October 2022 digital edition
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FINLAND<br />
Tech co-op given state funds for digitisation project<br />
The Finnish government has awarded a<br />
€3m (£2.6m) grant to Findynet Cooperative<br />
for a pilot project aiming to build a selfsovereign<br />
identity network.<br />
The initiative seeks to further encourage<br />
Finland’s digitisation while supporting<br />
the emergence of investments in new<br />
<strong>digital</strong> services. The co-op will use the<br />
money to develop a common and secure<br />
network of verified data to stimulate<br />
electronic transactions.<br />
Such a network would allow individuals<br />
and organisations to share information<br />
such as certificates, electronic receipts,<br />
credit information and proof of<br />
professional qualifications in a way that<br />
protects their privacy while boosting<br />
trust in transactions. Furthermore, <strong>digital</strong><br />
wallets developed by different service<br />
providers would be interoperable and<br />
work seamlessly for both organisations<br />
NORWAY<br />
Coop Norway<br />
reduces food waste<br />
through partnership<br />
with Too Good to Go<br />
Retailer Coop Norway says it has<br />
distributed 550,000 bags of surplus food<br />
using the mobile app Too Good to Go.<br />
The co-op began rollout of the initiative<br />
in autumn 2021, enabling customers<br />
to buy food items cheaply that would<br />
otherwise be thrown away. It is part of the<br />
retailer’s plans to reduce food waste by<br />
30% by 2025.<br />
“It has quickly become a very popular<br />
offer among our customers, and it feels<br />
good to know that the goods are being<br />
sold and eaten,” said Håvard Jensen,<br />
director of Chains at Coop Norge.<br />
“Our customers, who are also our coowners,<br />
are concerned with sustainability<br />
and are becoming increasingly aware of<br />
throwing away less food.”<br />
Jensen described how the collaboration<br />
with Too Good To Go is expected to<br />
reduce the co-operative’s food waste by<br />
approximately 6% in <strong>2022</strong>. “This is just<br />
one of several important steps on the<br />
way to our vision for zero food waste,”<br />
he added.<br />
Image: GettyImages<br />
and individuals. Users would also be able<br />
to manage their own data and decide what<br />
information they share about themselves<br />
with different parties.<br />
“We are very happy to have received<br />
this government grant, which allows us to<br />
Near the shop’s closing time the leftover<br />
food is packaged by Coop Norway<br />
staff in surprise bags and made available<br />
in the Too Good To Go app. Customers can<br />
then buy the bags for around one third of<br />
the full price.<br />
“The customers appreciate that they<br />
can get a full range of groceries. A bag can<br />
contain baked goods, fruit and vegetables,<br />
fish and meat, dry goods, cold cuts and<br />
dairy products that we are not allowed to<br />
sell at full price due to shelf life, cosmetic<br />
defects or the like,” said store manager<br />
Joakim Nilsen for Extra Iseveien in<br />
Sarpsborg, the Coop Norway grocery store<br />
to have sold the most bags through Too<br />
Good To Go.<br />
All 804 Coop Norway stores have a<br />
profile on the Too Good To Go app.<br />
A social enterprise, Too Good to Go<br />
was founded in Denmark at the end of<br />
2015 by a group of friends seeking to<br />
reduce food waste. Since then a number<br />
of co-operative retailers have joined the<br />
initiative, including the Southern Cooperative,<br />
the Midcounties Co-operative,<br />
the Central England Co-operative and the<br />
Heart of England Co-operative in the UK,<br />
Coop Netherlands, the Dill Pickle Food<br />
Co-op in Chicago and Coop Denmark.<br />
“Together with our app users, the Coop<br />
[Norway] stores make a big effort to ensure<br />
continue our long-term work with public<br />
and private sector actors and build a trust<br />
network covering all of society,” said<br />
Markus Hautala, chair of Findynet and<br />
head of <strong>digital</strong> identity at Tietoevry.<br />
Findynet is a co-operative of nine<br />
public and private sector organisations:<br />
Kela, Posti, Tietoevry, OP group, Nixu,<br />
Nordea, Vastuu Group, Finanssiala<br />
and Technology Industry. Its customers<br />
are public and private sector service<br />
providers that utilise the network and<br />
provide <strong>digital</strong> wallet services to end<br />
customers.<br />
The self-governing identity network<br />
would also be compatible with the EU’s<br />
eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014,<br />
which regulates cross-border electronic<br />
identification and electronic trust<br />
services. eIDAS is being amended to<br />
regulate European wallet applications.<br />
p Customers can buy the bags for around one<br />
third of the full price (Image: Coop Norway)<br />
that the food they have left at the end of<br />
the day is eaten and does not end up as<br />
waste”, said Johan Ingemarsson, general<br />
manager of Too Good To Go.<br />
“The environmental benefit of the<br />
550,000 bags of surplus food saved so<br />
far corresponds to 1,375 tonnes of CO2<br />
equivalents. With this, we have saved the<br />
world from emissions equivalent to flying<br />
271 times around the world.<br />
16 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>