Local coalition for e-skills and jobs in

LatviaMara Jakobsone, Dr. Oec.

Vice-PresidentLatvian Information and Communications

Technology Association

Media literacy for the 21st centuryCROATIA, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

My country – LATVIA

Inhabitants – 2 070 371 Territory – 64.569 sq. km498 km of wonderful sea border- sand beachesAge structure of population :

<14 – 14.2%15-61 – 64.1%>62 – 21.7%

No.1 fastest Internet in Europe, Nr. 4 – in the worldLeader in the use of social networks – 75 % citizens have used social media in last month (28 % above EU average ) The country which has it FB page with 37 125 followers and 49 999 759 likes

About LIKTA

LIKTA – Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (established in 1998)

NGO which holds charity status and licence of education institution

A professional association representing the ICT industry and ICT professionals

LIKTA unites more than 220 members:Over 100 organizations of ICT industry, research and educational institutionsIndividual members (ICT professionals) and other associations

LIKTA is an active member of Pan-European associations:

Telecentre Europe associationCEPIS – Council of European Professional Informatics SocietiesECDL – European Computer Driving License Foundation

LIKTA working groups

Education ( ICT Professional, ECDL, Digital literacy)Electronic identificationE-commerceIPR, copyright leviesTelecommunications, regulationIT project management best practice, public procurementCyber securityDevelopment of Information society guidelines 2014-2020Public relations and marketing

LIKTA Charter – ICT for better livingThe aim of the Charter is to define clear and measurable objectives for smart ICT integration and development of information society in Latvia that translate into 6 priority areas to be implemented over a 5-year period

Well-equipped e-citizen

Smart e-citizen

Most advanced e-government in Europe

Competitive business environment

Active ageing

Easy accessible culture heritage

PARTNERSHIP IS A KEY!

Local coalition for e-skills and jobs established at the opening of Get Online Week 2013 in LatviaBy signing the memorandum, government, non-governmental organizations and entrepreneurs agreed to cooperate in four main areas:

ICT training for the labour market needs;Youth involvement in ICT;Modern and interactive learning process;Awareness raising about the importance of digital and media literacy.

LOCAL COALITION FOR E-SKILLS AND JOBS IN LATVIA

Memorandum of cooperation on “E-skills partnership” have been signed by LIKTA, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Welfare, Latvian Chamber of Commerce, Latvian Open Technology Association and Latvian Internet Association

Some examples of local coalition projects

ICT training for micro and small enterprisesPartnering : LIKTA, Ministry of Economy, State

development agency, State register of Enterprises, Swedbank Latvia, Microsoft Latvia, several IT and e-commerce companies , Regional municipalities

Finances : ESF , ICT industry in-kind supportYouth project – My future work with IT

Partnering : LIKTA, Library network, State employment agency network, regional schools and regional ITC trauning centres. Supported by Microsoft, Infogr.am and other ICT companies.

Finances: MicrosoftAnnual IT award : “ Platinum Mouse “

Partnering : LIKTA, Ministry of Education, regional municipalities, Ministry of regional development and government , ICT and business mass media

SME SECTOR IN LATVIA

Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia 2013

ICT USE IN SME SECTOR13.7% of Latvia’s SMEs are using computer network for on-line purchases (EU – 18.6%)8.8% of Latvia’s SMEs are using computer networks for sales on-line (EU – 12.4%)11.3% of Latvia’s enterprises are using CRM software (EU – 17%)More than 33% of workers in Latvia judge their current ICT skills insufficient for changing job within a year (EU – 20.6%)

Source: EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2012

ICT TRAINING FOR MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES

Project is carried out by LIKTA in cooperation with Latvian State Investment and Development agencyTotal value of the project is over 1.95 MLN EURCo-financing from European Social fund – 80%In 3 years more than 6000 managers and employees of micro and small enterprises will receive ICT training, 16 different training programmes availableTraining takes place around Latvia in 10 regional cities, classroom training combined with advanced e-learning coursesUntil now there are 600 SMEs registered, in average every day we receive applications from 3 new SMEs! 1000 trainings completed

SME TRAINING PROGRAMMES

3 level training programs are offered for SMEs within the project:

1st level training – Digital Skills and ICT Solutions for the Facilitation of Competitiveness; 2nd level training – The Usage of ICT Tools for Developing SME Competitiveness and Development; 3rd level training – The Usage of ICT Solutions for Raising Business Effectiveness and the Development of Export.

MY FUTURE JOB WITH IT

LIKTA in cooperation with Microsoft Latvia in the framework of Microsoft YouthSpark initiative is organising ICT training of 1200 young people of age 16-24 in Latvia’s 3 remote regions :

Latgale region: Preili and Daugavpils;Zemgale region: Jekabpils, Aizkraukle and Jelgava;Kurzeme region: Ventspils and Liepaja.

Project has been launched during Get online week 2013 opening event in Riga, March 18Training is modular:

Microsoft Office 365,WEB site and banner development,digital presentation tools – data visualisation using Infogr.am

Where Latvia is global leader in ICT?

Young people learn how to use the tool to create visualisation for their •Education process•Interest groups•Small business

Some examples : http://infogr.am/XV-Deju-svtki-un-lieluzvedums-Tvu-laipas/

http://infogr.am/world-of-beer-214

SUPPORTING YOUTH AND NEW TALENTS

ICT Career days in the framework of Get Online week 2013:

More than 300 students took part,13 ICT organizations hosted ICT Career day in Latvia,Programmers, software testers, customer support specialists, high level managers and other specialities

LIKTA and ICT industry companies have supported Latvian programmer team participation in the Baltic Olympiad in Informatics 2013 in Rostock, Germany:

All 6 participants from Latvia received medals including the gold,

Next step – the International Olympiad in Informatics in Brisbane, Australia, 6-13 July 2013:

Latvian team received one silver and 2 bronze medals demonstrating the best results from the Baltic states!The team was welcomed by Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, the Minister of Education and Science of Latvija

E-Facilitators

During the annual LIKTA conference 2012 Latvian Annual ICT Prize Platinum Mouse has been presented:

For the first time the best E-teachers have been welcomed,Out of 29 applicants 5 finalists were selected

Awards announced in 2 categories Best teacher of ICT ( formal education system )

Best e-facilitator ( adult audience )

National partnership of e-skills in Latvia : next steps

Activity plan for 2014-2020 Linked with next EU financial planning periodMapping activities to financial sources available form : EU funds, State budget , Industry support and other donors

Detailed projects and incentives for 2013-2014:

Youth guarantee fundICT carrier daysE-skills week 2014And much more …