AI and Information Systems in Humanitarian Contexts: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Refugee Management in Finland

The project’s findings have contributed to major and highly impactful international conferences in the Information Systems field ICIS December 14–17, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee (United States of America), of the Association for Information Systems. At ICIS, we presented two papers that advance research on information systems in the humanitarian context. 

“Beyond Access: Rethinking Refugee Integration through Information Systems” examined how information systems mediate access to essential services, identifying critical gaps in interoperability, language accessibility, and emotional responsiveness across digital and administrative boundaries.  

(Available on AIS eLibrary:  https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/public_is/public_is/8/ and LUTPub: https://lutpub.lut.fi/handle/10024/171205) 

“Toward Trauma-Informed Information Systems: Challenges and Opportunities in Supporting Refugee Integration in Finland” theorized how trauma-related barriers influence refugees’ digital engagement and offered practical recommendations for more equitable, emotionally informed system development.  

(Available on AIS eLibrary:  https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/is_good/is_good/5/ and LUTPub: https://lutpub.lut.fi/handle/10024/171204) 

This conference enabled us to share Finland-focused insights with a global information systems community and contribute to shaping more just and inclusive socio-technical infrastructures. We extend digital divide theory by incorporating a trauma-informed design that centers on users' psychological readiness and socio-institutional context. We empirically contextualize refugee-system interactions within Finland’s highly digitized public sector, highlighting both administrative efficiencies and lived frictions. We offer implications for trauma-informed, participatory, and socially responsive IS that support integration without retraumatization or exclusion. 

Australaisian Conference of Information System https://acis.aaisnet.org/ Australia, Brisbane 01-06.12.2025 

Our participation highlighted the intersection of migration studies and information systems research, with a particular focus on inclusion and exclusion, accessibility, ethics of digitalization, and the role of AI. In addition, we took part in the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), engaging with a global research community to discuss responsible, human-centered digital solutions for public services and socially vulnerable groups. We presented our paper on ‘Human-Centered AI for Refugee Integration’ at the 36th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, where project insights engaged international peers around inclusive digital innovation for social and humanitarian impact. 

ETMU 2025 Conference Helsinki University 

https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/etmu-conference-2025  

ETMU 2025 conference, organized by Trust-M at the University of Helsinki, explores the theme “Breaking (Digital) Barriers: Designing and Conceptualizing Technologies for Inclusive Societies.” We presented our research project. A huge thank you to the organising committee and the representatives from Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo. Your feedback, energy, and genuine support made the discussions truly meaningful. It’s encouraging to see the major cities working together toward a more inclusive digital future for everyone in Finland. Sharing insights across municipalities and communities is essential to ensuring timely, accessible, and equitable information for all. Feedback is particularly timely in Finland, the EU’s most digitized country, where important gaps remain in understanding the digital needs of minority populations, especially in health and integration services. 

HUMLOG Institute of Hanken University 

https://www.hanken.fi/en/departments-centres/department-marketing/research-center-humlog/about-us  

We presented our research at the research seminar of HUMLOG Institute at Hanken School of Economics. We appreciated all the team for their timely and important feedback.  

This research would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of the Ukrainian refugees who chose to share their time, experiences, and deeply personal stories with us. We are profoundly grateful for their openness, courage, trust and unbelievable hope. Their honest and thoughtful conversations, often shaped by loss, uncertainty, and resilience, gave this project its true meaning. We sincerely wish each participant peace, stability, and hope in their future, wherever their path may lead. 

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the many organizations, professionals, and volunteers across Finland who work tirelessly to support refugees every day. Their patience, empathy, and unwavering commitment were evident in every interaction. The richness of the feedback they shared, before, during, and long after the interviews, went far beyond formal participation. Their reflections, critical insights, and lived expertise shaped this research in ways that no theory alone ever could. We are deeply thankful for their time, care, and the trust they placed in this collaboration. 

We express deeply our sincere appreciation to the Research Council of Finland for the opportunity to recognize the importance of research that addresses humanitarian challenges through responsible and human-centred uses of AI and information systems in the most highly digital country of Europe. This support enables us to engage with a topic that is not only timely, but profoundly important, one that speaks to dignity, inclusion, and the role of information systems in supporting people during the most vulnerable moments of their lives.