Proactive services

Helsinki is developing proactive services – help arrives before you know to ask for it

The City of Helsinki is developing services to be more proactive. In simplest terms, a proactive service means that the City uses the information it receives to identify and respond to a service need before the customer has a chance to request a service.

A proactive service is more than just AI or algorithms.

Proactive services can also involve simple service design, where the customer’s path is thought out from start to finish.

One example is a preventive dental check-up for all young people aged 17.

“When the City knows an entire age group, place of residence and nearest dental clinic, we can prepare in advance and send a message to the young person: ‘Welcome to a dental check-up!’ The young person books an appointment, and dental care is reserved for them,” says Service Manager Pasi Rautio from the City of Helsinki.

“The aim of our work is to make services simpler for both City employees and customers living in Helsinki.”

A combination of data, design and legislation

Proactive services can be developed in all the City divisions. An invitation to a dental check-up is one example of this. Other examples could include reminders to move cars before street maintenance, inviting older people to cultural events to combat loneliness or renewing a beer garden permit.

The development of proactive services involves a lot of collaboration. Projects involve service designers, lawyers, IT people and customers. In other words, the development is a combination of data, design and legal understanding.

The result is a service experience that saves time, reduces unnecessary bureaucracy and helps residents get the service they need at the right time.

Becoming familiar with the services in advance

Service designers Kaarin Laaneots and Virve Vakiala have been involved in developing urban services in a more proactive direction. They have mapped out which of the City divisions’ services could be piloted and how they could serve both residents and employees more effectively.

Laaneots took part in the Wellbeing in Helsinki website project. Its development from an employee’s perspective served as one of the Proactive Services’ pilot projects.

The purpose of the website is to provide low-threshold wellbeing services for the residents, such as support for mental health, physical activity and community engagement. At the same time, the website supports employees who guide residents to services.

“We set out to explore the site from the employee’s perspective: how it could make their work easier, while at the same time highlighting the principle of proactive services. A customer could familiarise themselves with the services in advance, and during the actual meeting, the focus could be on the essentials instead of going over basic information like current courses or participation opportunities,” she explains.

The work is also based on a customer survey, which was combined with the employee experiences. Guidelines and infrastructure were simultaneously developed to provide staff with all the necessary background information on the different service areas and client encounters.

Laaneots emphasises the importance of anticipation.

“In this case, anticipation means providing employees and clients with useful information about services in a consolidated and easily accessible way.”

At the vision level, the site was also envisioned to utilise data and artificial intelligence. Personal accounts could be created for customers to collect information on their use of services. This would allow the website to suggest new services, offer motivational rewards or incentives and even recommend hobbies with the help of AI.

Thus, Wellbeing in Helsinki aims to combine residents’ self-initiative with the support of staff. The goal is for residents to easily find the services they need, making interactions with staff smoother and more meaningful.

Making everyday life easier through anticipation

Virve Vakiala aims to identify the maturity level of services – whether a particular service has already become a proactive one – and determine the right moment to initiate a change.

Vakiala has been involved in the design and delivery of training sessions to explain to City employees what a proactive service means in practice. .

Through training, employees have come up with new ways to operate in a customer-focused and efficient manner.

“People realised what it was all about and soon started to see what services the City offers that could be developed into proactive ones,” she says.

Constraints imposed by legislation must be observed in a proactive approach

However, there are challenges involved in developing proactive services, such as legislation.

“EU legislation and GDPR dictate a lot. We may not use the data for a new purpose or combine it in a way that allows profiling,” says Rautio.

When national digital and specific legislation is applied, the equation becomes challenging.

If the law says that the customer must “seek a service”, the City cannot automatically offer it, even if it makes sense for everyone.

The rules are particularly strict in health care. A particular service can only be offered to an entire age group, not to individual risk groups.

On the other hand, Helsinki provides more than five hundred services. Not all can be made proactive, but an increasing number can.

“The concept is suitable for all divisions, provided that there are no legal obstacles and the data is in order,” Vakiala summarises.

Proactive services are not just a technical solution, but a customer-centric mindset that can transform the whole City into a more efficient and proactive place that genuinely serves its people.

Original text: Katja Pesonen