The Green council group and Lauri Lavanti, 11 May 2026
The municipality of Kirkkonummi relies on digital infrastructure for nearly all of its operations — from remote meetings and archiving services to email and communication between schools and homes. If these services were unavailable, a large part of the municipality’s and its residents’ activities would grind to a halt or be significantly disrupted. Changes in the global security environment have shown that digital independence deserves far greater attention than it has received.
Why does digital resilience concern municipalities?
Several European countries — France, the Netherlands, and Germany — are actively working to reduce their digital dependencies on non-European providers. Starting the same work in Finland is essential, and the services closest to residents are the most critical place to begin.
A full break from non-European services is neither realistic nor even desirable. In the short and medium term, gains can be achieved by introducing European services alongside existing systems. In the long term, municipal demand for European providers helps develop the European offering into an ever stronger alternative.
A second important dimension is data. The vast majority of files in the municipality are stored and shared in closed file formats — which means the municipality is also dependent on the providers of those formats. The German federal government has responded to this by mandating open-standard file formats for all documents: either following the ODF standard or PDF/UA.
What does the initiative propose?
We, the undersigned councillors, propose that Kirkkonummi maps its dependencies on non-European IT systems and digital companies, and prepares appropriate contingency plans for situations in which those services are unavailable. In addition, Kirkkonummi should switch to using open-standard file formats — such as ODF and PDF/UA — for sharing documents.
The Green council group
I have written more about digital independence: why it is a necessity and what it means in everyday procurement decisions. Read more in my posts on digital independence.
Also published in: Kirkkonummi Greens, 11 May 2026.
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