On Wednesday, 5 April, at 14.00, Riga Castle will host a discussion on digital transformation in Latvia "A well-governed and citizen-friendly digital Latvia".
Digital change is affecting every aspect of life. Technology affects health, education, culture, and road transport - it affects every sphere. It is entering both large and small businesses. And the debate on how to build a digital state that is citizen-friendly and efficient has been going on for as long as the advent and uptake of technology itself.
Against the background of Europe and the world, Latvia's public administration has been digitised relatively smoothly and successfully. In Latvia, most public services and information are also available in digital form.
However, digital transformation is not only about transferring documents into electronic format. It should also include changes in policy and governance, cooperation between public authorities and with the private sector, citizen-centred services, data accessibility and protection of private data, innovation, and new solutions.
How purposeful and successful have digital transformations been in Latvia? What obstacles need to be overcome for a digital Latvia to be citizen-friendly and efficient? Are the opportunities of digitalisation being fully exploited to contribute to Latvia's economic transformation? Is the country's digital transformation being managed successfully and in a coordinated way?
These and other issues will be discussed together with President Levits by Minister of Environmental protection and regional development Māris Sprindžuks, Deputy Director of the Strategy Department of the Ministry of Finance Kristīne Ancāne, Auditor General Rolands Irklis, Head of the Data and digital transformation work group of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia Edvīns Elferts, Head of the Riga TechGirls Anna Andersone, Head of SIA Mobilly Ģirts Slaviņš, Director of the Rural support service Ģirts Krūmiņš, Acting Director of Riga Digital agency Āris Dzērvāns, and Emīls Sjundjukovs, Co-founder and Chief technology officer of Longenesis.
The discussion is moderated by Ieva Ilves, Advisor to the President of Latvia on Information space and digital policy, and Inese Vaivare, Director of the Latvian Platform for Development cooperation.
The discussion will be live-streamed on Presidential Chancery webpage www.president.lv and President Levits’ social media pages YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.