Fresh Report on Information Management in Regional Development

Decision-making and formulation of policies at both national and regional levels requires processed information of regional development. Strengthening of knowledge management and extensive analysis of the situational picture are prerequisites for achieving the goals of the regional government, health and social services’ reform and for successful performance of the future tasks of county government.

MDI carried out a study with 4Front Oy, Perlacon Oy and Pellervo Economic Research PTT concerning information management in regional development. The purpose of this study was to build a situational picture framework of regional development by exploiting and combining the state-of-the-art knowledge management models and practices already used by regions and ministries. The situational picture is built on a common statistical database complemented by experiential knowledge and foresight information. The situational picture gives insight from the key themes and dynamics of regional development, and also facilitates the analysis of the joint effects of several factors and activities of different administrative sectors. The aim of the situational picture is to increase understanding of key issues in regional development and raise these key issues into policy making and decision-making processes.

Information production and the utilisation of information in decision making are experiencing enormous transition and constant flux during the digital age. The situational picture requires a strong cross-administrative dialogue and building of a common understanding between ministries and county government. Moreover, it requires continuous learning enabling information management to support decision-making processes. In the future, there is a need to strengthen knowledge management resources in state administration and county government, and develop the tools and platforms for data analysis in cooperation with knowledge producers and users.

The report (in Finnish) has been published in Publications of the Government´s analysis, assessment and research activities. The publication is part of the implementation of the Government Plan for Analysis, Assessment and Research for 2017.

Information Management in Regional Development –
A Proposal for Situational Picture Framework and Instrumentation