Polkutietojen

Polkutietojen is a Finnish public data initiative established in 2015 by the Ministry of Finance and the Digital and Innovation Agency. Its primary mission is to aggregate, standardize and publish municipal and regional datasets in a unified, machine‑readable format. The project builds on the "Polku" (path) framework, which provides a common metadata schema and API for surface-level data such as road conditions, public transport schedules, and administrative boundaries.

After its inception, Polkutietojen launched its first public portal in 2016, offering a searchable database of more than 1,200 datasets across 300 municipalities. In 2018 the platform adopted an open‑source licensing model, allowing developers to reuse data in commercial and non‑commercial applications, which led to a surge in mobile apps for navigation, tourism, and civic engagement. The initiative also introduced real‑time data streams for weather, traffic, and emergency services, increasing its utility for public safety agencies.

Governance of Polkutietojen is managed through a council comprising representatives from local governments, the national Statistics Office, and the digital economy sector. The council sets data quality standards, approves new dataset submissions, and oversees the financial sustainability of the platform. Funding comes from a mix of public grants, subscription services for premium analytics, and a small fee for high‑volume data scrapers.

The project has been cited in numerous research studies exploring urban planning, environmental monitoring, and algorithmic governance. In 2021, the European Digital Innovation Scorecard awarded Polkutietojen a high rating for transparency and open‑data maturity. As of early 2026, the platform hosts nearly 3,500 datasets and serves approximately 45,000 API requests daily, making it one of the largest open‑data ecosystems in the Nordic region.