Review by the CEO

“Don’t stay lying in the fire”

The year 2023 could also be summed up by saying “whoa!” It appears that exceptions have become the new norm in the CEO’s reviews. After a long period of peace, we were tested first with a pandemic and then with the shattering of the security environment.

The Russian attack on Ukraine is cruel – the Ukrainians are fighting for Europe with their lives. Waves of uncertainty have also hit Finland. An example of Russia’s hybrid tactics is “testing” the eastern border, and I do not believe that the attempts will end here. Contingency continues to be in the spotlight, rightly so, and we at Erillisverkot have also assessed the impact-resistance of our services. Our new strategy is aimed at being able to respond to the needs of security operators flexibly and to guarantee a sufficient level of contingency and security for our services.

Also the economic outlook of the coming years will be shadowed by the Russian attack on Ukraine, the development of conflicts in the Middle East, as well as the US presidential elections. The year 2023 was weak for the Finnish economy. However, the tense geopolitical situation increased the demand for the services of Erillisverkot. Our customer investments reached a record high.

The economic outlook for 2024 is slightly brighter, but the situation of the public economy looks worrying. The Ministry of Finance estimates that the general government deficit will be at least three per cent in 2024–2026. As a result, the debt ratio will continue to increase. In addition to reducing public spending, attention must be paid to the sustainable increase of profits. The services of Erillisverkot enable positive profitability trends for the customers. In addition, the roles of government ICT operators need to be clarified and harmonised in order to achieve efficiency benefits.

Our special mission requires responsible methods. Our sustainability work is guided by the Government Resolution on State-Ownership Policy, and sustainability is reflected in our strategy, scorecard targets, remuneration, and as a consequence, in the daily work of Erillisverkot employees. We have also identified the UN Sustainable Development Goals that our operations have most impact on.

Our services enable the effective functioning and security of society. Technological development promotes this – and helps in the fight against climate change. For Erillisverkot, sustainability is the background and end result of our services.

Looking back to 2023 makes me think of a quote by lieutenant Autio from Väinö Linna’s The Unknown Soldier: “Don’t stay lying in the fire.” As Finns, our strength is that we are do not freeze or stop when we encounter difficulties. We act and proceed. We are prepared and take care of each other.

The Erillisverkot team did an excellent job throughout this eventful year. Our work feels meaningful to us, and we appreciate our colleagues. I am really happy and proud of this. Our excellent team spirit is also reflected in the results of our personnel survey.

I want to thank all our customers, stakeholders and entire personnel for their cooperation and perseverance.

Timo Lehtimäki
CEO

We want to be the best partner for security operators in Finland

• We maintain and develop network operator services for the public safety network.
• We are developing the public safety network Virve towards broadband services.
• We provide secure cloud and data centre services located in Finland.
• We maintain and secure critical national infrastructure under all circumstances.

We are an impactful and brave security provider in society

Erillisverkot builds a secure, functional and sustainable Finnish society together with security operators. Making the communication of authorities and other critical operators secure ensures that citizens receive help when they need it and makes everyday life smoother.

Erillisverkot provides ICT data centre and network operator services for critical communications, mission control and the securing of critical infrastructure. Our customers in the public sector include the Finnish Defence Forces, rescue services, the police, social and health care, the Finnish Border Guard, Finnish Customs, and we also serve several companies that are critical for the security of supply.

Erillisverkot is a state-owned special-purpose company whose ownership is steered by the Prime Minister’s Office. Our head office is located in Espoo, and we operate in several locations across Finland.

Erillisverkot in 2023

• Erillisverkot critically examined its contingency for power outages, for example (February)
• The Critical Communications World event was held in Finland for the first time – Erillisverkot was one of the organisers (May)
• Finland won the award for the best government authority collaboration at the International Critical Communications Awards 2023 (ICCA) (May)
• The construction of the national quantum encryption network began – Erillisverkot is part of the project with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Cinia Oy and CSC – IT Center for Science (May)
• Virve 2 Group call app and the first terminals proceeded to customer testing (June)
• Vulnerability repairs of the Tetra technology used by the Virve network were launched (July)
• We launched the Ervejärkistä työtä wellbeing at work campaign for our personnel (September)
• Mission Critical Top Tech Trends 2023 focused on 5G technology in communications between the authorities (November)
• All Virve 2 subscriptions received the implementation decision under the Tuve legislation (December)
• The Porin Leijona property groups together government operators for citizens: Leijonaverkot owns the property and was responsible for its massive renovation (December)

Key figures for 2023

• Number of personnel (on 31 December 2023): 384
• Revenue: EUR 119 million
• Operating results: EUR -2.7 million
• Customer net promoter score (NPS): 48
• Personnel index “Liekki” 78/100
• Virve subscriptions: almost 54,000
• Users for the network operator services: over 36,000
• Our carbon footprint: 26,400 tCO₂e