Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). The Artificial Narrow Intelligence is made up of all the existing Artificial Intelligence in the world, including the most complicated and capable artificial intelligence. This type of artificial intelligence can only perform a task or activity autonomously using human-like capabilities. Their intelligence is described as “narrow” because they can only perform tasks for which they have been programmed to undertake. Anything beyond this, will be incomprehensible to them. Reactive Artificial Intelligence and Limited Artificial Intelligence fall under Artificial Narrow Intelligence. Artificial General Intelligence is inclusive of all Artificial Intelligence systems with the ability and capability to perceive, learn, understand and function completely like a human being. Other defining characteristics of this type of Artificial Intelligence are that it can develop multiple competencies and form associations and generalizations across various domains independently and also requires less time in training. Artificial Super Intelligence may mark the highest level of Artificial Intelligence research and capabilities and they would represent the most capable form of intelligence on the planet earth. Such machines would have greater memory, faster data processing and analysis as well as decisionmaking capabilities. The development of Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super Intelligence would mark a defining moment on earth and may threaten the very existence of mankind. 3.5 Tools and Subfields of Artificial Intelligence Various tools and techniques of Artificial Intelligence are deployed to solve problems and automate work processes in the world. In this section of the review, the top Artificial Intelligence tools would be described and discussed. One of the top Artificial Intelligence tools is called Scikit Learn. It is the most widely used libraries among machine learning professionals. It is the preferred tool for my Artificial Intelligence experts because it allows for cross-validation, feature extraction and supervised learning algorithm, among others. However, its demerit is that it runs on a single process (Central Processing Unit). Scikit Learn is focused on modeling the data rather than manipulating it, as such it is most useful for modeling purposes. According to Intellipaat (2023) Scikit Learn is a library built on SciPy and it is inclusive of Numpy, Pandas, iPython, SciPy and Matplottib. Other Artificial Intelligence tools that are becoming popular in recent times include Google ML kit, Swift AI, Theano, Deeplearning4j, among others. These tools are advancing the field of Artificial Intelligence and they have the capability to enhance and optimize human effort in our everyday life. Another Artificial Intelligence tool is called TensorFlow, which is the most sought-after deep learning library (Intellipaat, 2023). TensorFlow was developed by Google and it is a Python-friendly open-source library. It is the best Artificial 17 Intelligence development tool and it facilitates numerical computations, which makes it easier to make future predictions. TensorFlow handles all issues pertaining to the back-end and allows developers to construct neural networks and create graphical visualization using Tensor board. Its application can be run on your local machine, Android, Cloud and iOS devices. PyTorch is another Artificial Intelligence tool and as its name suggests it was built on Python. It is similar to TensorFlow but is better than TensorFlow is situations, where faster development is required. Yet another Artificial Intelligence tool is called CNTK, which is a Microsoft cognitive toolkit that is similar to TensorFlow but it is not easy to deploy it. It focuses mainly on creating deep learning neural networks. Caffe is an open-source Artificial Intelligence tool developed by the University of California. It has a python interface and most suitable for academic research and also industrial projects. It has an enormous processing power, which exceeds 60 million images per day. Another Artificial Intelligence tool is known as Apache MXNet, which is a deep learning framework used by Amazon, the giant ecommerce company based in the United States. It is an open-source framework and runs smoothly on multiple GPUs and machines. Keras is another Artificial Intelligence tool, with a high-level open-source neural network library. It has a Python interface and is extremely user-friendly tool. Keras is used for fast prototyping and can facilitate the completion of experiments without delay. It is one of the best open-source Artificial Intelligence tool in use today. OpenNN is an open neural networks library and another Artificial Intelligence tool used to simulate neural networks. It is a vital tool or component of deep learning research. The next Artificial Intelligence tool is called AutoML. It is one of the top tools for machine learning. It automates processes using machine learning techniques. It can handle effortlessly mundane repetitive tasks. AutoML can help ordinary people to machine learn as it is easy to navigate its field. Finally, H2O is the business-oriented Artificial Intelligence tool used on open-source deep learning platforms. It can help in making insightful business decisions from the data given to it. It was developed in Java and has interfaces for Python, R, Scala and Coffeescript. H20 is a useful tool for predictive modeling, risk analysis, healthcare and insurance analytics. Open AI has become a game changer in recent times. This Artificial Intelligence tool can synthesize its own natural language answers to it finds instead of just pointing to a website and reading it. It offers a model called Codex, which changes natural language into a code in the programming language you indicate to it (Principe, 2023). The top four subfields of Artificial Intelligence are machine learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine or Computer Vision, Automation and Robotics. Machine learning is the ability of a machine to analyze a set of information and data and use it to provide recommendations or decisions based on the data fed to it (Principe, 2023). On the other hand, Natural Language Processing (NLP) focuses on developing natural interactions between human-beings and computers. Underneath, NLP are specialized software that helps machines to process human language, create understandable words and interact with humans through language. Computer vision is a sub-field of Artificial Intelligence that creates machines can understand and then interpret visual information. Robotics is also a subfield of Artificial Intelligence and it can physically perform various tasks without the assistance of human-beings, including interacting with human-beings. 3.6 Finland’s Vision 2030 or the National 2030 Agenda The Government of Finland has recognized that a well-functioning public governance is a cardinal element of a well-functioning democracy and welfare society. Consistent 18 therefore, with Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government programme, a project was set up in 2019 to prepare a common strategy for public governance and services. This strategy was developed under the able leadership of the Ministry of Finance of Finland and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional authorities. The project committee attracted membership from the various Government Ministries of Finland, associations and other stakeholders in the country. The committee assessed the operating environment after having taken into consideration the effects of climate change, digitalization, the work-life revolution, economic and demographic changes on public governance in the country (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023a). For possible scenarios of public governance and the Finnish society were created after analyzing the operating environment. The committee then defined the direction and means of administrative reform within the various administrative sectors, municipalities, civil society, researchers and other various stakeholders. Together the committee developed the pledge, goals and policies of public governance for the period 2020 to 2030. The specific goal of the public governance strategy in Finland is to strengthen good governance in the country as it strives to improve digital accessibility and encourage wider use of plain language in administration (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023a). This strategy builds on the success story of the Finnish society in supporting good governance that had ensured increased well-being of its citizens. The government’s pledge to the Finnish society is that it will take the lead in building conditions for a good life for all and strengthen the confidence of the general public in a well-functioning society and government. The goals of governance actions from 2020 to 2030 are six-fold, namely (i) acknowledging that diversity strengthens equality (ii) that intergenerational responsibility ensures that nature’s carrying capacity is not exceeded (iii) that government systematically and creatively imagine possible futures that are better than today (iv) adopt evidence-based decision-making and action-taking (v) that trust is built actively, and (vi) an open government that works together with society is developed. The seven overarching policies of the strategy for public governance renewal include the following: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) “We will organize our services in a people centric and diverse way, We will expand opportunities to exert influence and encourage people to participate in policy preparation and decision-making, We will bear responsibility for climate change mitigation and adaptation, We will cooperate willingly with the rest of society, We will work consistently and together, We will utilize and provide information in a proactive and diverse manner, We will act agilely and challenge ourselves” (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023a). In this public governance strategy, the Government of Finland has taken upon itself the responsibility of ensuring that the various public services and benefits are easily accessible, understandable, interoperable, safe and reliable. In seeking to achieve this goal, the government of Finland is prioritizing the use of Artificial Intelligence in service delivery throughout the country. It is also de-emphasizing silo working among the various government ministries and public sector institutions. To implement this strategy, the Ministry of Finance of Finland and the Association of Finnish Municipalities prepared an implementation programme in cooperation with various stakeholders in the country. A report of the implementation of this strategy from 2020 to 2022 can be accessed from www.publicgovernancestrategy.fi. A Project Committee 19 has been established and a political management group on public governance reform, made up of Ministers of State are monitoring the implementation of this strategy. The implementation of the strategy for public governance reform or renewal is currently on-going until 2030, by which time, all the planned activities would have been implemented. Finland has nineteen administrative regions and the various regions are not the same in terms of size, resource endowment and level of development, so a regionalization of the reform strategy began after 2020. Furthermore, the process of revising the legislation on regionalization was also introduced because of transformation in the operating environment such as demographic changes, growth in electronic services, increased urbanization, a significant decrease in the use of inperson customer services and an increase in location-independent work. Under the regionalization of the reform strategy, Central Government’s presence in the different regions of Finland, would only be needed for the organization of services and official tasks. In addition, Central Government’s presence would also be needed to re-inforce regional safety, vitality and security as well as boosting competitiveness of Central Government as an employer (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023b). Under the public governance reform strategy, the network of Central government services and premises would be re-shaped to respond effectively to the new changes being introduced and customer services in the public sector would also be standardized. According to the Ministry of Finance of Finland (2023b) combining the in-person services of the Central government with the current service points and Social Insurance Institution would make it possible to create a more comprehensive service offering for customers, with a more condensed and cost-effective service network. This arrangement is in line with Government of Finland’s goal of providing effective, efficient and equitable public services at a reduced cost, whether in the city or sparsely populated rural areas in Finland. Digitized public services are already the primary services channel in Finland and it will continue to be so in the future. The project committee on the implementation of the public governance renewal discovered that about half of the tasks of Central Government can be performed from multi-locations, that is, either within designated premises of the government or as home-based remote working. To take advantage of the opportunities offered by multi-locations working by central government workers, guidelines on common objectives, methods and limitations were developed for application by all central government organizations. In line with the principle that central government premises support cost-effective operations, the project committee reviewed all central government premises and also uses and developed a plan to transform how work is done within them. According to the project committee, all central government in-person services would be amalgamated into joint customer service points and government agencies and public organizations would move into shared premises from 2020 onwards. The goal of the services and premises network renewal is to create a single shared customer service network for customers of central government and social insurance institutions by 2030. By this arrangement, the project committee believes that services offered by central government and other public sector organizations would be customer-oriented, costeffective and systematic than it is the case now. The joint service will include the following institutions:- Regional State Administrative Agencies, the Finnish Immigration Service, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, the National Land Survey of Finland, the Legal Aid and Guardianship Districts, the Police Licensing Administration, the Criminal Sanctions Agency’s Community Sanctions Authority, the Finnish Tax Administration, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), among 20 others (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023b). According to a time table developed by the Project Committee, all in-person services provided by government agencies would be brought together in joint customer service points and rolled out throughout Finland by 2030. Secondly, all citizens of Finland will be at most one-hour drive away from these service points. Thirdly, the range of services offered at service points would expand with time and lastly, 25 percent of workers in government agencies and public sector organizations would move to work in shared and activity-based work environments. 3.7 Finland’s AI Strategy and Policy The over-arching strategy and policy of Finland on Artificial Intelligence is to make this technology and robotization the anchor for service delivery and implementation of public sector activities (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2019). The objective of this strategy is to make efficient use of these technologies in the delivery of services in Finland. Implementation of this policy started in 2020 and it is expected to end in 2030. Finland has a rich history in the application of technology in its public sector. Massive use of information and communication technology was introduced in the country in 2000 and from 2010 to 2020 saw the digitalization of the activities of its public sector. From 2020 to 2030, Finland plans to develop high performance computing, advanced artificial intelligence and the development of augmented and virtual reality for variety of applications in its public sector (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2019). However, the report of the Ministry of Finance of Finland noted that lack of talent or experts to drive this technological development is an existential threat to the country and may hamper and retard its ability to take advantage of opportunities to develop a technologicallybased services society. This report also pointed out that Finland’s existing services require maintenance and development and experts are also needed to carry out such services. The report also stressed that faster internet access and more power would be needed for some of the services such as virtual and augmented reality to be rolled out from 2020 to 2030. Also, there are many devices being used in Finland to monitor personal well-being in the form of bracelets, watches and rings and growing data from these devices need to be collected and analyzed to provide even better services to Finnish citizens. The report also noted the vast potentialities in the use of drones to provide various services in Finland as well as Internet of Things (IoT) devices which currently number 25 billion and this figure is projected to increase to about 75 billion devices by 2025. These devices would make surveillance, remote control and management a commonplace even in homes in Finland. It also pointed out that Finland had transitioned from buying and owning products to buying the benefits of products in the form of services. This trend will increase and the sharing economy will become prevalent in Finnish society. However, development requires that issues such as safety, privacy, security and compliance to laws in Finland need to be looked into. The development of MyData portal in Finland will open vast opportunities in the country from both business and public administration perspectives. The report of the Ministry of Finance of Finland (2019) noted that a multitude of innovations combined with higher computing power are turning artificial intelligence into a new force for change as far as data generation is concerned. It further pointed out that artificial intelligence can create new opportunities for understanding and exploiting these data. The report observed that the world is currently moving into the age of artificial intelligence of which Finland is part of this transition. To this end, the Government of Finland has started a National Artificial Intelligence Programme that seeks to make artificial intelligence an enabler for Finnish business enterprises and 21 Finland as a world leader in the application of artificial intelligence. This programme also seeks to make artificial intelligence an integral part of Finnish society. The report also pointed out that currently artificial intelligence is being used in Finnish society without many people realizing it. These include the using of a search engine such as www.google.com to find information on the internet or using your smart phone to take photographs. The report also noted that artificial intelligence is here to stay and identifying and harnessing its potential for development is a good investment both now and the future. Delving into many aspects of artificial intelligence, this report stated that “Artificial intelligence is a collection of technologies and applications ranging from data analysis to machine learning and robotics” (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2019) and that the intelligent data processing properties of artificial intelligence systems are based on data and algorithms made available to them. Artificial intelligence depends primarily on data, and therefore the major challenges and ethical dilemmas associated with the collection, sharing and integration of data need to be discussed dispassionately and agreed upon by all actors and stakeholders involved. This consideration is very important for a country such as Finland that seeks to build an economy based on the application of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, including its different technologies are currently being applied in healthcare, manufacturing, services, security, traffic and logistics, Government and the public sector, among others. Concluding the section of the report on artificial intelligence, it pointed out that the age of artificial intelligence being championed by Finland require the overall support of the Finnish society and their actual need for services should be the center of all activities on artificial intelligence undertaken in the country. To this end, artificial intelligence has become the key to a proactive and human-centric Finnish society. 3.8 “Aurora AI” of Finland A National Artificial Intelligence Programme, dubbed “Aurora AI” was tested from 2020 to 2022 based on the Government’s vision of creating a dynamic and thriving Finland using Artificial Intelligence. This programme seeks to serve citizens and businesses in Finland with customized services based on their needs in a secure and sustainable manner using Artificial Intelligence. This development would prevent service users from hopping from one service provider to another in their quest to obtain services needed in their lives or businesses. It will also prevent a mismatch between public service providers and service users in Finland and eliminate wastes and underuse of resources. (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2019). It will also kill silo working within the public and private sectors of the country. The preliminary phase of this programme started on 15th September, 2018 and ended on 28th February, 2019. During this phase, the programme identified all public services, whose delivery can be enhanced, using artificial intelligence and made provision for their onboarding and management under the Aurora AI network. All public sector institutions and agencies and the services they provide were interconnected across the Aurora AI network. This arrangement enabled service providers to interconnect with one another, which allowed information exchange on the Aurora AI network. For example, a public sector worker who is changing jobs would be automatically be informed about vacancies that exist in other public institutions and would be assisted to transition into a new job without staying unemployed. A key output of the Aurora AI programme is the creation of the Aurora AI network, which became operational and accessible by citizens and organizations before the close of 2022. Another output of the programme was the development of an operating model, which is a compilation of lesson learnt, tools and structures 22 created which can be used as a reference material for the artificial intelligence to upgrade itself and become more effective in future. Lastly, the programme would come out with a new skills and competence development for training and capacity development would be given to citizens and businesses on Artificial Intelligence. The achievements of the Aurora AI programme would also be captured and shared with all citizens and businesses. The Aurora AI programme is an open and cross-sectional network, which means that all public, private and third-party stakeholders are welcomed to join the network. The programme will be made humane in an era where Artificial Intelligence is being mainstreamed into Finnish workplace and society. The Aurora Artificial Intelligence (AI) Network is a medium of inter-connecting services automatically in Finland. It will provide an intelligent distribution channel for services which are offered by different organizations in Finland and also allow for interactions between organizations on this network. The AuroraAI network is facilitating the integration of all services provided for the Finnish society. The network’s robust services infrastructure permits any compactible services-to-use on the network’s functionalities. The target group of the Aurora network are government agencies, municipalities, companies and associations. The network enables any of the different afore-mentioned entities to offer value and timely assistance to all users in Finland. A Finnish citizen who needs a particular service will receive suggestions of service packages relevant to his or her needs when he or she connects to the Aurora network. This arrangement therefore does not require prior knowledge of service providers and where they are located, since all the services one require is provided by the network. The Aurora AI network is an open one, which means that any organization, be it a public or a commercial one is welcomed to link its services to the network and use existing services. The services on offer can be open or restricted depending on a service providers’ compliance with the common rules governing the network. The network is also interoperable and seeks to offer a single and uniform interface with all digital services in Finland. Furthermore, it strives to promote the use of the same interface in all services, including non-digital ones. To this end, the network allows interoperability and mutual support between digital and non-digital as well as conventional and new services (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023c). The Aurora AI network is also technologically neutral, which means that any technology deployed to render services is acceptable. The services, both digital and non-digital ones can be used anywhere and on any platform. Aurora AI network is a dynamic combination of services in that when an organization’s services are on the web, they become available to all and very easy to find on the network. They can therefore be automatically selected and included in service packages made available to meet the needs of users on the Aurora network. The service packages on the network is built from small pieces and as the services are reused and duplicate work is reduced, AI reduces a huge amount of wasted resources, which can then be freed up to save cost. Structurally, the work to develop the AuroraAI network was done in two major ways, namely the development of the network components and reference implementation of network services. The core components of the network permit the automatic organization and interactions between the services connected to the network. It included the Aurora API, Service directory, Profile management and the recommendation engine (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023c). Aurora API is an open interface that allows technical and sematic communication between Aurora AI network services. Aurora API gives you a uniform way of using, finding and administering services to the Finnish society, both digital and non-digital services. The Service directory ensures that services can be found and are made machine readable. It 23 contains the descriptions and other essential information on services on the network. The service directory uses Suomi.fi Finnish service catalogue as one of its information services. The job of the Profile management is to create a decentralized and anonymous digital identity for all users. Users data are inclusive of search words by users themselves, to which they also retain full control. Data storage is decentralized and implemented within individual services. Users of Aurora AI network are protected in case of any data linkages because all leaked become anonymized and therefore cannot be traced to a person. The Recommendation engine of the AuroraAI network suggests the best possible service combinations based on the users’ personal preferences, user attributes and historical data. The Reference implementations of the AuroraAI network’s main purpose is to offer to service developers with a frame of reference or model for joining the network (Ministry of Finance of Finland, 2023c). The implementations can be deployed as they are or can be modified to suit the organization’s needs. The Aurora AI Chatbot helps users to find the services they need on the AuroraAI network. The Chatbot is deployed as an open source code. The chatbot serves as a machine customer services specialist that helps users find the services they need and it works 24-hours a day and 7-days a week. The Chatbot becomes even more useful as more and more data are fed to it. It can offer precise customized services as it become more “experienced”. There is also a section of the Aurora AI network called “How am I doing?”. This service allows different service providers to help users form a situational picture of their lives when faced with different situations and events. The service provides pertinent and understandable information that helps the users to achieve their goals and realize their dreams. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) was assigned the responsibility of developing the core components of the Aurora AI network. It undertook a preliminary study project on AuroraAI network in 2020 and the first limited version of the network was launched in 2021. During this phase, the service was able to test the interface and integrate it with other products. The responsibility for developing the reference implementation of the AuroraAI network interfaces was given to a State-owned Special Task company called DigiFinland Oy. The Aurora AI Chatbot and the “How am I doing?” services were piloted in the daily life of school pupils in 2021. As part of implementing the AuroraAI network programme, a skills and competency development programme was developed to support the deployment of the AuroraAI network and the Aurora AI operating model. The training programme was made accessible and usable by everyone, including citizens. The target group that were trained were developers, procurers of public sector services, managers of public sector organizations, actors and organizations that are required to move their services to the Aurora AI network. Training packages on the Aurora AI network and Humans, Artificial Intelligence and Society were developed and made available online for everyone. A series of webinars on Artificial Intelligence were also organized to deepen Finnish citizens’ knowledge on Artificial Intelligence. A podcast on perspectives on human-centricity was also developed shared. It is evident from this discourse that the Government of Finland has a well-laid plan for successfully introducing Artificial Intelligence into the country. 4. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was essentially a desk research and depended entirely on secondary resources on the topic of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector of Finland and 24 internationally. Seventy-Eight (78) secondary sources such as refereed journal papers, proceedings of academic conferences, reports, books, media articles, blog posts, electronic newsletters, government publications, corporation-based documents. Government of Finland Ministries documents, electronic encyclopedias as well as other appropriate information were consulted and individually and thoroughly reviewed in coming out with this report. 5. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS FROM THE LITERATURE This section of the report gave the areas where Artificial Intelligence can be applied in government and other public sector organizations using Finland as an example. The benefits and drawbacks faced in implementing Artificial Intelligence programme in public services were reviewed and discussed. After that, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on public sector governance was also described and discussed. Finally, the influence of Artificial Intelligence on public sector personnel was looked at together with a review of the future of Artificial Intelligence in public sector work. 5.1 Areas where AI can be applied in public administration The functions and key activities of the various Government Ministries of Finland were reviewed earlier on in the literature review section of this report. Based on this review, Artificial Intelligence can be introduced into public administration as follows: 1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: - AI can be deployed to assist in making foreign, development and trade policies and decisions in these areas. Furthermore, AI can assist in policy coordination and the delivery of legal and administrative services. AI Chatbot can handle all government digital interfaces with citizens for passport and immigration services. 