The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) selected Solita as the winner of the competitive tendering for an application for tracing COVID-19 infections in Finland. According to THL, several high-quality tenders were submitted, but Solita’s solution and implementation plan were the ones that best met the requirements of the invitation to tender. Solita’s tender won all three categories, and it also offered the lowest total price.
Competitive tendering was used to find the best solution in terms of quality and cost. The statements collected by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health concerning a contact tracing application and the guidance issued by the European Commission for such applications were also taken into consideration. The contract between the parties will be signed after the appeal period.
THL’s mission is to develop a mobile application to support the COVID-19 strategy set by the Finnish Government: “test, trace, isolate and treat”. The application is meant to make it easier to trace those who have been exposed to the virus and break the chains of infection. It will help to inform people who have been in contact with an infected person – even a person they do not know – that they have been exposed. Using the application will be voluntary, and it will be developed with a particular focus on privacy protection and information security.
THL, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and SoteDigi Oy will all participate in the development work. The goal is to make the application available to all Finns by September 2020. It will be available to download for free in application stores.
“It’s a privilege to get to create an application that will protect people’s health in Finland in such a concrete way and help us cross paths more safely in this new daily life we are all living. By helping to trace and stop new infections, we are also helping people in Finland regain their joy of life and sense of security”, says Ossi Lindroos, Solita’s Executive Vice President for Finland.
“There are countless health applications out there, but very few of them are connected to national healthcare processes. This is a multidimensional project, both because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and in terms of the technological solutions and data protection aspects. It’s clear that particular attention will be paid to data protection and transparency in this project,” explains Risto Kaikkonen, Director of Solita’s Health and Wellbeing Division. Solita’s plan makes use of existing components, standards and open-source solutions, a published protocol and the possibilities offered by Finland’s national architecture, especially the Kanta and Omaolo services.
Solita has longstanding experience in public contracts and projects, also in the healthcare and social services sector. This experience includes everything from review projects, service design and customer knowledge projects to process modelling, technical design and implementation. Solita’s customers in the Finnish healthcare and social services sector include the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), SoteDigi, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), the Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), Pirkanmaa Hospital District (PSHP), Tampere University Hospital (TAYS) and Coxa Hospital for Joint Replacement.
More information on Government policies related to COVID-19 contact tracing (in Finnish)
More information:
Solita Oy, Ossi Lindroos, Executive Vice President, Finland, tel. +358 40 7507 637, [email protected]
Solita Oy, Risto Kaikkonen, Director, Solita Health, tel. +358 41 536 8745, [email protected]
Solita
