Expert discussion on the future of digital skills in Latvia
An online seminar on “The Future of Skills!” organized by the Digital Skills Partnership coordinator LIKTA (Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association) in cooperation with the EPALE National Support Centre of the Ministry of Education and Science took place on 12 October. Experts from the EPALE community, LIKTA, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Employers Confederation of Latvia, and CERT.LV shared the latest developments in the field of digital skills and their vision for the future.
The seminar brought together almost 300 stakeholders from all over Latvia involved in promoting digital skills, including adult educators, representatives of vocational education institutions, regional digital innovation hubs, employers, and employees. The seminar analyzed Latvia’s indicators and targets in the context of the 2023 report on the ‘State of the Digital Decade’. This report assesses the EU’s progress towards a successful digital transformation, as outlined in the 2030 European Digital Decade Policy Programme.
According to State Digital Decade report, Latvia's performance in terms of human capital is below the EU average, ranking 18th among the 27 EU countries. Latvia is slightly below the EU average for both basic and above-basic digital skills, with 51% of the population aged 16 to 74 having basic digital skills and 24% having above-basic digital skills, compared to the EU averages of 54% and 26% respectively. Latvia, with 64% of the population possessing at least basic digital content creation skills, is close to the EU average of 66%.
According to the European Commission’s working document Cardinal points - Digital Decade, closing the digital skills gap remains one of Latvia’s main challenges in digitalization. Latvia is below the EU average in basic digital skills, with almost half of its population still lacking basic digital skills.
During the seminar, experts set objectives on how to improve Latvia’s digital skills situation for both employed individuals and all citizens:
- We will need to work smarter and longer! Healthier lives! Education opportunities for all need to be ensured!
- In future socio-economic development a greater role will be played by qualitative indicators such as education, professional qualifications, health, and well-being. Efforts should be made to reduce inequalities between population groups (Krumiņš, 2023).
- The content of professions changes
- Professional Development – the Everyday Reality for Adults and Employers.
- Introduction of new and enhanced learning content – the reality of educational institutions for older target groups.
- “Survival” kit
- Vocational education or higher education (priority – STEM).
- Continue professional development, lifelong learning of skills and knowledge. Both technical and general skills!
- Health and safety at work can be cared for.
To promote faster development of digital skills in Latvia, enhancing the quality of curricula and fostering cooperation between digital skills implementers and policymakers is crucial. Key initiatives include:
- Use of European Digital Skills Frameworks for the development of digital skills.
- Assessment/profiling of the initial skills level and involvement in the curricula of the appropriate level/content.
- Reusing and scaling of existing resource methodologies and materials.
- Certification of digital skills for the recognition of levels of digital skills and competences.
- Reskilling and upskilling.
- Microcredit system for the recognition and validation of individual competences, modules, individual learning accounts.
Therecording of the seminar is available on LIKTA Facebook page, EPALE Latvia Facebook page and on the Youtube channel.
The online seminar was organized as part of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ project “EPALE National Support Service” (European Commission Grant Contract No 101074777 – EPLE NSS LV) and European Commission Order No 2020-LV-IA-0217 “European Platform for Digital Skills and Jobs in Latvia” implemented by LIKTA.
