Data and technology policy framework of Technology Industries of Finland: Sustainable and strong growth from new technologies
Last modified 05.01.2026 at 14:29
Data and technology policy refers to policy measures and public debate in Finland and at the EU level that focus on digital technology and data. It is not about recommendations related to individual technologies, but rather about creating an innovation-friendly environment for the development and use of technologies.
The utilisation of artificial intelligence, data, and emerging technologies plays a significant role in strengthening the international competitiveness of companies in the technology industry. At the societal level, the key priorities include increasing productivity across the private and public sectors, enhancing overall security, and ensuring that technologies are developed and deployed responsibly.
In a world of geoeconomic tensions, the number of state subsidies and trade-restricting measures is rising as major powers compete. At the same time, both companies’ preparedness and EU-level policymaking are increasingly shaped by the question of how much Europe needs its own sovereign digital infrastructure and services. As governments gain greater influence over the economy and technological competition, cooperation between the private and public sectors must work more effectively. Companies need support in identifying and assessing risks and opportunities, while government authorities need to understand how geoeconomic challenges affect businesses.
Responding to companies’ investment and skills needs
- Create the best conditions for technology investments and product innovations: The broad deployment of new technology and the process, product, and service innovations based on it are at the core of competitiveness, also in traditional industries. Policy measures must create the conditions for companies to carry out reforms, expand their R&D activities, and invest in better technology, data management, and skills development. Public R&D investments must be used to leverage private investment, and therefore, the voice of companies in directing public funding must be strengthened. The allocation of funding to basic research, applied research, and innovation should be examined strategically across different time horizons, with particular attention paid to converting research results into innovations. The R&D tax incentive for joint projects between companies and research institutions should be made permanent, and the effectiveness of the R&D deduction targeting companies’ own activities must be improved. The Finnish company-driven innovation model (“lead company model”) should be expanded to the EU level and further developed domestically.
- Further develop Finland’s strengths in critical technologies: Finland is a stronger player than its size suggests in several technology areas considered critical, such as artificial intelligence, telecommunications, cybersecurity, semiconductors, space technologies, high-performance computing, and quantum technologies. The importance of these technologies for Europe’s economy and security is now growing rapidly. This position must be strengthened by directing private and public RDI funding to these areas. At the same time, Finland must systematically invest in skills development and increase its attractiveness as an investment destination and partner in critical technology sectors. The EU must also promote the development and availability of critical technologies in Europe in a long-term and consistent manner.
- Increase digital capabilities, data maturity, and technology expertise: The level of digitalisation in Finnish companies is relatively good, but it must be accompanied by a bolder approach to commercialisation. To gain a competitive edge, companies must integrate digital solutions into their products, production, and supply chains. In addition to streamlining processes, companies need to invest in service and product innovations enabled by new technologies, as well as the skills required for them. To ensure that Finland has enough skilled workers to meet companies’ needs, education in engineering and other relevant fields must be increased, and work-based immigration must be facilitated and expanded. Digitalisation is a transformation that affects society as a whole. Therefore, digital competence must be integrated into the curricula of all fields, including teacher training.
Improving the operating environment for companies
- Invest in public digital infrastructure, environment, and services: Digitalisation plays a key role in strengthening public finances and reducing the administrative burden on companies. Coherent data and technology policy governance within public administration ensures that the digital operating environment and infrastructure can be developed cost-efficiently, reliably, and strategically. Long-term investment in Finland’s “soft” and “hard” digital infrastructure is essential to provide Finnish companies with the best possible conditions to grow and create competitive digital products and services. Soft infrastructure enables data sharing among multiple actors and includes information systems, interfaces, regulations, contracts, and data-sharing rulebooks. Real-time-economy solutions, such as e-invoicing, are examples of soft infrastructure that significantly enhance the efficiency of both private and public organisations. Hard infrastructure includes, for example, telecommunications networks, data centres, and supercomputers, and Finland’s excellent position in these must be safeguarded by investing in next-generation network technologies and ensuring favourable investment conditions for data centre infrastructure.
- Create an enabling regulatory environment for the use of data and technology: Legislation must support the full-scale application of technology across all sectors of society. Europe has fallen behind the rest of the world in digital development, partly due to rigid regulation. Closing this gap requires clear, flexible, and predictable regulation, as well as consistent interpretation of existing rules. In particular, EU regulation on artificial intelligence and data must be developed to be innovation-friendly by reducing ambiguity, overlaps, and unnecessary reporting obligations. The risk-based approach of regulation must be strengthened so that low-risk cases result in easily scalable and clear solutions. In digital regulation, directives should generally be abandoned in favour of regulations that harmonise the regulatory environment. Europe must also be prepared to roll back and streamline existing regulations. The adoption of regulatory technologies (RegTech) and the development of related markets should be supported. National regulation must focus on the effective implementation of agreed rules in a way that promotes relative competitive advantage, while reducing unnecessary administrative burden.
