On 9 February, Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association (LIKTA) met with the Latvian regional digital centers during a digital skills knowledge sharing seminar. Representatives from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development and the Ministry of Education and Science also participated in the seminar.
LIKTA shared its experience and information about various digital skills activities and initiatives during the seminar:
Initiative “Smart Latvia” (Gudrā Latvija)
Smart Latvia is an initiative launched in 2019 by LIKTA, in cooperation with campaign partners, with the aim of promoting digital skills and fostering understanding of digital technologies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latvia and neighboring countries. The goal of the initiative is to support Latvian businesses in their digital transformation by providing easy-to-understand advice and solutions.
The Digital Maturity Test was developed during Phase 1 of the “Smart Latvia” initiative. Entrepreneurs can use the test to obtain an in-depth assessment of their company’s digital maturity level as well as that of their competitors in the industry and region. The test involves answering questions about the company’s internal and external processes. Upon completion, each respondent receives recommendations for IT solutions that can help their company work more efficiently.
Latvian Digital Skills Partnership Platform
The Digital Skills Partnership in Latvia is an initiative in which representatives from the public sector, the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry, and non-governmental organizations have agreed to work together to promote the development of e-skills in Latvia. This partnership aims to support sustained economic growth, personal development for citizens, and the creation of an active civil society in Latvia.
As of January 2022, the Latvian Digital Skills Partnership Platform has been made available to the public. The platform serves as a centralized hub for digital skills resources that are developed by partners such as digital training centers, ICT industry companies, and state and local government organizations in Latvia. It also provides information about current developments in Latvia and Europe related to digital skills. The platform is regularly updated with new content, and there is an exchange of integrated content with the European Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.
The Women4IT training program was implemented in Latvia by LIKTA in cooperation with the State Employment Agency (NVA) to encourage young women who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) to participate in training and pursue digital careers. The program aims to promote competitiveness and employment in Latvia by involving young women in the ICT sector and digital jobs.
The mission of the Women4IT project is to teach digital competencies to young women who are at risk of being excluded from the labor market, with the goal of improving their employability and reducing the impact of the digital skills gap on the European labor market.
In the project web page there are more than 300 open educational resources (OER) available in English and other European languages and they are regularly updated. OER can be filtered by:
- Languages
- Job profile
- Type of the resource
- DigComp Competence
The activities were implemented in Latvia as part of the International Partnership project “Women4IT” – “YOUNG-ICT WOMEN: Innovative Solutions to increase the numbers of EU vulnerable girls and young women into the digital agenda” (No 2017-1-094) supported from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. The aim of the project is to increase the numbers of EU vulnerable girls and young women into the digital agenda.
The European Digital Week will be organized in cooperation with Latvia’s Digital Skills Partnership partners and will take place from April 24 to April 28 this year. The Digital Week in Latvia is part of the European Year of Skills and the ALL Digital Weeks 2023 and will be held in Latvia for the 14th time.
This year’s Digital Week will have the following thematic days:
- 24 April – Opening Day of Digital Week;
- 25 April – Digital tools and skills for entrepreneurs;
- 26 April – Digital Security Day;
- 27 April – Digital skills for education;
- 28 April – Media skills and digital resources.
Partners have the opportunity to engage in the planning and implementation of the Digital Week 2023 events.
The seminar participants were presented with a range of tools and opportunities that can be utilized in planning digitalization processes. Representatives from the Zemgale Region Competence Development Centre, the Ventspils Digital Centre, the Kuldīga Digital Innovation Centre, the Cēsis Digital Centre, the Latvian Digital accelerator/EDIC Latvia, the Digital Innovation Park, the Liepaja Municipal Education department and other stakeholders were actively involved in the discussions.
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