Innovation: Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA)

Latvia

AAI Domains:

• Employment (employability)

• Independent, healthy and secure living (lifelong learning)

• Capacity and enabling environment (use of ICT)

The increased use of ICT in ever more parts of daily life means that it is important that any digital divides between young and old or rich and poor people do not become permanent features of society. ICT is also one of the key drivers of economic performance and needs to be harnessed in a socially inclusive fashion to create good quality jobs that will contribute to national income and individual well-being. There are many ways that ICT already contributes to active ageing, through telecare and telehealth, but it is vital that the social dimension of how people of all ages engage with ICT is not forgotten and that innovative ways of engagement are developed.

The Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) is a non-governmental association that was established in 1998. It has charitable status, is a licensed educational institution that provides ICT training across Latvia and has more than 200 individual professional members and over 100 corporate members. It is active in pan-European work such as Telecentre Europe and the European Driving Licence Foundation.

In 2012 it drew up a Charter for ICT for Better Living with six priorities:

1. Well equipped e-citizen

2. Smart e-citizen

3. Most advanced e-government in Europe

4. Competitive business environment

5. Active ageing

6. Easily accessible cultural heritage

The commitment to active ageing is based on the promotion of technology as an instrument to improve quality of life in all fields and at any age, not only the principles of inclusive society would be developed in e-environment, but also the access and security of health care data would be ensured, as well as the opportunities for lifelong education. The annual Get Online week to encourage the wider use of the internet across all parts of Latvia is a major part of their work to promote ICT for all. While most of the participants during Get Online week are younger people, there are also a proportion of older people who take the opportunity to develop their ICT skills.

LIKTA also run several programmes to improve the economic performance of micro, small and medium sized enterprises through training courses for small business owners and employees. This innovative initiative is run in partnership with the Ministry of the Economy, the State Economic Development Agency along with Swedbank Latvia and Microsoft Latvia with financing from the European Social Fund and support in king from the IT industry. Another innovative programme is the My Future Work in IT project, a partnership initiative with the State employment agency network, schools and regional ICT training centres which encourages and promotes young people to train and re-train to work in the ICT industry.

In relation to active ageing, LIKTA is engaged with the promotion of the active ageing agenda through the use of ICT among people of all ages and developing innovative ways of improving quality of life. LIKTA’s work is directly relevant to the innovative use of ICT across Latvia and is also pertinent to lifelong learning and increasing employability in the industry. Promoting the widespread use of the internet across society can also contribute to building social connectedness for new users.

LIKTA website