Analytical Description of the Ecosystem of

Smart Specialization Area “Information and

Communication Technologies”

30 November 2015 Member of the Board of “Fidea” SIA

Gundars Kuļikovskis

2015

Table of Contents1 Overall Information of the Ecosystem Descriptions......................................................................4

1.1 Aim of the Smart Specialization Strategy..............................................................................4

1.2 Smart Specialization Strategy................................................................................................4

1.3 Definition of the Field of Ecosystem.....................................................................................4

1.4 Methodology..........................................................................................................................4

2 Regulatory Framework of the Ecosystem......................................................................................5

2.1 Standards of the ICT Sector...................................................................................................5

2.2 Laws and Regulations of the ICT Sector................................................................................5

3 Description of the Key Participants of the Area.............................................................................6

3.1 Educational Institutions.........................................................................................................6

3.2 ICT Enterprises and Companies of Other Sectors..................................................................8

3.3 Scientific Institutions.............................................................................................................9

3.4 Associations of the Area......................................................................................................10

3.5 Other Organizational Structures...........................................................................................12

3.6 Mutual Relations of the Participants Involved.....................................................................13

3.7 Graphical Representation of Participants of the Ecosystem.................................................14

4 Human Capital Available in the Area of Smart Specialization....................................................15

4.1 Number of Students.............................................................................................................15

4.2 Number of Employees in the Area.......................................................................................15

4.3 Employment of the ICT Sector in Research and Development (R&D)................................15

4.4 Scientific Employees of the ICT Business Sector................................................................16

4.5 Summary on Scientific Employees of the ICT Sector..........................................................18

5 Scientific Capacity and Cooperation Networks in the Smart Specialization Area.......................19

5.1 Results of the International Assessment of Scientific Institutions Working in the Area......20

6 Industry’s Competitiveness in the Smart Specialization Area.....................................................21

6.1 Sector Turnover in Accordance with the NACE Codes.......................................................21

6.2 Sectoral Export Performance...............................................................................................21

6.3 Sectoral Investments in R&D..............................................................................................21

6.4 Number of Innovative Companies in the ICT Sector and Their Innovation Index...............22

7 Goals of the Smart Specialization Area.......................................................................................23

7.1 Industry and Applied Research............................................................................................23

7.2 Ability to Conduct Research of Common Interest...............................................................24

7.3 Fundamental Research and Excellence................................................................................25

7.4 Smart Specialization Niches................................................................................................27

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8 Discussions..................................................................................................................................28

9 Reference Sources:......................................................................................................................28

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1 Overall Information of the Ecosystem Descriptions 1.1 Aim of the Smart Specialization Strategy Smart Specialization Strategy is aimed at the transformation of the national economy in order to build economic knowledge capacity by investing in research, innovation and events for their promotion. For building of economic knowledge capacity and efficient use of innovations, other conditions are also of importance. Other national development strategies and measures related to the Smart Specialization Strategy are prescribed for their implementation.

1.2 Smart Specialization StrategyTo focus limited resources for ensuring an increase in innovation capacity in the areas of knowledge, where the economy has the highest growth potential. Latvian Smart Specialization Strategy is a strategy for the transformation of the economy. It provides for building of the economic knowledge capacity, which leads to higher and sustainable productivity.

1.3 Definition of the Field of EcosystemThe smart specialization area includes all representatives of the industry, science and education, who create knowledge within the scope of the smart specialization area, to whom this knowledge is crucial for their ability to earn, as well as those who provide education based on this knowledge. Ecosystem is formed by the participants of the area, their relationships and transactions among them.

In this context, knowledge can be encoded, i.e. in the form of documents, it may be included in the technology or it may be uncoded, tacit knowledge, transferred in direct contact and through a discussion between the knowledge carriers or consumers.

Conditions directly influencing the participant – the market, financing, scale of the field of knowledge, the state aid instruments and the regulatory framework – are also addressed in the context of the ecosystem.

Information and communication technologies are a set of knowledge, methods, techniques and technical equipment, which ensures obtaining, storage and distribution of any information with the help of computer and communications means. Information technologies are tools used or created to address issues of interest to specialists of all sectors.

Information technology is defined as a branch of science, where studies are related to the applied aspects of information science and computer systems. Research objects of this field: collection, processing and use of information in physical systems in order to carry out their classification, description, analysis, design, manufacture, maintenance and management. The field deals with analysis and synthesis of the real system design and the ongoing of these systems, as well as creation of abstract, algorithmic and physical system models, technical implementation of applied systems, maintenance of these systems and development of management computer technologies, based on solutions to problems related to information and knowledge extraction, representation and processing, modelling and simulation, metrology, design, evaluation and selection of alternatives, optimization, decision-making, automatic control, computer management, training, adaptation, identification and diagnostics.

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1.4 MethodologyConsidering that the ecosystem is very extensive, only the part of the ecosystem, which is directly linked to knowledge and can be influenced via public intervention through research, development, innovation investment or support, is viewed and analysed in the context of smart specialization.

2 Regulatory Framework of the EcosystemICT sector is characterized by a rich and diverse regulatory framework, which can be divided into two main parts: standards and regulatory enactments.

2.1 Standards of the ICT SectorLatvian national standardisation body Latvian Standard is the institution responsible for standardisation matters in Latvia, whose goal is to organize the development of Latvian national standards.

The most important software engineering standard groups are as follows:

1) ISO/IEC 12207-2008 Systems and software engineering – Software life cycle processes;

2) ISO/IEC 27034  Information technology – Security techniques – Application security part 1-7;

3) ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119:2014. Software and systems engineering – Software testing, Part 1-5;

4) ISO 9001:2015. Quality management systems – Requirements;5) ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 – Information technology – Service management – Part 1-

5;6) ISO/IEC 25000:2014 Systems and software engineering – Systems and software

Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) (the standard contains 5 subgroups);

7) ISO 14915 . Software ergonomics for multimedia user interfaces;8) ISO 9241 . Ergonomics of human-system interaction.

