Presentations in this session:

• Presentation by Veikko Eeva, Co-founder, Lumoin Oy

There is no average citizen. Yet urban planning, infrastructure, and digital services are often designed as if one existed—typically assuming car ownership, static needs, and simplified identities. This talk explores how semantic data models, digital product passports, emerging wallets with trust frameworks, and human-centered AI can act as imagination architectures for more inclusive and meaningful cities—ultimately by emanating agency and hope. Cities are not merely concrete and code emitting entropy. They emerge from lived experiences, stories, materials, and energy, flowing through communities like water. People already interact with digital anchors in everyday life. By imagining richer, context-aware anchors—through self-describing data and citizen-readable tools—we can reimagine participation in planning, maintenance, and shared purpose. These architectures encourage engagement in new ways—offering belonging and livelihoods not only for current residents, but also for those yet to arrive. They support long-term understanding, not just real-time optimization: AI agents can help explain zoning decisions, material flows, or heritage impacts—tailored to each person’s role, needs, and entrepreneurial potential. We invite the MyData community to imagine something beyond the “smart city” narrative. Cities as shared infrastructures—not just opening their systems, but opening their arms. When we design for many hands and many stories, we cultivate belonging, meaning, and resilience. In imagining these architectures, we (re)awaken a sense of wonder—seeing the city and each other as if for the first time. Cities that listen, respond, and evolve—with agency, care, and hope.

• Presentation by Marko Latvanen, chief specialist, Finnish Digital Agency (DVV)

In 2022, the OECD released a report called Anticipatory Innovation Governance Model in Finland. In Chapter 6, the report noted that innovation requires participation also from the civic society. The report cited and, at some depth, analyzed something noticed by report’s authors: the now almost infamous “The Finnish Paradox”:

“While the levels of (citizens’) trust are high in government, people have low efficacy (belief that they can affect change) leading to diminishing participation rates through formal channels.” (Anticipatory Innovation Governance Model in Finland, p. 97)

The chapter painted an almost alarming picture of a Nordic democracy where policy plans and decisions are made by a limited circle, with citizens having little opportunities, or even motivation, to have an impact, participate and contribute. Whether the reality is as bleak as the OECD painted it is another matter (the constantly falling voting activity suggests they were on to something), but the report did cause something of a ripple effect.

That chapter is relevant now when Finland is working on an ambitious project to create seamless, personalized digital service frameworks around a number of major life and business events that come with a baggage of services and bureaucracy: “The Government will carry out projects to digitalise public and private services relating to life and business events so that these services operate seamlessly together.”

The goal is to create something approaching a “life event service automation” for specific life or business events so that you need to deal with services and red tape as little as possible. Life events such as the birth of your first child, starting your studies at the Uni, losing your job and finding a new one, planning for retirement, or the death of a loved one. Or a business event: starting your own enterprise or transferring your business to the next generation, and so on.

This is not about creating a new digital service; it’s about reforming the public service paradigm. If realized fully, it would greatly change the processes Finns are used to, and issues of public trust, data sharing, service automation, AI and other things would pop up to the surface with this new framework.

This is why the Ministry of Finance and Sitra decided to set up a project to find out if the latest digital public participation platforms might lower the participation threshold and create new possibilities for effective, direct and inclusive public participation in policy planning and service creation.

A trio of organizations – VTT , Sitra and the Finnish Digital Agency DVV – set out to discover what solutions are out there, which ones would fit into the Finnish scene, and whether these platforms would actually create activity and encourage citizens to participate. We learned quite a lot: some things we had expected, some surprised us. It will be a pleasure to share our journey with you in this session.

• Contribution by Vinicius De Faria Silva, Digital Technologies Advisor, Ministry of Management and Innovation of Brazil

Join us for an insightful interactive panel session that explores a groundbreaking initiative at the intersection of digital governance, international cooperation, and open-source innovation. Brazil’s Ministry of Management and Innovation (MGI), through its dedicated DPI Office, and the state-owned ICT provider Dataprev, are at the forefront of developing a national Verifiable Credentials Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). This ambitious program is characterized by strong government stewardship, strategic oversight, and a deep commitment to deploying digital public infrastructures that benefit all citizens.

This session will shine a spotlight on a truly unique partnership: Brazil's collaboration with the Government of India. Inspired by the tremendous success of India’s DigiLocker – a digital credentials model that has scaled to hundreds of millions of users – Brazil is not developing its DPI in isolation. A recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) solidifies this strategic cooperation, enabling MGI and Dataprev to work closely with India’s vibrant Bangalore DPI ecosystem. This includes renowned institutions like IIIT-Bangalore’s Centre for Open Societal Systems (COSS) and pivotal open-source Digital Public Goods (DPGs) such as MOSIP and INJI.

This South–South alliance represents a powerful force driving the creation of an interoperable, auditable, and inherently citizen-centric approach to digital credentials. Our discussion will delve into how this partnership facilitates accelerated knowledge transfer and the adoption of best practices, particularly in the realm of open standards, modular architecture, and ethical data governance. We will explore how this collaboration ensures Brazil’s verifiable credentials adhere to global benchmarks like the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model, while seamlessly integrating with Brazil’s existing national trust frameworks, such as ICP-Brasil digital certificates, for full legal validity.

By co-building with India’s seasoned experts, Brazil is developing an auditably secure and truly interoperable infrastructure on an open-source codebase. This effort is poised to become a global exemplar of how two democracies can co-create human-centric digital infrastructure that empowers individuals and strengthens public services. The panel will unpack how this high-level leadership and international cooperation are effectively overcoming common challenges typically encountered in large-scale digital transformations.

Attendees will gain valuable insights into how this partnership helps guarantee an inclusive, citizen-controlled data ecosystem, firmly aligned with MyData principles of transparency and individual empowerment. We will also discuss how this initiative strengthens public sector capacity to deliver trusted digital services at scale. This Brazil–India DPI alliance is more than just a technological collaboration; it's a potential game-changer in the global movement for people-centric data empowerment, demonstrating a powerful model for international cooperation in the digital age.

This session is ideal for policymakers, digital government leaders, international development practitioners, MyData community members, and anyone with an interest in digital identity, citizen-data governance, and public sector innovation. Join us to learn how strategic alliances and open collaboration are shaping the future of digital public infrastructure.