Available funding in Lithuania
Background information
Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in form of loans, grants and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026, most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of the Lithuanian National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.
Recovery and resilience facility
The Recovery and resilience plan of Lithuania supports the digital transition with reforms and investments totalling €73 million in connectivity to advance the implementation of very high-capacity networks, such as 5G and fibre infrastructure, in rural and remote areas. The plan also includes substantial reforms and investments to digitalize the public sector (€117 million), promote digital literacy among students, employees, civil servants, and senior citizens, and address the labour market shortage of IT professionals. In addition, the plan includes reforms and investments in the private sector's adoption of advanced digital technologies, particularly in the areas of science-business cooperation for innovative technologies and the digitalization of the cultural sector. In particular, the plan invests 117 million euros in the development of innovative tools, including those tailored to the Lithuanian language, enabling universal access to digital resources and allowing scientific and business communities to develop innovative technologies, services, and products.
KURSUOK is a national one-stop-shop adult education platform where people can choose the training they need and which is relevant to their national priorities, and receive up to €500 in total funding. KURSUOK aims to encourage adults to develop their general and professional competences, to contribute to the promotion of a culture of lifelong learning in society, and to enable people who want to learn to apply for public funding.
The KURSUOK platform offers a wide range of training providers - from arts to technology training programmes. The key priority area of strengthening digital competences receives 50% of the €5.4 million total budget for this year.
More than 4,000 people have already completed training on the national adult education platform, which was launched at the beginning 2024, and almost as many adults have registered for various training courses funded by the state according to identified priority areas.
The funding for the learning programmes comes from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the State Budget of the Republic of Lithuania. The funding and administration of the Learning Programmes is the responsibility of the European Social Fund Agency (ESFA). In 2024, the total budget for learning programmes funding is €5.4 million. Up to €12 million is planned to be made available by spring 2026.
Transformation of public information technology governance initiative with €95 million grant, will enable all budgetary institutions to migrate their IT systems to a new cloud-based information and communication technology infrastructure that is managed centrally. By 2026, 325 institutions will have access to consolidated, safer, and more efficient IT services.
Digital Education Transformation “EdTech” purpose is to promote the adoption of digital educational innovations in schools and enhance the digital skills of educators. The initiative encompasses the development of digital teaching tools, the digitization of instructional content, and the acquisition of equipment for distance and hybrid learning. A network of educator innovators and a testing environment for digital educational innovations will be established. By providing opportunities for pedagogues to obtain a master's degree in IT, digital pedagogical competencies will be enhanced. The initiative, led by the National Education Agency in collaboration with institutions of higher education, began in 2022 and will conclude in 2024.
National Funding
The website esinvesticijos.lt is important platform for information about EU investments, providing potential applicants, project promoters, partners and other public groups with all the detailed information about EU investments in one place. Website is currently mostly focused on potential applicants, constantly updating information about the ministries' plans to publish calls for proposals for project implementation plans, and all other information needed by applicants: legal acts, forms, methodological materials. The website also publishes information about funding sources and opportunities, implemented projects, their executors, the amount of funding provided, winners of public procurements, project results, and a calendar of events.
On Projects subpage are published information about projects for which EU investment programs and "New Generation Lithuania" plan funds are allocated. On that page you may find data on funding for projects, their implementation period, project executors and partners, with information updated once a month.
Other funding options
Next Generation Internet (NGI Search), a project co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe, has the objective to fund projects that will develop technologies and solutions centred on internet and web related activities as well as privacy and trust for users who are searching and discovering information and resources on the internet/web.
Different funding options are also available on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, you may find a listing for Lithuania on this link.