Standards have also been developed to describe many other issues of the ICT sector. The catalogue of IEEE Standards Association presents more than 990 standards, while the ISO standard catalogue contains more than 159 standards with the keywords “software engineering” in the title. This means that the total volume of the industry standards is huge. It collects a basis of extensive and diversified knowledge that is characterised by specific conditions of use and skills.

Implementation and use of industry standards is voluntary. Use of standards becomes mandatory, when it is required by laws and regulations, contracts or other legal obligations. During development of specific projects, the contracting entity may require it as a mandatory condition for concluding the contract.  Mandatory compliance with standards is typical in cases, where orders of public authorities have to be fulfilled.

2.2 Laws and Regulations of the ICT SectorThere is a very complex situation with different legislative forms and their application in the IT industry. In general, it is governed by laws, Cabinet Regulations and orders, regulations of line ministries, as well as other types of regulatory documents.

Some of these regulations are directly related to the information technology industry, but most of them are regulations to be followed due to the type and application area of

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information systems. By origin, the regulatory enactments are related to the law of the Republic of Latvia, the EU and international law. In some matters, regulatory enactments can also affect the area of science.

Documents used more extensively in the field of ICT are the following:

Law on State Information Systems; Law On the Security of Information Technologies; Electronic Documents Law; Personal Data Protection Law; Cabinet Regulation No. 358 Procedures and Terms of Security Check of

Certification Service Provision Information Systems, Equipment and Procedures; Cabinet Regulation No. 357 Regulations on the Information to be Specified in the

Security Description of Certification Service Provision Information Systems, Equipment and Procedures;

National information and communication technology management organizational model;

Information Society Development Guidelines.

Related Cabinet Regulations:o Cabinet Regulation No. 421 of 19.06.2012 “Security Requirements for National

Information System Integrators and Integrated National Information Systems”;o Cabinet Regulation No. 71 of 24.01.2006 “Procedure of Monitoring of National

Information System Development Projects”;o Cabinet Regulation No. 765 of 11.10.2005 “General Security Requirements for

National Information Systems”;o Cabinet Regulation No. 764 of 11.10.2005 “General Technical Requirements for

National Information Systems”;o Cabinet Regulation No. 572 of 02.08.2005 “Rules of Registration of National

Information Systems”.

3 Description of the Key Participants of the AreaInformation technology industry is relatively new in terms of both science and technology, but it holds a different position among other sectors. It includes a set of knowledge, methods, techniques and technical equipment, which ensures obtaining, storage and distribution of any information with the help of computer and communications means. Consequently, information technologies are tools that are used or created to address issues of interest to specialists of all sectors. Thus, there is a wide and varied range of participants of smart specialization area “Information and Communication Technologies”, which can be divided into five subgroups: (1) Educational institutions, (2) ICT enterprises and companies of other sectors, (3) Scientific institutions, (4) Industry associations and (5) Other organizational structures.

3.1 Educational InstitutionsIn Latvia, higher education in the field of information technologies may be acquired in state-funded educational institutions, as well as a number of universities and colleges.

Information available in the National Educational Opportunities Database (http://www.niid.lv/ ) shows that, in the academic year 2015/2016, education in one of the information technology directions was offered by 25 educational institutions, implementing 90 programmes in total (Table 1).

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Table 1. Number of IT study programmes in the academic year 2015/2016Educational level Study programme NumberHigher education, including undergraduate studies 34First level professional study programmes 13Bachelor’s degree programmes 11Professional Bachelor’s degree programmes 10Professional development and courses 29Higher education highest level of studies 20Higher education doctoral studies 6Vocational education after primary education 1

Programmes are implemented by the following educational institutions:

Table 2. Educational institutions, where IT study programmes are implemented.No. Name of the educational institution Location1 University of Economics and Culture Riga2 ISMA University Riga3 Latvian Maritime Academy Riga4 University of Latvia Riga5 International Crewing Agents and Training Centre LAPA Ltd. Riga6 Novikontas Group Maritime Education & Training Riga7 Vocational Education Competence Centre “Riga Technical College” Riga8 Education and Information Services of Riga City Riga9 Riga Technical University Riga10 Limited Liability College “ALBERTA KOLEDŽA” (Alberta

College)Riga

11 Transport and Telecommunication Institute Riga12 Jekabpils Further Education and Information Technology Centre Jekabpils13 Daugavpils University Daugavpils14 Daugavpils branch of Vocational Education Competence Centre

“Riga Technical College”Daugavpils

15 Daugavpils branch of Riga Technical University Daugavpils16 Latgale branch of Transport and Telecommunication Institute Daugavpils17 Latvia University of Agriculture Jelgava18 Liepaja Maritime College Liepaja19 Liepaja University Liepaja20 Social Integration State Agency Jurmala21 Kuldiga Technology and Tourism Technical School Kuldiga district22 Priekuli branch of Vocational Education Competence Centre “Riga

Technical College”Priekuli district

23 Rezekne Higher Education Institution Rezekne24 Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences Valmiera25 Ventspils University College Ventspils

There are two reasons for including all educational institutions in the ranks of key participants of the smart specialization area of information and communication technologies:

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In the field of ICT, there is an acute shortage of and growing demand for employees of different levels of qualification in IT development and service provision, education and science;

Information technologies have a very important role in promoting sustainable development in various aspects, but especially in creation of the knowledge society. In order to provide the largest possible part of society with access to information and the skills to use it, all levels of IT education, including primary education, are very important.

Professional certification is an important form of education in the field of ICT. Internationally recognized certification examinations and tests have been developed in different fields, as well as forms of training and certification have been established and internationally recognized certification companies have been founded. It is possible to pass some of the said certifications in Latvia, while some of the internationally obtainable most popular certification fields in the IT sector are the following:

Certification of IT professionals – Adobe, Cisco, IMB, ITIL, Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, Testing, Linux, Lotus, and many other

Certification of IT users – ECDL basic, ECDL start, e-Citizen, ECDL Advanced, and Certiport.

