In the 1990s, Finland has moved swiftly from economic dependence on the forest industry into one of Europe's leading high-tech economies. This Helsinki Session of the International Statistical Institute, to be opened today, will also bring the Sessions of the ISI fully to the Internet era. I hope this Session will give you all a positive picture of our know-how in information technology. The high quality infrastructure of information technology offers a good basis for developing the information society in Finland. Statistical and computer sciences have become an important tool for utilising information technology and other fields of technology, too.
Statistical science provides a means for managing uncertainty.
It also offers ways for seeking the relevant and essential information. In co-operation with applied sciences, statistical science helps to find significant universally applicable solutions to the problems of people, businesses and nations alike. The importance of statistics has also continued to grow in the economic, social and political life. Statistical science has a specific role from the point of national statistical institutes. The independence of statistics production has to be safeguarded with high professional expertise and methods approved by the world of science.