Assessing the markets for electronic information services in Finland: MSSTUDY II Finland

MSSTUDY II Finland is part of a multinational study for assessing the development of the markets for electronic information services (EIS) in the European Economic Area (EEA). The study which was initiated within the European Commission's INFO2000 programme was carried out in 1998-1999 in sixteen states of the EEA. The reference year was 1997. The study covered: the supply of electronic information services (online and offline) for professional purposes in Finland, the demand for electronic services by households (usage and intensity of electronic services), description of the business environment, a survey on national experts' views about future trends of the markets and a best practice case of the regional information services network in Kuusamo. The partners were VTT Information Service (main responsibility and co-ordination), Statistics Finland and VTT Information Technology. The Finnish national report was delivered to the European Commission in June, 1999. Results of the quantitative supply survey were completed with qualitative desk research and contacts with experts. Demand was surveyed by computer-aided telephone interviews in the framework of the National Labour Force Survey in September, 1998. National experts expressed their opinions on various aspects of the markets for EIS, on new business areas and commercially promising products and services, on market barriers in Finland and on information policy both in Finland and in the European Union. The business environment comprises descriptions of technical infrastructure, institutional infrastructure, information policies and plans, legal issues as well as economic infrastructure.