Skip navigation

People of Finavia: The data team produces information to support decision-making

Article published
12.8.2022 at 09:12
Mika Hirvaskari potretti
People & Aviation
Service Manager Mika Hirvaskari from Finavia’s Data team is a holder of an M.Sc. in Economics whose IT competencies have developed as his job description has changed. Mika’s expertise helps Finavia make use of data in day-to-day work and to support decision-making.

“I joined Finavia in 2015 as a Business Controller in the Finance department. I was hired as a substitute for an employee who went on parental leave, and the job description was very interesting. It concerned the development of parking and reporting at Finavia’s regional airports. Today, I am a Service Manager on the Data team in Finavia’s IT unit. I’m responsible for analytics, business intelligence (BI) and integration services.

Analytics and BI enable us to establish a cross-section of Finavia’s various business functions based on data collected from their respective operating environments. Depending on the purpose, we can harness data to help with day-to-day work, predict future developments, or consider various scenarios that support decision-making. My other area of responsibility, integration services, is necessary for integrating data sourced from various system so it can be used for analytics and BI.

I have a master’s degree in economics. The transition from finance to the IT unit happened was a natural progression. As Finavia became increasingly interested in data and the opportunities it presents, my job description evolved in the corresponding direction. When an Analytics & BI team was established under our IT unit, our CIO at the time asked me to be part of it. I’ve been part of the team since the beginning, developing services and acquiring the necessary environments and technologies.

IT has grown increasingly significant in Finavia’s operations over the past few years. We are closely involved with all development efforts in which data plays a role. We serve as a partner and facilitator for Finavia’s various business functions in different aspects of IT.

My job is a nice mix of finance and IT. In addition to handling duties related to data and IT, I get to take advantage of my background in business and economics, as I am also responsible for the budgeting, forecasting and invoicing of services. It is important for me to see the big picture and understand the current situation and development of the service areas I am responsible for. For in-depth technical expertise, we rely on Finavia’s in-house solutions architects and specialists as well as our external partners. We have highly competent people here at Finavia. They understand what the aviation business involves, and their extensive experience enables them to share their expertise.

It is very rewarding to know that our services and systems run smoothly around the clock wherever Finavia serves passengers. At the same time, the complexity of the systems makes our work challenging. In particular, our integration system plays such a significant role in our overall architecture that it needs to have not only a high level of usability but also excellent operational reliability and built-in predictability with regard to problems.

Finavia is a unique workplace environment. There are not many jobs in Finland that deal with aviation. I like the fact that responsibility and freedom go hand in hand in my work. Flexible working hours give me a degree of control over my calendar, which means I can manage my daily life more effectively.

I also really appreciate the workplace community at Finavia. We all work together towards a common goal, and we can rely on the supervisors’ support. Finavia looks after the well-being of employees and organises events to help maintain well-being, even outside normal working hours. Finavia’s personnel events in the summer and winter are a good example of this. I urge everyone to participate if it fits