Project management certification – PMP and others

Taking into account the diversity of the IT sector and the fact that it is virtually impossible to create two identical software development projects, it is impossible to create identical information technology study programmes in different educational institutions. Implementation of IT study programmes of the same level in several educational institutions should be supported, since it generally ensures training of industry specialists of a broader spectrum. Since ICT education institutions implement close cooperation with industry enterprises, educational institutions located in different areas expand the base of ICT enterprises to cooperate with and, consequently, the exchange of knowledge.

The most important features that allow assessing the usefulness of programmes are the presence of potential students, contribution of the IT programme to interdisciplinary problem solving, contribution of the programme to the areas of sustainable development, as well as sustainability of the programme (modifiability in accordance with the development of the sector).

3.2 ICT Enterprises and Companies of Other SectorsICT enterprises operating in Latvia vary in their size, scope of operations and form of property.

According to the data of the Central Statistical Bureau (Table 3), most of the Latvian ICT enterprises are small enterprises with less than 10 employees. In 2012, such enterprises constituted 93.5% of all ICT enterprises and the number is growing. In 2013, the total increase in the number of enterprises included this group only, which increased to 94.6% of the total number of enterprises.

According to the scope of activities, ICT manufacturing, ICT wholesale and ICT service provision are distinguished.

ICT services, in their turn, include software publishing; telecommunications; computer programming, consultations and related activities; data processing, maintenance and related

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activities, Web portals, as well as repairs of computers, computer peripheral equipment and communication equipment.

Table 3. Number of enterprises of the ICT sector2012 2013

Number of employees Total 0–9 10–49 50+ Total 0–910–49 50+

ICT sector – TOTAL 4390 4106 238 45 5064 4792 220 52..ICT manufacturing 96 77 13 5 99 84 10 6..ICT wholesale 506 465 36 5 521 471 45 5..ICT service provision 3788 3564 189 35 4444 4237 165 41….software publishing 24 23 1 0 24 23 1 0….telecommunications 486 432 43 11 550 502 38 11….computer programming, consultations and related activities 2232 2114 100 17 2684 2582 83 19….data processing, maintenance and related activities, Web portals 759 722 30 7 865 821 33 11….repairs of computers, peripheral equipment and communication equipment 287 272 15 0 320 309 11 0

Work in the field of information systems development and maintenance can be carried out by a public or private sector order, as well as domestic and foreign orders. These factors may also determine the nature and extent of accumulated experience and knowledge, which it is useful to transfer to educational institutions as a feedback.

Key players in the IT sector are also companies of other industries with their IT development and maintenance departments (for example, if Apdrošināšana). Typically, the most important ICT enterprises are subsidiaries of foreign companies (e.g. Exigen Services, Accenture Ltd. Visma Enterprise SIA), which partly work according to the parent company’s requirements and methods. These enterprises make a significant contribution to the development of interdisciplinary problem solving and they may share practical experience for knowledge transfer to other sectors.

The spread of smart specialization area “Information and Communication Technologies” is so vast that it is impossible to compile a precise list of participants of the field.

3.3 Scientific InstitutionsThere are 13 scientific institutions in Latvia operating in the field of computer sciences and information technologies Riga Technical University, University of Latvia, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Latvia, Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, Latvia University of Agriculture, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Ventspils University College, Rezekne Higher Education Institution, Liepaja University, Institute of Physical Energetics, Institute of Organic Synthesis, Biomechanics and Physical Research Institute, and Latvian Academy of Sciences. A more detailed description of their activities is included in the section “Scientific capacity”.

The European Research Council (ERC), which is a new instrument of the European Commission for the support of large-scale projects, establishes four key issues also in the field of information technologies, which are currently the main challenges of the ERC: How to deal with interdisciplinary issues better? How to increase the impact of academics on

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innovative enterprises? What should be done to expand data management and sharing in areas where this practice is not yet established? How to better take into account the research needs in the European debate on the protection of personal data? [11th European Computer Science Summit, Vienna, 2015, October 14 –15].

3.4 Associations of the AreaAssociations of different levels and different specializations have been established for coordination and development of cooperation of industry enterprises. The main ones are specified below (Table 4).

Table 4. Associations of the ICT sector.No. Title Characterization1. Latvian Association

of Computer Technologies (LDTA)

Non-governmental organization. Focusing on supporting the business of each member of the association, as well as increasing the competitiveness of industry enterprises by taking part in drawing up a number of draft laws and meeting state administration and legislative representatives on a regular basis to submit proposals.

2. Latvian Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry Association (LETERA)

LETERA brings together companies, research and educational institutions that are registered and operating in Latvian and whose activities are related to the fields of electronics and electrical engineering, optical equipment, information technologies and electronic communications, defence equipment, aviation and space technology. LETERA supports cooperation with other Latvian industry associations, as well as with affiliated organizations of other European countries.

3. Latvian Telecommunications Association (LTA)

LTA brings together legal entities and individuals of the telecommunications and information technology sectors. The main aim of its activities is to promote cooperation of the telecommunications sector organizations and enterprises as well as development and prospects of the telecommunications industry

4. Latvia Internet Association (LIA)

Brings together Latvian entrepreneurs operating in the field of various Internet services and are interested in developing the Internet environment in Latvia. The main aims of LIA are strengthening, development and popularization of a widely available Internet environment in Latvia.LIA cooperates actively with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Latvia and abroad, creating opportunities for mutual and comprehensive exchange of information on information technologies.

5. Association INFOBALT

The mission of INFOBALT is to promote the use of information and communication technologies for the benefit of the public, enterprises and the public sector. INFOBALT is a locally and internationally recognized representative of Lithuanian ICT industry members, including national and international companies, universities, colleges and research institutions involved in ICT education. INFOBALT is a single point of contact for any international requests, including investment and cooperation opportunities in the ICT sector of Lithuania.