2. Ministry of Justice: - AI can be used to promote democracy, including civic education of citizens, assist in legal and administrative policy and decisionmaking. AI can also assist in the work of the various Ombudsman under this ministry, including the education of citizens of their human and civil rights. 3. Ministry of Interior: - AI can assist in maintaining law and order and assist in drafting key legislations. It can also assist in maintaining legal order and legal protection. 4. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: - AI can assist in policy making in economics, energy, labor migration and innovation. It also can assist unemployed people to seamlessly suitable work in no time. 5. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: - AI can be used for digital agriculture and forestry and climate-smart agriculture as well as training and capacity development of farmers in these new areas of agriculture. It can also assist in allocating resources to the various agricultural and forestry projects under the ministry. It can help to curb IUU Fishing. It can also be used to aid decisionmaking and policy-making. 6. Ministry of Transport and Communication: - AI can be used in neural networks deployed by the ministry. It can also be used in clean transportation, autonomous driving systems and aid in developing policies in these areas. It can be applied to enhance digitalization and promote high-quality transport and communication systems. 7. Ministry Social Affairs and Health: - AI can assist in providing better health care, drug development and social welfare systems. AI can assist in decision25 making and policy-making in these sectors. Finland has one of the best welfare systems in the world and AI is even making better. 8. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change: - AI can help to better protect the physical environment and curb climate change. It can also promote biodiversity and transparency in the sector. 9. Ministry of Finance: - AI can assist in making investment decisions and allocation of resources to the various projects, government ministries and other public sector organizations. AI Chatbot can serve as a better interface between the ministry and citizens. 10. Ministry of Defense: - AI can help provide a cost-effective security to the country. It can also help in training of staff and personnel as well as better decision- and policy making. 11. Ministry of Education and Culture: - AI can help teach students and mark their school work. AI can also assist in developing curricula for all levels of education. AI can also be used to train citizens on Finnish culture as well as cultural exchange programmes with other countries. 5.2 Benefits of implementing AI in Public Services Benefits of implementing AI in public services are countless. Repetitive tasks are not only boring but also subject to inadvertent mistakes. AI can be used to relieve resource-constrained public sector organizations, especially in developing countries from such mundane and repetitive tasks (Gianluca and Collin, 2020). A survey conducted by Pew Research Center, involving 979 technology pioneers, innovators, developers, researchers, activists and policy leaders has revealed that AI can match or even exceed human intelligence and capabilities on tasks such as reasoning and learning, complex decision-making, sophisticated analytics and pattern recognition, visual acuity, speech recognition, grammar checks and language translation (Anderson and Rainie, 2018). The authors further pointed out that smart AI systems in communities, buildings, vehicles, utilities, on farms and internal business processes can save time, lives and money and provides opportunities for citizens to enjoy customized services both now and the future. The work of policing the oceans falls under government or quasi-government agencies. The livelihoods of many fisher-folks have been destroyed by illegal, Unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in world (World Economic Forum, 2021). According this organization, AI is now being used to curb IUU Fishing globally. Health care and disaster prevention and response as well as education and environmental management primarily fall within the domain of public sector institutions. A study undertaken by Shumilo and Kerikmae (2021) has revealed that AI applications can lead to better health care, effective disaster prevention and response, better education, and effective environmental management. Indeed, AI can be applied successfully to most public services delivered to citizens. A study undertaken by the Ministry of Finance of Finland (2017) demonstrated that AI leads to a reduction in the number of individual electronic customer services made available to citizens to just a fraction and the transactions can be handled directly in the natural language of the Finnish citizen. Furthermore, when AI is used in a responsive way, the combination of new and large data sources with advanced machine learning algorithms can radically improve the operating methods of the public sector organization (Gianluca and Collin, 2020). The success story in Finland has shown that AI can help in providing customized, targeted and proactive services to Finnish citizens during all stages of their life cycle. Indeed, AI enables some public sector services, such as AI Chatbot interfacing with public sector customers or clients, can be offered 26 in real-time, that is 24 hours per day and 7 days per week and such services are effective, efficient and cost-effective. AI also helps in gaining a better understanding of customers or clients of public sector organizations and helps in better serving them. 5.3 Drawbacks of implementing AI in Public Services Implementation of AI systems comes with some drawbacks or challenges. Transitioning from a traditional way of working in the public sector to the era of AI requires a new type or approach to cross-border management and operating models, in which, resources no longer abide in traditional boundaries between organizations (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, 2017; Bullock, 2019). Such changes may lead to turf wars, as people in control of the traditional system of silo working may wish that the old system continues. This mindset can hinder the introduction of AI systems in the delivery of public services. Finland has identified this issue as a possible problem area for its AI deployment and is addressing it. Issues pertaining to data challenges have been reported by many research workers as a drawback to the use of Artificial Intelligence in many government and other public sector organizations (Gupta, 2019; Sun and Medaglia, 2019; Toll, Lindgren, Melin and Madsen, 2019; Janssen, Brous, Estevez, Barbosa and Janowski, 2020). The use of AI may also lead to job automation with its consequent losses of jobs. This may require re-training of workers in the new fields opened by AI such as data science, machine learning, deep learning, robotics, software development, among others. Currently, this fear of loss of jobs has griped many workers not only in the public sector but also in the private sector. Another drawback is that changing from a traditional public sector administration to AI-oriented public administration may require additional resources as well as new visioning and leadership to oversee this transition. Where resources and new type of vision and leadership are lacking (Mikhaylov, Esteve and Campion, 2018, Ojo, Mellouli and Zeleti, 2019; Wirtz, Weyerer and Sturm, 2020), it may be impossible to introduce AI into public sector administration. The regulating landscape surrounding AI governance is currently posing a big challenge to all, as no one knows where AI may lead us to (Ballister, 