Go where the people are: The Netti-Nysse bus in Tampere

Tampere in Finland has become internationally known for its e-government activities. It is the third biggest city in Finland (about 220,000 inhabitants) with three universities. Many ICT companies, including Nokia, are based there.

At the same time, Tampere has become known for its innovative digital inclusion training approach. This training is not provided in a library or other public building but in a bus. The basic idea is simple: ‘go where the people are who need a service’. Indeed, this idea is catching - it is now being used in new health care services which are provided on wheels.

Elina Harju gave a presentation at a Midlands Co-Production Network event in Birmingham in January 2013 on how the Tampere internet bus is being used to co-design public services with citizens.

When the idea of the internet bus was born in 2000 it fitted perfectly into the strategic framework of the City of Tampere and its ambitious e-government programme at that time. Afterwards the bus became a permanent service of the local library.

To deliver ICT services via the bus, many technical issues had to be resolved. The bus needs electricity and air conditioning, even when the engine is turned off. It needs to be a comfortable place to work when the outside temperature is between -25C and +25C. The internet connection needs to work everywhere and has to be strong enough for 11 computers. We have found solutions for all of these issues. The technology of the bus has been up-dated over the years.

The service concept of an internet bus has been developed together with customers. The services need to be flexible and open to all communities. The most important success factor has been the informal atmosphere inside the bus. Once people feel that they are getting the support they need, have been treated well and have had a good time, they will recommend the internet bus to their friends. Our customers are our salespeople and marketing outlets - there are no better ones!

Our staff have a strong customer service background. They never lose patience and they find the right words to explain difficult issues. We try to make it easy for our customers to relax with us. Computers generally scare people. Once you relax you learn, when you learn you get excited. People don’t want to be reminded of being back at school, surrounded by teachers. So, if some people need an hour to learn how to use the mouse, that is alright, because we are here to help them to get familiar with the technology. At any one time, we can have 10 persons using the computers and two tutors in the bus. Sometimes, we work even with smaller groups, if people are scared of the technology. The computers are set up in such a way in the bus that everyone has enough privacy to focus on his/her learning and, at the same time, the helper is always near.

The public health service started in autumn 2012. The bus is hired for health services two days a week and one evening shift per month. The health bus service stops in four places in the suburbs where it stays for two hours. The health staff provide local people with information on their medication, measure their blood pressure and most importantly, talk about their health concerns and decide if they need to see a doctor. Local people are made familiar with self-help sources available on the internet. During the health visit the internet is often used and local people are encouraged and supported to find useful information online. If they lack of basic ICT skills, ‘first aid’ is given straight away and a place on a basic course is reserved. This pilot is currently planned to run at least until the end of 2013.

We are normally approached by active people who also know other people in the same district where we have parked the bus. We think that this way of approaching people has advantages as they know each other, so that they feel confident in the bus. Whatever service is provided on the bus, we always encourage people to talk to each other and to share their knowledge.

The anonymous feedback from learners is collected systematically. It has been very positive and encouraging. Only one gentleman has told me that we could find better uses for taxpayers’ money - but I think I have seen worse uses of public funding than the internet bus!

A participant in our ICT training course for retired staff from the company Turva gave us the following feedback:

 “The course was good and really useful for pensioners who have not used computers, internet and e-mail  during their working life. This supported my flimsy skills. I am really grateful for the knowledge and skills I got.” (”Kurssi on hyvä ja todella tarpeellinen esim. eläkeläisille, jotka eivät ole työssä joutuneet vielä paljon käyttämään työelämässä ollessaan sähköpostia tai nettiä. Tämä tukee omia hataria tietoja. Olen todella kiitollinen saamastani opista.”)

A participant on another ICT training event said:

”Excellent course, both from the point of oral and written teaching. The tutors were extremely clear and their teaching style was communicative and polite. It was very pleasant to come to the course in the mornings because I knew I would be treated well. Thank you! I did not fall in love with the services of computer though. It is more like a necessarily evil.” (”Erinomainen kurssi sekä suullisen ja kirjallisen opetuksen kannalta. Ohjaajat erittäin selväsanaisia, opetustyyli osallistujaa huomioiva, kohtelias. Oli miellyttävää tulla aamuisin, kun tiessi saavansa huomaavaisen kohtelun. Kiitos! En kuitenkaan rakastunut tietokoneen palveluihin. Se on vain välttämätön paha.”)

The internet bus Netti-Nysse is now well known in Tampere and is associated with many innovative ideas and projects. In November 2001, Netti-Nysse and the City of Tampere received EU recognition with an e-Government Best Practice award and the staff took the bus to Brussels. In addition, the National Board of Education in Finland awarded the Netti-Nysse the national prize for innovative adult education practice. In 2004 the Millennium Technology Prize Foundation gave us a Special Recognition Award for a people-centred application that exploits internet technologies. In 2008 the Internet Bus Netti-Nysse and Tampere City Library were chosen as one of the five e-Literacy finalists in the European Commission e-Inclusion Awards Competition.

By the end of 2012 Netti-Nysse has served about 26,000 learners on basic courses and about 3,750 pre-school children and primary school pupils.

According to the course evaluations gathered in 2012, 93% of people who have gained basic ICT skills in the Netti-Nysse bus intended to continue using computer and internet after the course and 94% thought that the course added value to their everyday life. We need to keep in mind that in 2012 79% of our learners were over 65 years old (and 24% were over 75 years old).

Moreover, the new health services provided on the bus are already showing positive results. Most of the customers (75%) are over 60 years old. So far 46% were helped to get advice through self-help approaches, NGOs were contacted to help 8% and a doctor was needed in 14% of the cases. An influenza vaccination campaign week was also very popular: 3893 vaccinations were given during six days.

Back in 2000, the project got 600,000 Finnish marks (about €100,000) from the City of Tampere to convert the first bus. This was very cheap. For instance, we got the bus painted in vocational schools, and we also had private firms as sponsors. IBM offered the computers at half price. Microsoft gave us the software programmes for free. The first bus is now out of use and in the local museum. In 2005 the second bus cost €340,000. About 70% of these costs were covered by the e-Tampere programme of the local authority and the rest was shared between the Ministry of Education, regional funds and business partners.

Besides the capital and equipment costs, we also pay salaries for four people. Overall, the operating expenses are about €250,000 a year (excluding administrative costs of the library). The income depends on projects funded by external partners and varies from €6000 – 100,000 per year.

We are often asked what we have learned during the 12 years of running the internet bus. Our ten key learning points are:

1. An idea needs to have a mother/father who has enough freedom and responsibility to innovate
2. Do it together in a network
3. Don't be shy
4. Make it as simple and concrete as possible
5. Do it to benefit aspects of people’s everyday life
6. Rules for teaching: Show a good sense of humour, common sense and patience
7. Encourage people and make clear to them their own learning progress
8. Encourage people to share their knowledge and skills
9. Try out new projects
10. Promoting ICT skills and good health practices need commitment and perseverance

We are happy to help and advise other organisations to develop services in an internet bus. We have gathered experience in developing two buses (one was an old, refurbished bus, while the other was a brand new bus). We know what kind of technical solutions work in different environments and how to design the bus to support learning and community capacity building. We are also very interested in international exchanges on service design and public service innovations and open to suggestions for workshops and events.  

This case study was featured in the Guardian Professional - read Elina Harju's and Anne Kastarine's article "Where residents climb aboard a mobile bus to learn IT skills", published on 9. April 2013.