6. Association ITL The main aim of ITL is to unite Estonian information technology and telecommunications companies, to facilitate their cooperation in the development of the Estonian information society.The association’s main directions of activities include popularization of information and communication technologies (ICT) and promotion of vocational training and legislative amendments

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No. Title Characterization7. Information

Technology Security Incident Response Institution (CERT.LV)

CERT.LV mission is to promote security of information technologies (IT) in Latvia. CERT.LV operates as a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, under the Law on the Security of Information Technologies.

8. Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS)

Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) is a non-profit organization seeking to improve and promote high standards among professionals of information technologies, recognizing the impact that information technologies have on employment, business and society. CEPI represents 33 member association in 32 countries across Europe

9. Telecentre Europe Telecentre Europe is a European organization representing publicly funded television centres / networks of television centres, ICT learning centres, adult education centres and libraries throughout Europe. All our members and partners believe that information and communication technologies have enormous potential to combat social exclusion and poverty.

10. IEEE Communications Society

IEEE Communications Society is a community made up of industry professionals of different groups with a common interest in improving all communication technologies. To achieve this, the Society sponsors publications, conferences, educational programs, and local activities.

11. ISACA Latvia Chapter

 The association works to help specialists involved in IT management, control and verification to deal with IT management, IT risk and process-related issues as well as issues arising from their interaction with company management and governance, and the business risks and processes. ISACA currently has more than 61,000 members, and they operate in 160 chapters in 100 countries around the world.

12. Latvian Education Information Technology Association

The aim is to promote access to education and its quality by improving use and development of information technologies in the public and private education sector of Latvia

13. Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA)

The aim of LIKTA is to promote the development of ICT sector in Latvia, facilitating development of the information society in Latvia and stimulating the country’s international competitiveness

14. Latvian Open Technology Association (LATA)

Brings together organisations and individuals, who see economic benefits from wider use of open technologies in Latvia. Open technologies are ICT solutions based on open standards using an open or closed source code

15. Latvia Internet Association

Brings together Latvian entrepreneurs operating in the field of various Internet services and are interested in developing the Internet environment in Latvia. The main aims of LIA are strengthening, development and popularization of a widely available Internet environment in Latvia.

16. Latvian Information Technology Association (LITA)

LITA is a professional non-governmental non-commercial organization, which brings together companies that specialize in providing services in the field of IT; educational institutions and public authorities; promising IT experts-developers; students who want to improve their skills in the field of IT; legal entities who use IT services falling under the specialization of the Association. Its aim is to promote development of information technologies in

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No. Title CharacterizationLatvia.

17. Latvian Association of Teachers of Informatics

The Association aims to improve the creative abilities of Latvian teachers of informatics; to acquire and facilitate better work experience; to promote scientific research; to deal with economic problems, to promote the development of methodological basis of the study process;

Latvian associations work closely together with affiliated foreign associations, first of all, with Association INFOBALT (Lithuania) and Association ITL (Estonia). Major international partners in organizing work in the field are the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies CEPIS, Telecentre Europe, IEEE Communications Society and ISACA Latvian Chapter.

Industry associations are characterized by the fact that they share a common goal of promoting the development of information technologies in Latvia, and, in order to achieve this goal, different forms of activities are used for exchange of information between the companies of the field, educational institutions and scientific institutions.

3.5 Other Organizational StructuresInformation Technology Security Incident Response Institution (CERT.LV) IT Competence Centre, Foundation “Ventspils High Technology Park”, business centres, Latvian IT Cluster, Sectoral Expert Councils, Zemgale Region Human Resource and Competences Development Centre.

CERT.LV mission is to promote security of information technologies (IT) in Latvia. CERT.LV operates as a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, under the Law on the Security of Information Technologies.

The main objective of the Foundation “Ventspils High Technology Park” (VHTP) is to ensure all the necessary infrastructure and support services for development of high-tech enterprises in Ventspils city and region. Priority areas of VHTP: IT, telecommunications, electronics, mechanical engineering, industrial automation, computer design and space technology.

Practical operations of the IT Competence Centre started in 2011 by signing an agreement with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia to form a long-term cooperation between ICT companies and scientific institutions. Implementation of project “Information and Communication Technology Competence Centre” co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund was commenced in 2011. Main lines of activities of the IT Competence Centre – promotion of natural language technology and business process analysis. Both of these lines of activities are promising, and the goal of the centre is to create prototypes of products that are competitive on the international market.

Sectoral Expert Councils are a sectoral consultative body, whose activities are aimed at promoting an increase in the efficiency and quality of vocational education of the sector, facilitating cooperation of the government, sectoral employers and their organizations, workers’ (trade union’) organizations, professional organizations and sectoral experts in matters related to development of human resources. The field of ICT falls within the scope of the expert council Manufacturing of Electronic and Optical Equipment, Information and Communication Technologies.

One of the lines of activities of the Zemgale Region Human Resource and Competences Development Centre is the development of information society by building a society, which

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knows how to, can and is able to obtain information, to connect it to the existing knowledge and to use newly acquired knowledge to increase its well-being.

3.6 Mutual Relations of the Participants InvolvedThe information and communication area is developing so rapidly that, even during studies, the technology and techniques that were advanced in the first year are out of date at the end of the bachelor studies. IT professionals have to learn continually throughout their working lives. Therefore, one of the main requirements set by ICT companies for young professionals is initiative and ability to learn. These requirements are repeated every year, when the representatives of ICT companies meet with students. This means that, in the education of IT professionals, it is equally important to learn the basic knowledge of special subjects as well as to learn how to improve this knowledge constantly.

Consequently, companies of the IT field cannot exist without educational institutions, which must work in close contact with companies of the field and scientific institutions – the ICT sector cannot exist without the presence of these participants.