2021). The adoption of AI in government and other public sector organizations does not only depends on high-quality data but also is facilitated by numerous environmental, organizational and other factors that intertwine among each other (Noordt and Misuraca, 2020). So in situations, where the latter factors are lacking it may lead to poor outcomes from AI application. Another drawback found in a research on AI in European Union Member States was that some member states did not involve their citizens in the design of AI services, while some employees had a low digital literacy in public institutions where AI had been deployed (Medaglia and Tangi, 2022). Clearly, if AI has been deployed in a public sector organization and the employees of the organization do not know how to use the AI system, outcomes from AI systems would be less than optimal. Finally, AI can also lead to negative results, such as “algorithm bias” and making important social and economic decisions on such results can lead to negative unintended consequences and outcomes (Valle-Gruz and RuvalcabaGomez, 2019). Finally, more research needs to be undertaken on the regulating AI governance in the public sector 5.4 Impact of AI on public sector governance in the world According to the famed consulting firm, known as Boston Consulting Group, many governments globally have started implementing Artificial Intelligence on a pilot basis 27 but only a few have scaled it up across the entire delivery of government services. However, this firm pointed out that AI implementation can help public sector governance in three major ways, namely smarter policy-making, reimagined, effective and efficient service delivery and more efficient operations (Boston Consulting Group, 2021). For example, AI can enhance effectiveness and efficiency of each stage of policy-making by giving policy sector leaders the tools required to deliver more value to their constituents. Artificial Intelligence and data analytics can analyze, assess and provide meaning to demographic, behavioral, consumption data and other trends in all government sectors, so that evidence-based policies can be crafted and implemented. Furthermore, they can develop the most appropriate responses to situations and use advanced prediction, simulation and optimization capabilities of AI to help them develop the best courses of actions to nagging issues (Margetts and Dorobantu, 2019; Zuiderwijk, Chen and Salem, 2021). Governments can also use AI to make better decisions, improve communications and engagement with citizens and residents and improve the speed and quality of public services (Berryhill, Heang, Clogher and McBride, 2019). According to Intel (2023) government and other public sector organizations can gain exceptional benefits when AI is integrated into every aspect of their work. AI can impact public sector governance significantly by helping public sector organizations to work efficiently, manage costs and achieve massive progress in research (Intel, 2023)) AI completes tedious and time consuming tasks quickly and accurately and relieve public sector leaders of precious time that can then be used for planning and visioning for their organizations. AI also enhances faster retrieval of data and performs complex tasks efficiently than human beings, thereby strengthening public sector governance. There are however caveats to AI use in government and other public sector organizations. According to Zuiderwijk, Chen and Salem (2021) the increased use of AI in government together with increased sophistication of AI applications is leading to several public governance questions for governments worldwide. For example, there are increased social concerns on privacy, safety, risk and threats that are being expressed. Furthermore, social and ethical issues pertaining to fairness, bias and inclusion are also being voiced out. In addition, governance questions on transparency, regulatory frameworks and representativeness are being asked (Zuiderwijk, Chen and Salem, 2021). When these challenges are addressed, AI should be a potent force for progress and development in public sector governance. 5.5 Influence of AI on public sector personnel The benefits of AI are being appreciated in the public sector. However, it is also breeding fear that AI adoption will lead to loss of jobs in the public sector (Simplilearn, 2023). This is a genuine fear because of the new possibilities and capabilities of AI deployments in the public sector. According to a PWC Research cited by AI bees about one-third of all employment, including that of public sector workers would be at risk of being automated by the middle of 2030s. The personnel most likely to be at risk of being affected by this development are those with a low level of education. There is also the worry that AI may require skills and knowledge upgrades that existing public sector personnel may not be willing to acquire. Again, AI introduction may call for amalgamation of public sector departments and units to facilitate efficient service delivery and this can lead to turf wars among public sector personnel, who are bent on keeping their positions and influence. Martinho-Truswell (2018) reported that AI could make public sector personnel more efficient, improve their job satisfaction and increase the quality of services offered to clients or customers as well as educating 28 themselves on subjects of interest them. However, for all these benefits to be appropriated, public sector personnel need to learn how to work effectively with AI or machines. This way, AI will complement their knowledge and skills and help public sector personnel achieve a boost in productivity. 5.6 The Future research areas on AI in the public sector There has been a wide application of AI in the public sector but little is known about the taxonomy or classification for mapping the features of AI projects (Maragno, Tangi and Benedetti, 2021). Some AI researchers have posited that it may be useful to limit the number of classifications within an AI Programme to those that have important prognostic relevance to reducing both the size and complexity of the algorithm (Hogarty, Mackey and Hewitt, 2019; Fadhil, 2023). There is also paucity of information on the use of AI applications to address public policy challenges (Valle-Cruz and Ruvalcaba-Gomez, 2019). As such more research work needs to be carried out in this area. Furthermore, there is also the need to eliminate or reduce to the barest minimum the incident of “Algorithm bias” in public sector work as its unintended impact can be huge (Valle-Cruz and Ruvalcaba-Gomez, 2019). Policy and experiential research should be conducted on the so-called threats posed by AI on human autonomy, agency and capabilities (Anderson and Rainie, 2018) in the public sector. Such research is urgent given the rapid rate at which AI is being adopted globally. The World Economic Forum cited by Marr ((2021) likened cybercrime as a potentially risk causing factor to society than terrorism and observed that as machines take over more of our lives, hacking and cyber-crime would inevitably become a major problem for society and public sector organizations. This calls for more research on cybersecurity in the public sector so that sophisticated AI system can be developed that addresses this concern. According to Marr (2021) a key barrier to the adoption of AIdriven efficiency in organizations, public sector one inclusive, is the scarcity of skilled AI-driven engineers who can develop the needed tools and algorithms. This calls for the development of “no-code” and “low-code” AI solutions with simple interfaces that can be used by the ordinary public sector employee. Preliminary findings have revealed that a combination of MLOps, Cloud computing and the application of other best practices provide an excellent foundation for capturing AI value at a large scale (World Economic Forum, 2022). More research is therefore in this area to enable AI create more value in a larger scale to public sector organizations and society as a whole. Finally, the regulating landscape on AI governance is a thorny issue to many public sector organizations, which calls for research, so that laws enacted are based on concrete evidence and thorough research. 