Unlocking Finland’s Potential in Health Data Utilization
JAES participated in organizing the winter meeting of medical foundations, where Professor Olli Kallioniemi, recruited through the “Brain Gain” initiative, spoke about the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Anna Humalamäki
KUVAAJA Veikko Somerpuro / Helsingin yliopisto
JAES participated in organizing the winter meeting of medical foundations, where Professor Olli Kallioniemi, recruited through the “Brain Gain” initiative, spoke about the possibilities of artificial intelligence. Anna Humalamäki from the Finnish Medical Foundation wrote about the themes of the event and how funders can also support researchers in the ongoing transformation in many ways. We are publishing the article as part of a joint initiative. What if those who benefit most from funding decisions have not even been born yet?
What should Finland do with health data to fully benefit from the AI revolution? This question has recently been considered by Professor of Precision Medicine Olli Kallioniemi.
Kallioniemi recently received a €2.5 million Brain Gain grant from foundations, which he used to establish a research group at the University of Helsinki. Since January 2025, he has also been busy with another project: together with his colleague Kimmo Porkka, he has prepared a report on the use of health data in the age of AI—a topic of great importance for Finland’s future.
“We are used to new technologies taking decades to be adopted in healthcare. With AI, the situation is different: the opportunities are exceptionally large, investments are massive, and international competition is fierce,” Kallioniemi says.
According to him, AI could enter everyday healthcare surprisingly quickly in the coming years. A similar transformation is already underway in research. However, there is one major problem.
“We have not sufficiently prepared at the national level for the changes required by AI in legislation, data infrastructure, expertise, and operating culture,” he lists.
Kallioniemi knows what he is talking about. He previously served as director of the Science for Life Laboratory in Sweden, where he had to consider how AI and data availability affect research in the field. In January, he came to shed light on the ongoing transformation for Finnish medical foundations.e.
How AI Will Transform Healthcare
The computing capacity of AI is growing at a staggering pace—by as much as 2.5 times annually, Kallioniemi estimates. By many measures, AI is surpassing human capabilities. It is good at analyzing text, superior in language skills, capable of connecting complex concepts—and, of course, always available.
“We get tired, need vacations, and sometimes have to think about something else, but AI just keeps going.”
AI also has clear weaknesses. It may make incorrect interpretations and hallucinate, and its processes are not always fully explainable. There are also risks related to data security and ethical use, and it cannot create new things in the same way humans can. However, Kallioniemi emphasizes an essential point: the current AI is the worst AI we will ever use.
In medicine, AI has already proven useful. For example, it can predict protein folding, advancing drug development. Studies have also shown that AI can solve complex patient cases and even communicate with patients via chat more empathetically than doctors. This does not make humans unnecessary, but it does require doctors to develop new skills.
“Every medical device will, to some extent, include AI,” Kallioniemi predicts.
Finland Is Well Positioned for Success
But how does data availability relate to all this? There is no point investing billions in AI computing capacity if comprehensive health data is not available. In that case, the medical benefits of AI will not materialize.
In a report commissioned by Sitra, Kallioniemi and Porkka address this issue. The report was also driven by the European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation, which came into force in March 2025. It enables patient health data to be accessible to professionals treating them across the EU—and also for secondary use, allowing new research discoveries and the development of diagnostics and treatments.
“The main principle is that European healthcare will form a unified whole in the future, and health data can be shared across borders. When a patient travels from Finland to Spain, their health data travels with them,” Kallioniemi explains.
Foundations can create space for risk-taking and experimentation.”
Hanna-Mari Peltomäki
Finland now has a few years to decide how to implement the regulation nationally. The starting point is excellent: there is already extensive registry data, national health data repositories such as Kanta, and recently updated legislation on secondary use. AI research is supported by resources such as the LUMI supercomputer and the recently opened ELLIS Institute.
“Utilizing health data is a major opportunity, and Finland has almost all the necessary pieces in place.”
A Fragmented Data System Needs Overhaul
However, Finland still faces obstacles. To fully unlock AI’s potential, detailed and interoperable health data must be made available much faster than currently.
“The challenge is that we have built a heterogeneous research and healthcare system,” Kallioniemi says.
In practice, this means data is behind multiple permits—for example, nearly 200 are needed to conduct the national FinnGen study. At the same time, researchers may spend up to 80–90% of their time cleaning data. Afterward, compiled datasets often have to be destroyed, and the next project starts from scratch.
“This kind of operation has neither head nor tail. We are wasting enormous resources.”
To fix this, Kallioniemi and Porkka propose establishing a national health data space. It would consist of three actors: a data-producing entity, an authority granting access to the data, and a nationwide RDI (research, development, and innovation) organization.
This would enable health data to be securely and quickly accessed not only by researchers but also by public administration and growth companies. In turn, this would open the door to new AI applications—such as predicting population health, developing export products, or directing healthcare funding based on data.
Kallioniemi emphasizes that AI will transform healthcare and research more fundamentally than any previous technological shift. Therefore, Finland must act now rather than react years later. The proposal for a national health data space is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.Kallioniemi muistuttaa, että tekoäly muuttaa terveydenhuoltoa ja tutkimusta perusteellisemmin kuin mikään aiempi teknologinen murros. Siksi Suomen pitää vastata haasteeseen nyt eikä reaktiivisesti vasta vuosien päästä. Ehdotus kansallisesta terveystietoalueesta on parhaillaan STM:n käsittelyssä.
“The coming years will determine whether Finland builds a health data infrastructure suited for the AI era.”uko Suomelle tekoälyaikaan sopiva terveysdatainfrastruktuuri.
The AI Transformation Requires an Active Role from Foundations
The AI transformation must be advanced transparently, responsibly, and fairly, emphasizes Hanna-Mari Peltomäki, Secretary General of the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.
“It is in everyone’s interest that AI is developed to serve the common good. Foundations can play a role by enabling risk-taking and experimentation,” Peltomäki says.
Foundations are also supporting researchers in this transition. For example, the Finnish Medical Foundation is organizing AI training in April for some of its 2025 grant recipients together with Duodecim.
“The training filled up quickly, so the topic clearly interests young medical researchers. We want to help them understand how AI can support scientific work and what ethical considerations are important,” says Jouni Lounasmaa, Executive Director of the foundation.
Collaboration between foundations creates the conditions for larger and more impactful initiatives than working alone, reminds Julius Anckar, Scientific Coordinator at the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation.
“Through joint efforts, we can accelerate the use of AI in research and healthcare for the benefit of society as a whole,” Anckar says.
Teksti: Anna Humalamäki
Valokuvat: Veikko Somerpuro / Helsingin yliopisto