Industry associations and other organizational structures as an element of participation play a key role in terms of cooperation, information exchange and coordination both within the industry and by forming its external relations. Cooperation with legislative bodies and support for introduction of innovative ideas into production may be particularly important. The amount of information related to the industry methodology, technological methods, standards and regulatory legislation is so huge that it would become difficult to manage without the participation of the said subsidiary bodies.

The risky part of this could be the establishment of too many and too diverse associations and other public organizations, because it could result in difficult communication among the participants.

The sector is characterized by an active and multi-faceted cooperation of the individual participants. Educational institutions actively cooperate with ICT enterprises as direct employers to maintain study programmes in accordance with the theory and practice needs of the industry and provide the students with placement opportunities. Since the ICT sector is characterized by an increased demand for labour, enterprises actively cooperate with educational institutions in order to supplement their staff with students as soon as possible and to help improve the study programmes.

Since IT is a tool that helps to deal with different challenges in all sectors, enterprises of any other industry may become the employers of students indirectly through ICT firms or directly.

The information included in this material is based on the activities of the key national educational institutions in the field of IT education, including Riga Technical University, University of Latvia, Latvia University of Agriculture, Rezekne Higher Education Institution, Daugavpils University, Liepaja University, Rezekne Higher Education Institution., Ventspils University College, and Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences.

It should be noted that the quality of primary and secondary education is essential for implementation of IT education, which currently considerably hinders comprehensive development of human resources, so the companies of the field pay close attention to students’ professional orientation (LIKTA, Exigen Services, Accenture).

In addition to the training projects, cooperation is implemented in the development of new technologies: Development and promotion of the unified e-invoice standard; project “IT

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CEAP – Information Technology Cluster Embassies, Academy, Platforms” (http://www.visma.lv/es-projekti-1/)

3.7 Graphical Representation of Participants of the Ecosystem

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4 Human Capital Available in the Area of Smart Specialization4.1 Number of Students When summarising data on the number of students in the ICT sector, the following results were obtained:

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 7,800

8,000

8,200

8,400

8,600

8,800

8,125

8,513 8,506 8,568 8,709

IKT

CSB data, calculation of “Fidea” SIA

4.2 Number of Employees in the Area Compared to 2012, the shortfall in ICT professionals in Latvia grew rapidly to 39% in 2014, reaching the level of 2007, when the proportion of Latvian companies with vacancies for ICT professionals constituted 39.4% of the total number of companies with positions of ICT professionals.

In 2013, there were 23,305 people working in the ICT sector in Latvia, including 19,865 (85%) people in the services sector, 2357 (10%) people in the wholesale sector, and 178 (5%) people in the manufacturing sector. Proportion of employees of the ICT sector in 2013 constituted 2.61% of the total employed population of Latvia (Table 5).

Table 5. Number of employees in Latvia in 2012–2013Latvia 2012 2013Total number of employed population

875,600 100% 893,900 100%

incl. ICT sector 21,449 2.45% 23,305 2.61%

4.3 Employment of the ICT Sector in Research and Development (R&D)According to the Eurostat data, the proportion of scientific staff of the total employed population of Latvia in 2014 amounted to 0.90%, in 2013 – 0.83% (for comparison – the EU-28 average proportion in 2011 was 1.16%), besides, the average workload of scientific staff in Latvia in 2013 amounted 0.49 of a workload [http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat].

Whereas the proportion of scientific employees in Latvia in 2014 constituted 1.25% of the total employed population, 1.16% in 2013, 1.23% in 2012, and 1.17% in 2011 – for comparison, the EU-28 average proportion in 2011 was 1.83% (Table 6).

Table 6. Proportion of scientific employees of the total employment of the populationProportion (%) of scientific employees of the total employment of the population (number of people)

2011 2012 2013 2014

EU-28 1.83Latvia 1.17 1.23 1.16 1.25

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Proportion (%) of scientific employees of the total employment of the population (normal working hours equivalent)

2011 2012 2013 2014

EU-28 1.2 1.23 1.26Latvia 0.63 0.64 0.6

In 2013–2014, the scientific staff in Latvia constituted 72% of the total number of scientific employees, which means that 28% of the total number of scientific employees were constituted by other scientific staff (scientific technical staff and scientific service staff). At the same time, in terms of normal working hours equivalent, the workload of scientific staff in 2013–2014 constituted 66% of the total workload of scientific employees, which means that the workload of other scientific staff amounted to 34% of the total workload of scientific employees (Table 7).

Table 7. Scientific employees of Latvia in 2013–2014Year 2013 2014Sector Higher

education sector

Public sector

Business sector

Higher education sector

Public sector

Business sector

number of peopleScientific staff 5387 944 1117 5539 904 1496The rest of the scientific staff 1542 651 685 1603 685 845Total number of scientific staff 6929 1595 1802 7142 1589 2341 normal working hours equivalentScientific staff 2348 707 570 2291 681 776The rest of the scientific staff 889 471 411 886 499 606Total number of scientific staff 3237 1178 981 3177 1180 1382

Age structure of the scientific staff shows that the average age of scientific staff in 2014 was 47.3 years (in 2013 – 47.4 years), where 50% of the scientists are older than 45 years. Proportionally, the youngest scientists and researchers work in the field of computer science and informatics, as well as geoscience and related environmental sciences. In 2012, 39% of doctoral degrees were awarded to doctoral students in the said fields [Annex No. 1 to the Informative Report “Regarding Development of Smart Growth Strategy and Establishment of Specialization”. CoM protocol No. 67 96§ http://tap.mk.gov.lv/mk/tap/?pid=40291636]

4.4 Scientific Employees of the ICT Business SectorAccording to statistical data, in 2013, 23,305 people were working in ICT companies in Latvia, whereas in 2012 – 21,449 people (Table 8).