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE After reviewing the available literature and the findings deduced, the following recommendations are herewith made: 1. An effective national and international regulatory framework on AI should be developed to govern international trade and technology operations. This is very urgent given that rate at which AI is being deployed worldwide daily (Labhaoise, Hines and Nallur, 2020). 29 2. There is also the need to involve citizens in the design of AI services and train employees in the public sector adequately before AI is deployed (Magdalia and Tangi, 2022). Finland is an exceptional country in this respect because both its citizens and public sector workers were given training before AI was nationally deployed. 3. The potential benefits of AI on society are immense, therefore the discussions, social negotiations and the application of AI should be guided by common grounds based on contemporary governance techniques and social values legitimated through dialogue and scientific research (De Almeida, De Santos and Farias, 2021). 4. Governments should adopt AI to support the redesigning of internal processes and policy making mechanisms and engage better with their citizens (Gianluca and Collin, 2020). 5. AI should be used by Governments to support public budgeting allocations to different programmes and policies. It can also adopt AI techniques for data analysis to support better decision- and policy making (Valle-Cruz, Gil-Garvia and Fernandez-Cortex, 2020). 6. According to Fadhil (2023) the caliber of the datasets used to train and validate Artificial Intelligence software ultimately determines its capabilities. Often, it is difficult for AI scientists to forecast how many training images would be required in a dataset. Furthermore, it has been observed AI is less effective when there are too many datasets and the machine learning component may end up overfitting the training data. For increased external validity, the dataset used in “training” the AI should also contain images from a diverse demography. Further research is therefore needed to determine the optimal dataset required to make AI functionally valid. 7. CONCLUSION The research question of this study was to ascertain whether the use of AI enhanced public administration and service delivery in Finland or not. From the literature reviewed on Artificial Intelligence in Finland, I am unable to answer this question for lack of data. This notwithstanding, the Finnish Government has developed concrete policies, strategies and programmes to mainstream AI into Finnish society. The government has also come out with a training and capacity development programme to train public sector workers and citizens on AI before it is introduced on a large scale. From the work so far done by the Finnish government, it is evident that AI is being seamlessly introduced into Finnish society, leading to a better delivery of public services. Globally, the use and interest in AI is growing within the public sector. Many national governments have initiated pilot projects on AI, with the intention to scale them up in future. The benefits of AI now common knowledge and with time many national governments and other public sector organizations may adopt this technology. Various recommendations have been given in this report for the successful deployment of AI in the public sector. Once the drawbacks or challenges are addressed, AI can be a potent tool in the hands of public sector leaders to deliver effective, efficient and in 30 some cases even customized services to their constituents. AI is here to stay and every effort need to be made to deploy it in public sector work. 31 8. REFERENCES AI bees (2023). How Artificial Intelligence impacts the future of work, AI bees, Retrieved on 2nd May, 2023 from www.ai-bees.io Anderson, J. and Rainie, L. (2018). Artificial Intelligence and the future of Humans, Pew Research Center, 10th December, 2018, Retrieved on 1st May, 2023 from www.pewresearch.org Ballister, O. (2021). An Artificial Intelligence Definition and Classification Framework for public sector applications, The 22nd Annual International Conference on Digital Research, 9th June, 2021, pp. 67-75, https://doi.org/101145/-. Berryhill, J., Heang, K.K., Clogher, R. and McBride, K. (2019). Hello, World, Artificial Intelligence and its use in the Public Sector, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 36, Retrieved on 2nd May, 2023 from www.oecd.org Boston Consulting Group (2021). Unlocking the value of AI-Powered Government, Boston Consulting Group, 21st June, 2021, Retrieved on 1st May, 2023 from www.bcg.com. Britannica (2023a). Finland, Britannica, 18th April, 2023, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.britannica.com/place/Finland Britannica (2023b). Helsinki – National Capital, Finland, Britannica, 6th April, 2023, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.britannica.com Britannica (2023c). Economy off Finland, Britannica, 2023, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.britannica.com/place/Finland/Economy Bullock, J.B. (2019). Artificial Intelligence, Discretion and Bureaucracy, The American Review of Public Administration, 49 (7), pp. 751-761 Business Finland (2023). Artificial Intelligence from Finland, Business Finland, Retrieved on 19th April, 2023 from www.businessfinland.com Castonguay, Y. (2016). Behind the Finnish Innovation System, Journal of Business and Economics, 7 (4), pp. 597-602. Clausnitzer, J. (2022). Finland – Key Economic Indicators, Statista, 28th November, 2022, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.statista.com Clausnitzer, J. (2023). Number of Employed People in Finland 2021, By Sector, Statista, 31st January, 2023, Retrieved on 21st April, 2023 from www.statista.com De Almeida, P.G.R., Dos Santos, C.D. and Farias, J.S. (2021). Artificial Intelligence Regulation: A Framework for Governance, Ethics and Information Technology, 23, pp. 505-525. European Center ICEG (2011). Policies in Support of Service Innovation, INNOGrips Policy Brief No. 3, INNO-Grips Global Review of Innovation Studies, Budapest. European Parliament (2021). Briefing – Climate Action in Finland, European Parliament, 2021, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.europarl.europa..eu 32 European Union (2023). Country Profile – Finland, European Union, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.european-union.europa.eu Fadhil, H.S. (2023). Artificial Intelligence Prospects, International Journal of Progressive Research in Engineering Management and Science, 3(1), pp. 7-9. Gianluca, M. and Collin, V. (2020). AI Watch – Artificial Intelligence in Public Services: Overview of the Use and impact of AI in Public Services in the European Union, Research Papers in Economics, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu Gupta, K.P.K.K.P. (2019). Artificial Intelligence for Governance in India: Prioritizing the challenges using analytic hierarchy process (AHP, International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8 (2), pp-. Hancock (2011). Why are Finland’s Schools Successful?, Smithsonian Magazine, September, 2011, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.smithsonianmag.com Hooli, L.J. (2021). Private-Sector Innovation Processes in Development Cooperation – Perspective from Finnish Technology Enterprises, Innovation and Development, pp. 1-18, http://orcid.org/-. Intel (2023). AI in Government drives extraordinary possibilities, Intel, Retrieved on 2nd May, 2023 from www.intel.in Intellipaat (2023). Top 10 Tools in Artificial Intelligence, Intellipaat, 2nd March, 2023, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.intellipaat.com Janssen, M., Brous, P., Estevez, E., Barbosa, L.S. and Janowski, I. (2020). Data Governance : Organizing Data for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, Government Information Quarterly, 37 (3), pp. 101493, 10.10 16/j.giq,-. Joshi, N. (2022). Seven Types of Artificial Intelligence, Forbes, 15th December, 2022, Retrieved on 21st April, 2023 from www.forbes.com Justila, M. (2011). Narrowing of Public Responsibility,-, Social Policy and Administration, 45 (2), pp. 194-205. Labhaoise, N. Hines, A. and Nallur, V. (2020). Assessing the appetite for Trustworthiness and the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Europe, Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, Ireland. Macrotrends (2023a) Finland Population Growth,-, Macrotrends, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.macrotrends.com Macrotrends (2023b). Finland Population Density,-, Macrotrends, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.macrotrends.com Maragno, G., Tangi, L. and Benedetti, M. (2021). The Spread of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector : A worldwide overview, Computer Science, Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, pp. 