The Law
\nClinic offers legal advice on digitalization to built environment innovators
\nand experimenters and in the process helps lawmakers find the pain points in
\nlegislation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In April The The ministry chose Lexia Attorneys<\/a>, a Finnish law firm, to provide the services. Lawyer Aleksi Lund\u00e9n<\/strong> leads the project.<\/p>\n \u201cLawmakers Lund\u00e9n has an The Law The clinic Lexia has The When The Law Digital Many people A The Law \u201cIn my
\n2018 the Finnish Ministry of the Environment launched an experimental legal
\nservice for real estate and construction professionals, municipalities, and
\nlawmakers.<\/p>\n
\ncost-free service is like a helpdesk for anyone who has questions about real
\nestate and construction laws and regulations and their interpretation as it
\napplies to new digital processes. The Law Clinic is part of the national
\nKIRA-digi project, which includes 138 experiments, many of which need legal
\nadvice for their execution.<\/p>\nA Unique Concept<\/h2>\n
![\"Aleksi-Lunden\"](\"https:\/\/aec-business.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Aleksi-Lunden.jpg\")
\ndon\u2019t necessarily understand the practical challenges that built environment
\nstakeholders face when digitalizing the industry,\u201d Lund\u00e9n explains.
\n\u201cThis new channel for inquiring about legislation and giving feedback to
\nlawmakers has proven its value already.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nextensive international network, but he has not heard about a similar service being
\noffered elsewhere. The clinic was showcased at the World Summit on Digital
\nBuilt Environment WDBE in September in Helsinki where it prompted discussion
\namong local and international attendees alike.<\/p>\nRunning the Clinic<\/h2>\n
\nClinic collects and analyzes information on legal problems and identifies laws
\nthat may slow down or impede digitalization in the built environment. It
\nreports back its findings to the Ministry of the Environment. The clinic runs
\nuntil the end of 2018, and Lexia will publish the results of the experiment at lakiklinikka.fi<\/a> in February 2019.<\/p>\n
\nhas a hotline on which anyone can share problems and ask for legal guidance.
\n\u201cIt has been a bit of a challenge to attract users,\u201d Lund\u00e9n admits.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve promoted the clinic at several events and contacted KIRA-digi
\nexperimenters directly. Those who have contacted the clinic have found it
\nhelpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\norganized two roundtable discussions about the legal challenges of
\ndigitalization. The attendees represented a cross-section of businesses,
\nmunicipalities, and governments.<\/p>\n
\nroundtable discussions have been lively and rewarding. They have signaled a
\nneed for legislative agility. Technology develops at an accelerating speed, but
\nlaws live in the past.<\/p>\nMany Opportunities for
\nImprovement<\/h2>\n
\ncompanies develop new business models that make use of digital technologies, many
\nquestions about legal issues naturally arise. For example, a Finnish online
\nself-service real estate agency did not employ traditional human agents, which
\ncontravened the current law.<\/p>\n
\nClinic has already outlined a host of legal questions needing a solution. These
\nquestions relate to city planning, public procurement, IPRs, open data, real
\nestate agencies, privacy, the GDPR, and other matters.<\/p>\n
\ndesign processes also need new rules. Who owns the BIM data and who can use it
\nafter project completion?<\/p>\n
\nhave suggested that the number of regulations should be radically reduced. Others
\nwant more regulations that would boost digitalization. For example, making IoT
\nsensors mandatory in public buildings would improve the control of energy use
\nand indoor air quality.<\/p>\n
\ndigitalized city planning process would speed up digitalization and provide
\neasy access to land use information to anyone interested. Municipalities are at
\ndifferent levels of digital preparedness, which makes it difficult to
\naccomplish this all over the country at once.<\/p>\nA Learning Process Leading
\ninto the Future<\/h2>\n
\nClinic has improved Lexia\u2019s understanding of the impact of digitalization on
\nbuilt environment businesses. The company also gained insight into service
\ndesign while developing the clinic, and Lexia wants to be active in the
\ntransformation of the real estate and construction industries.<\/p>\n
\npractice as a real estate and construction lawyer, I have kept an eye on the
\ndigitalization of the industry for years. I would say that now there\u2019s real
\nmomentum for change,\u201d Lund\u00e9n claims. \u201cThe KIRA-digi project ends this
\nyear, but I think we\u2019re only at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n