Table 8. Number of people employed in enterprises of the ICT sector in Latvia2012 2013Total 0–9 50+ 10–49 Total 0–9 50+ 10–49

ICT sector – TOTAL 21,449 79608733 4757 23,305 8745

10,176 4384

ICT manufacturing 1045 156 578 312 1083 178 708 197ICT wholesale 2284 1208 412 664 2357 1043 480 834

ICT service provision 18,120 65967743 3781 19,865 7524 8988 3353

In 2013, estimated number of scientific staff in the ICT business sector was 194 employees with the assumption that the proportion of scientific staff of the ICT sector accounted for 0.83% of the total number of ICT employees.

In 2013, estimated normal working hours equivalent of scientific staff in the ICT business sector was 95 equivalents with the assumption that the average load of ICT scientific staff was 0.49 equivalents.

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In 2013, estimated number of scientific employees in the ICT business sector was 270 employees with the assumption that the proportion of scientific employees of the ICT sector accounted for 1.39 of the number of scientific staff.

In 2013, estimated normal working hours equivalent of scientific employees in the ICT business sector was 145 with the assumption that the average load of ICT scientific employees was 1.53 loads of the scientific staff (normal working hours equivalent).

Scientific employees of the higher education sector of the ICT sphere

ICT scientific staff is focused on natural sciences and engineering, which, in turn, constitute the most of Latvian scientific and research human resources. In 2014, number of scientific employees of the higher education and public sectors (normal working hours equivalent) in natural sciences and engineering constituted 62% of the total number of scientific employees (normal working hours equivalent), including:

natural sciences – 35%, engineering – 27%.

According to the data of the MoES (Figure 7.9), computer science and information technology human resources constitute 17% of the total volume of human resources in natural sciences.

Matemātika

Datorzinātnes un informātika

Fizikas zinātnes

Ķīmijas zinātnes

Zemes un vides zinātnes

Bioloģijas zinātnes

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

3%

17%

19%

28%

6%

27%

Figure 7.9. Division of human resources in natural sciences (MoES, 2013)

In total, 266 scientists and researchers, or 8% of the Latvian scientist and researcher human resources, are employed in the field of computer science and information technology in Latvia. It is positive fact that 65% of scientists and researchers under the age of 50 years, while 24% are over the age of 60 (Figure 7.10). Scientists and researchers specialising in computer science work in 13 different institutions, and it is considered that it is a relatively high fragmentation for Latvia. 44% of them work at RTU, 20% – IMCS UL, 14% – Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, 9% – UL, different number of researchers (from 1 to 12) work in other institutions, and it is less than 13% of the total number (LUA, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Ventspils University College, Rezekne Higher Education Institution, Liepaja University, IPE, Institute of Organic Synthesis, Biomechanics and Physical Research Institute, LAS) [Annex No. 1 to the Informative Report “Regarding Development of Smart Growth Strategy and Establishment of Specialization”. CoM protocol No. 67 96§ http://tap.mk.gov.lv/mk/tap/?pid=40291636].

In 2013, estimated normal working hours equivalent of scientific staff in the ICT higher education sector was 130 equivalents with the assumption that the average load of ICT scientific staff was 0.49 equivalents.

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In 2013, estimated number of scientific employees in the ICT higher education sector was 370 employees with the assumption that the proportion of scientific employees of the ICT sector accounted for 1.39 of the number of scientific staff.

In 2013, estimated normal working hours equivalent of scientific employees in the ICT higher education sector was 200 with the assumption that the average load of ICT scientific employees was 1.53 loads of the scientific staff (normal working hours equivalent).

4.5 Summary on Scientific Employees of the ICT SectorEstimated number of R&D employees working in the ICT sector (Table 9) is based on the following assumptions:

In 2013, the proportion of scientific staff in the ICT sector of the total employed population in the ICT sector in Latvia constituted 0.83%.

In 2013, average load of scientific staff in the ICT sector in Latvia constituted 0.49 of normal working hours.

In 2013–2014, the number of scientific employees in the ICT sector in Latvia constituted 1.39 of the scientific staff, while in terms of normal working hours equivalent, the number of scientific employees constituted 1.53 of the scientific staff.

Table 9. Estimated number of scientific employees working in the higher education and business sectors of the ICT field in Latvia in 2013*.

Business sector Higher education sector TotalScientific employeesNumber of people 270 370 640Normal working hours equivalent 145 200 345

including scientific staffNumber of people 194 266 460Normal working hours equivalent 95 130 225

* excluding estimated number of scientific employees working in the ICT public sector

Estimated number of scientific employees working in the ICT higher education and business sectors in 2013*:

ICT scientific staff – 460 (number of people) or 225 (normal working hours equivalent). ICT scientific employees – 640 (number of people) or 345 (normal working hours

equivalent). The proportion of scientific employees of the ICT business sector is 42%, and the

proportion of scientific employees of the higher education sector – 58% of the total number of scientific employees of business and higher education sectors.

Proportion of ICT scientific employees of the total number of scientific employees of Latvia – 7.3% (number of people) or 8.2% (normal working hours equivalent)**

* excluding estimated number of scientific employees working in the ICT public sector.

** In 2013, the number of scientific employees in the higher education and business sectors of Latvia was 8731 or 4218 in normal working hours equivalent

It should be noted that, in 2014, the number of scientific employees in the higher education and business sectors of Latvia grew significantly to 9483 employees (in 2013, there were 8731 employees), namely, there was an increase of 8.6%. Assuming that the increase in the

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number of scientific employees in the ICT higher education and business sectors in 2014, compared to 2013, accounted for at least 10%, then it constitutes at least 700 employees, or 360 in normal working hours equivalent.