- Ensure the functioning of internal markets and public procurement: The conditions for fair competition must be strengthened, and the trade barriers and market distortions, such as harmful state aid, within the EU’s digital single market must be removed quickly. Regulation of large platform providers acting as gatekeepers must be enforced effectively and fairly. Internal market rules must be shaped to create competitive advantages, rather than disadvantages, for growth companies emerging from Europe. To ensure that financing does not become a bottleneck for the growth of technology and industrial companies, European capital markets must be deepened and harmonised. Openness and innovation in public procurement are crucial for accelerating the growth of domestic technology companies and advancing the digitalisation of society. Structures that stifle procurement markets—such as overly rigid procurement contracts and the dominant position of in-house entities that distort the market—must be dismantled.
Taking into account long-term trends and resilience
- Strengthen technological security and resilience: Companies rely extensively on digital services from non-European suppliers in their infrastructure. Increasing geoeconomic tensions have highlighted the need to assess and manage the risks associated with these dependencies. Digital infrastructure providers with significant market power must ensure the continuity of digital services under all circumstances. To this end, partnerships with key suppliers and third countries must be strengthened, and arrangements introduced to enable risk management. Confrontation should be avoided, as it does not serve the interests of Finland’s business community or the security of supply. In the long term, risks should be reduced by strengthening the EU’s competitiveness through market-based measures and creating conditions for digital innovations to emerge in Europe and scale globally. Cybersecurity is a central element of the reliability and competitiveness of a digitalised society. The primary responsibility for cybersecurity risk management measures lies with companies and organisations, as they constitute the majority of society’s operational and economic structure and its data resources. Companies should be financially and otherwise encouraged to adopt modern cybersecurity risk management practices and to improve their ability to identify geoeconomic risks. The preservation of data in the hands of European companies must also be supported and promoted. Security must be regulated and developed through practical measures that do not unnecessarily expand security administration but instead improve cooperation between the public and private sectors. Companies’ control over their information assets and information systems should not be diminished by increasing authorities’ powers.
- Prepare for the transformation brought by artificial intelligence and robotics: Artificial intelligence systems, automation, and robotics are rapidly transforming working life and skill requirements. Instead of slowing down this transformation or passively observing it, Finland must actively develop the competencies and capabilities that enable fruitful collaboration between humans and machines. Concrete measures include removing legislative barriers that hinder the use of AI, promoting education and peer learning, and investing in innovation to redesign organisational practices, production methods, and change management.
- Accelerate the green transition through sustainable digitalisation: Digitalisation can streamline operations, save resources, and promote the circular economy, but at the same time, its own climate and environmental footprint is generated by, for example, data centres, networks, devices, and the use of digital services. Implementing the green transition requires the electrification and digitalisation of society’s energy- and resource-intensive activities. Investments in the data industry, such as data centre projects, also lead to increased renewable energy production, a stronger electricity grid, improved data transfer connections, and the overall development of the electricity market. The next phase of green transition investments (e.g., green steel, the hydrogen economy, and the chemical industry) will flow to regions with well-functioning and strong electricity markets. Globally, the location of the data industry follows the availability of energy, infrastructure, and expertise. The energy consumption and environmental impacts of data centres are monitored at the EU level and regulated when necessary. Finland can reduce the climate impact of digitalisation by offering the data industry clean and affordable electricity, utilising waste heat, and investing in education on green software development (green coding) to improve software energy efficiency. Finland also has an excellent opportunity to become a frontrunner in more environmentally friendly semiconductor production by directing R&D investments toward energy-efficient chip design, sustainable manufacturing processes, and the use of recyclable materials.
- Strengthen societal acceptance of new technology: Digitalisation affects society broadly, from people’s everyday lives and well-being to the functioning of democracy. For example, global social media platforms increasingly shape the boundaries of freedom of expression, access to information, and public debate. As technologies are developed and deployed, it must be ensured that people can perceive them as acceptable. Transparency in data processing and technology use, along with the recognition and mitigation of risks through clear rules, form the foundation of trust. Technologies should strengthen the agency of all individuals and align with the values of democratic societies. In particular, children and young people’s digital literacy must be strengthened. Companies, civil society, and public authorities must promote open dialogue about the benefits and drawbacks of technology.
New Technologies and Skills