Digital skills partner community of Latvian regions | Digital Skills and Jobs Platform

The Digital Skills Community of Latvia’s regions was established in early 2022 with the objective of promoting up- and re-skilling initiatives to upgrade citizens' digital competence, regardless of the region they live and work in. Another goal is to accelerate the digital transformation of Latvian economy and society and support innovation for public and private actors (municipalities, public bodies and institutions, companies, associations, etc).

A digital skills community for Latvian regions

The main task of the Latvian Community is to monitor the digital transformation ecosystem in Latvia, and ensure no region is left behind. This includes cooperation with a wide range of actors and support to the services they offer, including: curricula, digital solutions, products and services. The community is also engaged in a variety of projects with a focus on digital, and set up digital trainings for citizens and the labour force on all levels (from basic to more advanced).

The community is comprised of key actors and organizations in the digital sphere in Latvia. They meet every month to plan and discuss upcoming activities - whether these are organized separately or as a result of a collaboration between several entities. Research and analysis on the latest trend in the area of digital skills and jobs are key to the knowledge base of the community, and background work conducted regularly.

Representatives of these organisations meet on a monthly basis to discuss the various activities planned, both individually and in cooperation with each other. Community stakeholders consider that research and analysis of digital skills is an essential prerequisite. This information can help the community to better understand digital skills needs and develop appropriate measures at both regional and national level.

Regional digital hubs most active in the Community

The community brings together regional hubs from all over Latvia, active in the promotion of digital skills. Some hubs stand out as more engaged, bringing results and added value. For example, Cēsu Digital Centre plays a key role in lifelong learning and digital training, whereas associations like the Digital Innovation Park bring together ICT professionals in a cluster. The Sigulda Technology Education Centre provides high-quality education services with a focus on engineering subjects, whereas the Kuldīga Digital Innovation Centre is a central smart technology hub, constantly looking for new talent. Ventspils Digital Centre has a more active role in e-governance actions. Finally, the Zemgale Human Resource and Competence Development Centre focuses on vocational education and training. The latter is also the largest, state-of-the-art centre for adult education in Latvia - both in terms of technical and human resources, but also in the context of the wide variety of educational offer.

European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs)

The network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) is part of the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union. EDIHs help to foster the digital transformation of businesses, i.e. the uptake of digital technologies by businesses, public administrations, and in general aim to improve citizens’ digital skills (with a focus on advanced digital skills). Such hubs operate in all EU Member States, so Latvia is also included in the overall European digital technology ecosystem. Two organizations have been granted EDIH status in Latvia - The Latvian IT cluster and the Latvian Digital Accelerator.

A digital maturity assessment is available for entrepreneurs interested in receiving EDIH support to give life to innovative ideas. The aim is to assess the digital maturity of a company and provide support to companies for the digital transformation of a business process or organization (or to public authorities that may require guidance in managing their digital transformation in a safe and secure way).

Why is this a good practice?

The network of hubs on regional level is based on the success of the larger European network of hubs. Within Latvia, the hubs have facilitated more than 30 local, regional, and international projects, supporting the digital development of Latvian businesses, encouraging the design of innovative IT solutions, and strengthening collaboration between all actors in the community: businesses, universities, associations and organizations.

The European Digital Innovation Hub offers a range of success stories in Latvia, like:

Liko-R, a Latvian optics company that helped developed the first spectacle lens laboratory in the Baltics that digitalised its processes in order to respond to individual customers in the best possible way and launched a real-time, online tracking process for customers' glasses.
LV Timber, a Latvian woodworking company had to bring digitalisation in its processes to remain competitive. The story mentions that while the digitalisation was both 'forced' and 'voluntary', the benefits are clear: better results, faster delivery, product optimisation and time gains.
Livette's Wallpaper is a Latvian company that specialises in produces digitally printed wallpapers, offering both classic and self-adhesive ones that mostly go out to international clients located in the US. It recently acquired a new Canon-developed printing machine through a grant via the Latvian DIH, helping speed up operations and jump several stages of the traditional manufacturing process.

The Latvian Community has successfully demonstrated a sound understanding of the digital skills landscape in Latvia, and has a good amount of projects and joint initiatives behind its back. As a central point for reference in education, its members exchange knowledge, share teaching methodologies, learning resources and teaching materials.

The digital skills community of Latvian regions is an important resource for the development of digital skills in Latvia. Its sustainability depends on participants’ willingness to cooperate in sharing available resources and to invest in its development. By co-designing and implementing effective measures, the community can contribute to the growth of society’s digital skills, as well as to the digital transformation of Latvian businesses and the public sector. The sustainability and relevance of the initiative are highlighted in the list of partner organisations and public bodies presented below. Representatives of various organisations and institutions, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development,Ministry of Education and Science, European Digital Innovation Hub, Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association, Cēsu Digital Centre, Zemgale Region Human Resource and Competence Development Centre, Ventspils Digital Centre, Sigulda Technology Education Centre, Kuldīga Digital Innovation Centre, Digital Innovation Park and other stakeholders from across Latvia participate actively in the Community.