According to the CSB data, in 2014, there were 1589 scientific employees working in the public sector of Latvia (or 17% of the higher education and business sector or 14% of the total number of Latvian scientific employees) or 1180 in normal working hours equivalent. Assuming that the number of scientific employees in the ICT public sector constitutes 17% of the number of scientific employees in the ICT higher education and business sectors, it accounts for 120 employees or 90 in normal working hours equivalent (Table 10). Thus, the minimum proportion of scientific employees of the ICT sector constitutes around 8% of the total number of Latvian scientific employees. Estimated average proportion of scientific employees of the ICT sector constitutes around 10% of the total number of Latvian scientific employees, namely, 1100 scientific employees or 570 in normal working hours equivalent.

Table 10. Estimated minimum and average number of scientific employees working in the ICT sector of Latvia in 2014*.

Business un higher education sector

Public sector Total

estimated minimum number minimum averageNumber of people 700 120 820 1100Normal working hours equivalent 360 90 450 570

5 Scientific Capacity and Cooperation Networks in the Smart Specialization Area

When assessing the ratio of the number of Latvian publications to the number of EU global publications, as well as their citation, it can be concluded that the sub-sectors of the fields of computer science and IT science: computer programming, information systems, artificial intelligence, computer science theory and methodology and multidisciplinary computer sciences, have reached average high scientific excellence indicators.

Cooperation networks have formed in Latvia for using the scientific infrastructure (i.e. NRC, academic backbone network) and implementation of national research (i.e. NRP), industrial research and projects on development of new products and technologies (i.e. CC) in the ICT smart specialization area. IT Competence Centre thematically and in terms of content creates synergy with the Information, Communications and Signal Processing Technology National Research Centre (NRC). One of the medium-term goals of NRC is to build NRC cooperation networks at national and international level, actively integrating into the EU’s science world, engaging in the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure) and other scientific consortia, networks and projects.

Results of the first year of implementation (2014) of “Horizon 2020” programme show that Latvian SMEs were granted 27% of the total EU funding, which is above the EU average – 19%, and indicative of competitiveness of Latvian enterprises in the ICT smart specialization area. Total funding per approved project in the ICT sector constitutes 60% of the average EU funding per ICT project.

In Latvia, 12% of all projects approved under the “Horizon 2020” programme are in the field of ICT (including 10% in the ICT higher education and business sectors). Based on the estimate that, in 2013, the number of scientific employees in the field of ICT (i.e. 640

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employees) was 7.3% or 8.2% in normal working hours equivalent (345 workloads) of the total number of scientific employees in the higher education and business sectors, it can be concluded that the sub-sectors of the fields of computer science and IT science (computer programming, information systems, artificial intelligence, computer science theory and methodology and multidisciplinary computer sciences) have reached average high scientific excellence indicators in terms of both publications and research project implementation.

5.1 Results of the International Assessment of Scientific Institutions Working in the Area

Twelve R&D and educational institutions were included in the assessment, which are the main organizational structures engaged in research and development in the field of Information and Communication Technology. Ten of the twelve institutes took part in an independent international assessment carried out by the Technopolis Group in 2014. International assessors have conducted a large-scale assessment of Latvian research, development and innovation system as a whole, and about 150 individual scientific institutes. Five broader aspects were set as the assessment criteria, namely, the quality of research, the influence of the institute’s research on the industry, economic and social impact, research environment and infrastructure as well as development potential. Each criterion was assessed with 1-5 points (5 points being the best result). Conclusions were made and recommendations for further action were given after the overall average assessment. Two institutions in the field of ICT were assessed with 4 points, namely, Ventspils University College (specifically, Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre) and Institute of Electronics and Computer Science. Four points indicate that the research unit (RU) executes its tasks well and it should continue its activities as before. Three scientific institutes were assessed with 3 points and their research units were recommended to analyse their activities in an impartial manner and strengthen the activities. Three points in the field of ICT were received by the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Latvia (Computer Science specialization), Liepaja University (more specifically, Mathematical Sciences and Information Technology Institute and Faculty of Natural and Social Sciences). Institutes and faculties of the University of Latvia were evaluated individually and assessment of the University as a whole was not provided. Research units engaged in R&D in the field of ICT received an average score of 3 points, although, in this case, the assessment cannot be interpreted in the same way as for the above-mentioned institutions. The same applies to the research units of LUA and RTU, which were assessed with 2 points. Two other institutions also were assessed with 2 points, indicating the need to analyse activities of these research units and to consider the possibility of merging them with other research units. One of the institutes was assessed with 1 point, which means that the operations of this research unit could be discontinued.

Authors of the international assessment emphasized the following engineering and computer science organizations:

Institute of Electronics and Computer Science was recognized as a strong leader in Latvia, which is becoming an internationally recognized member in the network engineering science and signal processing sector;

Assessment results of the Faculty of Computing of University of Latvia (4 points) indicate that the Faculty has a wide range of both theory and practical research topics. Research work on quantum computing, in particular, quantum algorithms has gained special recognition. Quantum computing group is well established and carries out impressive amount of research.

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Research Quality

Impact on the scientific discipline

Economic and social impact Research env. and infrastructure

Development potential

0

5

The average assessment of sci-entific institutes in the ICT sector

The average assessment of major scientific institutes in the field of ICT is 3 points. International assessors point at the main weaknesses and specific areas of interest, such as (1) the limited possibility of attracting doctoral students of high level from abroad; (2) the low level of financial support from the government and insufficient allocation; (3) difficulty in finding EU research support; (4) lack of career prospects for research staff and remuneration; (5) insufficient number of publications in internationally recognized journals; (6) too few training programmes in English.

6 Industry’s Competitiveness in the Smart Specialization Area6.1 Sector Turnover in Accordance with the NACE CodesSector turnover (net turnover, million EUR)

Field/year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013ICT 4902.7 4839.8 5280.3 5853.6 6465.9

CSB data, calculation of “Fidea” SIA

6.2 Sectoral Export PerformanceSectoral exports (exports, thousand EUR)

Field/year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013ICT 275,195 281,428 330,891 379,853 399,178

CSB data, calculation of “Fidea” SIA

6.3 Sectoral Investments in R&DIn 2014, compared to 2013, the funding for research and development in Latvia increased by 0.08% and amounted to 0.68% of GDP. On average, R&D investment in Europe accounted for 2.01% of GDP in 2013.

