New research helps Finland develop preparedness and comprehensive security

On 27 August 2026, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Hanken School of Economics published the final report of the co-research project Critical Functions of Finnish Society and Future Trends that sought to update and strengthen the understanding of which functions are critical to Finnish society. The information needs of the research were determined by the Ministry of Defence.

The co-research project set out to examine which critical functions of society are essential under all conditions. It also studied future trends and drivers of change that impact critical functions of society.

According to the research report, a shift towards a holistic approach is needed: criticality in society is not a fixed list of services and infrastructure but a changing context-dependent phenomenon that emerges from needs and interdependencies. The report presents eleven recommendations for assessing critical functions.

“The research gives an up-to-date overview of the critical functions of our society and of their interdependencies and future trends. Its premise is a shift towards a dynamic and holistic approach where the interdependencies of functions make disruptions in one function spread to others. The research has produced valuable information that we can use in strategic planning and decision-making and to improve our comprehensive security. All this will make our society better prepared,” says Janne Kuusela, Chair of the Security Committee and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence.

Petteri Korvala, Chair of the Monitoring Group for the research project and Secretary General of the Security Committee, hopes that the research report will spark comprehensive debate, strengthen our common understanding of critical functions of society and give concrete advice on how Finland’s resilience could be improved in the long term.

The research project is part of the Government’s and ministries’ joint research and development activities (VN Tutkiva), which aim to support the Government’s decision-making and policy preparation.

Research report: Suomen yhteiskunnan kriittiset toiminnot ja tulevaisuuden trendit (in Finnish)

Inquiries:

• Petteri Korvala, Secretary General of the Security Committee, tel. +358 295 140 700
• Kari Pelkonen, Senior Specialist, Secretariat of the Security Committee, tel. +358 295 140 118
• Ville Elo, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 140 202

Email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi