What is the carbon handprint of DigiFinland's services? - Case

DigiFinland promotes the digitalization of public sector and offers varous digital services. The company examined the carbon handprint of its digital services in collaboration with experts from OpenCO2net. DigiFinland is owned by the wellbeing services counties, the City of Helsinki, HUS Group, and the Finnish government. In this project, the focus was on the Omaolo and Medical helpline 116117, and the positive carbon handprint they generate.

Carbon handprint – a measure of positive climate impact

Carbon handprint refers to the positive climate impact an organization can offer to others, such as its customers. A carbon handprint solution can help users of a product or service reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. LUT University and VTT have been pioneers in this field, developing the carbon handprint assessment methodology, which makes it possible to define the positive impact on the climate.

What's crucial in carbon handprint calculations is comparing two comparable emission figures. The baseline calculation is determined based on, for instance, the current situation or what the situation would be without the carbon handprint product or service. The emissions for the new carbon handprint scenario are calculated using the same boundaries as for the baseline, so that the actual emissions avoided can be accurately compared.

"Through the carbon handprint, we can concretely demonstrate how digital solutions support responsible public service production and help achieve national climate targets. It is a step toward a smarter and more sustainable digital society," says DigiFinland's head of communications, marketing and sustainability, Susanna Virén.

Digital services help reduce travel and greenhouse gas emissions

In DigiFinland's case, the carbon handprint impact was assessed for two of the company's digital services. The digital services provided for wellbeing services counties help assess the care needs of individuals reaching out, and direct them to emergency care or health centers when necessary. In addition, many issues can be handled entirely remotely, eliminating the need to travel. With digital services, unnecessary visits to emergency units can be avoided, as the urgency of the situation can be evaluated, for example, over the phone.

Wellbeing services counties also participated in the project by providing statistical data on usage rates of digital services in their respective areas during 2024. Although the assessment required some assumptions regarding people's behavior and distances to emergency and health centers, the project showed that digital services have significant carbon handprint potential.

"In the future, evaluating the sustainability of digital services will increasingly include the energy consumption resulting from the use of artificial intelligence. This is a topical perspective in our AI work as well," Virén adds.

OpenCO2net provides customized carbon footprint and carbon handprint calculations, corporate-level emissions calculations, as well as a wide range of training services. You can read more about our consulting services here. All consulting projects are carried out using the standards-based tools of the OpenCO2net platform and by utilizing the extensive and up-to-date OpenCO2 emissions database.