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1145/-. 33 Margetts, H. and Dorobantu, C. (2019). Rethink Government with AI, Nature, 568, pp. 163-165. Marr, B. (2021). The 7 Biggest Artificial Intelligence Trends in 2022, Forbes,, 24th September, 2021, Retrieved on 1st May, 2021 from www.forbes.com Marr, B. (2023a). The Evolution of AI – Transforming the world one Algorithm at a time, Bernard Marr, Retrieved on 21st April, 2023 from www.bernardmarr.com Marr, B. (2023b). Understanding the four types of Artificial Intelligence, Bernard Marr, Retrieved on 21st April, 2023 from www.barnardmarr.com Martinho-Truswell, E. (2018). How AI could help the Public Sector, Harvard Business Review, 29th January, 2018, Retrieved on 2nd May, 2023 from https://hbr.org Medaglia, R. and Tangi, L. (2022). The adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector in Europe : Drivers, Features and Impacts. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, 4th October, 2022, pp. 10-18, https://doi.org/10.1145/-. Mikhaylov, S.J., Esteve, M. and Campion, A. (2018). Artificial Intelligence for the Public Sector : Opportunities and Challenges of Cross-Sector Collaboration, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 376 376 (2128), P-/rsta-. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland (2017). Finland’s Age of AI – Turning Finland into a leading Country in the Application of Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Publication No. 47/2017, Helsinki, Finland. Ministry of Finance of Finland (2019). Glimpses of the future – Data policy, Artificial Intelligence and robotization as enablers of well-being and economic success in Finland, Ministry of Finance of Finland Publication No. 39/2019, Helsinki, Finland. Ministry of Finance of Finland (2023a). Strategy for Public Governance Renewal, Ministry of Finance of Finland, Public Governance Strategy, Helsinki, Finland, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.publicgovernancestrategy.fi Ministry of Finance of Finland (2023b). Coordinating Services and Premises, Ministry of Finance of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.gov.fi Ministry of Finance of Finland (2023c). National Artificial Intelligence Programme, Aurora AI, Ministry of Finance of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.gov.fi Noordt, C.V. and Misuraca, E. (2020). Exploratory insights on Artificial Intelligence for Government in Europe, Social Science Computer Review, 40, pp. 426-444. Ojo, A., Mellouli, S. and Zeleti, F.A. (2019). A Realistic Perspective on AI-Era Public Management, Paper Presented at the 20th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 34 Principe, A.D. (2023). 10 Top Open source AI Platforms and Tools to Try Today, Hubspot, 20th April, 2023, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.hubspot.com Simplilearn (2023). How AI is impacting industries worldwide, Simplilearn, 23rd February, 2023, Retrieved on 2nd May, 2023 from www.simplilearn.com Sun, T.Q. and Medaglia, R. (2019). Mapping the challenges of AI in the Public Sector: Evidence from Public Healthcare, Government Information Quarterly, 36 (2), pp. 368-383. Suomi (2023a) Central Government – Rights and Obligations, Suomi, Retrieved on 19th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi/citizen Suomi (2023b) Courts, Suomi, Retrieved on 19th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi/Courts. Suomi (2023c) Judiciary System of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 19th April, 2023. Suomi (2023d). Local State Administration, Suomi, Retrieved on 19th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023e). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023f). Ministry of Justice of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023g). Ministry of Interior of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023h). Ministry of Defense of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023i). Ministry of Finance of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023j). Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023k). Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023l). Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023m). Ministry of Transport and Communication of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023n). Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi Suomi (2023o). Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Finland, Suomi, Retrieved on 25th April, 2023 from www.suomi.fi 35 Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) (2022). Finland – Environmental Policies, Bertelsmann Stiftung, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.sgi-network.org/2022. Toll, D., Lindgren, I., Melin, U. and Madsen, C.O. (2019). Artificial Intelligence in Swedish Policies: Values, Benefits, Considerations and Risks, International Conference on Electronic Government, San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy. Trading Economics (2023a). Finland GDP Per Capita, Trading Economics, 18th April, 2023 from www.tradingeconomics.com/Finland Trading Economics (2023b). Finland – Level of Internet Access, Trading Economics, 2023, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.tradingeconomics.com Trading Economics (2023c). Finland – Access to Electricity (% of the Population), Trading Economics, 2023, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.tradingeconomics.com United Nations (2021). Demographics of Finland, Statistics Times, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.statisticstimes.com Valle-Cruz, D. and Ruvulcaba-Gomez (2019). A Review of Artificial Intelligence in Government and its Potential from Public Policy Perspective, Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference on Digital Government, pp. 91-99. Valle-Cruz, D., Gil-Garcia, J.R. and Fernandez-Cortex, V. (2020). Towards Smarter Public Budgeting, Understanding the Potential of AI Techniques to Support DecisionMaking in Government, The 21st Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research, June 2020, pp. 232-242. Wirtz, B.W., Weyerer, J.C. and Sturm, B.J. (2020). The Dark Sides of Artificial Intelligence: An integrated AI Governance framework for Public Administration, International Journal of Public Administration, 43 (9), pp. 818-829. World Economic Forum (2021). 5 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Doing Good in the World Right Now, World Economic Forum, 14th July, 2021, Retrieved on 1st May, 2023 from www.weforum.org World Economic Forum (2022). This is the State of Artificial Intelligence in 2022 according to three Experts, World Economic Forum, 19th January, 2022, Retrieved on 1st May, 2023 from www.weforum.org World Economics (2023). Finland’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), World Economics, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.worldeconomics.com/finland Worldometer (2023). Finland Population- 2023, Worldometer, Retrieved on 18th April, 2023 from www.worldometer.info Zuiderwijk, A., Chen, Y.C. and Salem, F. (2021). Implications of the use AI in Public Governance: A systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda, Government Information Quarterly, 38 (3), art. No. 101577. 36