In 2014, 162.8 million euro were invested in research in Latvia, where foreign funding accounted for the largest share – 44.2% of total funding for research works, 27.8% – business financing, 25.6% – state funding, but 2.4% – funding of institutions of higher education. It should be noted that the business enterprise R&D expenditure (BERD) of Latvia constituted 0.17% of GDP in 2013, which is significantly lower than the EU average – 1.28% of GDP.

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In 2012, EU expenditure on research and development in the ICT sector accounted for 5.6% of total expenditure in the ICT sector, compared to the US – 11.2%, and Japan – 11.4%. Finland is the leader in Europe with a 34% share of expenditure on R&D of total expenditure in the ICT sector, but Latvia takes last place with a 0.3% share.

In 2012, Latvian companies invested 3 million euro (ICT BERD) in research and development in the ICT sector, which accounted for 9% of the total volume of funding of companies for research and development. For comparison, the funding of EU companies for research and development in the ICT sector accounted for 17% of the total volume of funding of EU companies for research and development (Table 11).

Table 11. Funding of the business sector for research and development in the ICT sphereIndicator Latvia EU-28

2010 2011 2012 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013ICT BERD (million euro) 5 3 3 - 26,27

027,912

28,867

-

ICT BERD (% BERD) 12 8 9 - 17 17 17 -BERD (% GDP) 0.22 0.19 0.15 0.17 1.19 1.24 1.27 1.28

BERD: Business enterprise for research and development

6.4 Number of Innovative Companies in the ICT Sector and Their Innovation IndexIn 2013, there was a total of 5064 ICT companies in Latvia, 88% of which operated in the field of ICT services, 10% – in ICT wholesale, and 2% – in ICT manufacturing (Table 12).

Table 12. Number of enterprises of the ICT sector2010 2011 2012 2013

ICT sector – TOTAL 3151 3373 4390 5064..ICT manufacturing 64 72 96 99..ICT wholesale 471 434 506 521..ICT service provision 2616 2867 3788 4444

Innovation Scoreboard 2015 indicator SMEs introducing product or process innovations as percentage of SMEs establishes the proportion of innovative SMEs that have introduced new or improved products or production processes from the total number of SMEs (technological innovation). According to the Innovation Scoreboard 2015 data, the proportion of Latvian innovative SMEs that have introduced new or improved products or production processes constitutes 15.7% from the total number of SMEs (EU – 30.6%). Since there were 5064 ICT enterprises in Latvia in 2013, the forecasted total number of innovative enterprises in the field of ICT, which introduced new or improved products or production processes (technological innovations), is at least 15.7% or 800 companies.

According to the CSB’s latest innovation survey data, an average of only 30.4% of Latvian enterprises (EU average – 52%) were innovative during the period from 2010 to 2012. Innovation survey data suggest that the average proportion of innovatively active enterprises in the services sectors is 31.4% of the total number of enterprises in the respective group, while in the manufacturing industry – 29.6% of the total number of enterprises in the respective group. However, when analysing the innovation performance by sectors, it can be concluded that there is a number of sectors in Latvia, where the proportion of innovative enterprises is higher than or close to the EU average, and the proportion of innovative enterprises is higher than 50% of the total number of enterprises. Such fields of the manufacturing industry as manufacture of machinery and equipment, manufacture of electrical and optical equipment, chemical industry and related industries should be

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particularly noted. In the services sector, information services, telecommunications, postal and courier activities and financial and insurance activities should be highlighted. It should be noted that 64% of companies out of the 30.4% of innovative enterprises had introduced a technological innovation (product and process innovations), while 36% of all innovative enterprises have introduced non-technological innovations (marketing or organizational innovations).

As a result, it may be concluded that the forecasted proportion of innovative enterprises in the ICT sector (technological and non-technological innovations) is assessed as 50% of the total number of ICT enterprises, i.e. 2500–2600 ICT enterprises were innovative in 2013.

It should be noted that the proportion of ICT goods and services export of total Latvian exports of goods and services grew rapidly from 3.86% in 2007 (EU – 7.95%) to 6.95% in 2011 (EU – 7.53%).

7 Goals of the Smart Specialization AreaKnowledge specialization areas are divided according to the goal pursued:

1. Industry and applied research – supported knowledge specialization areas aimed at significantly increasing the number of specialists and increase their competence in the industry and applied research;

2. Ability to conduct research of common interest – supported knowledge specialization areas aimed at building the capacity of the existing professionals and their renewal, primarily focusing on quality;

3. Fundamental research and excellence – supported knowledge specialization areas aimed at achieving excellence in the existing volume of specialists, with a significant focus on quality and research challenges in the fundamental science.

7.1 Industry and Applied ResearchSome innovators and engineers can ensure a significant increase in the said industries, creating innovative products to improve the profitability of individual enterprises. It is assumed that industry growth is ensured in these areas, resulting in a significant influx of specialists. For example, providing electronics or IT enterprises with high-quality professionals, they can create more knowledge-intensive, high value-added products that will lead to significant economic growth through the enterprise’s success.

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Constituent areas of knowledge:

7.2 Ability to Conduct Research of Common InterestIndividual groups of scientists can have a great impact on economic results, when engaging in projects of common interest.

For example, development of forestry can significantly increase the amount of resources available, but there is no need for a forestry specialist in each enterprise, since knowledge and projects are projects of common interest.

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ResultsTasksGoalsIndustry and applied research

The absorption capacity of the

industry

Number of innovative employees working in

the industry

R&D jobs

Applied research aimed at individual

innovation

Capacity and number of researchers in

research organizations

Cooperation with the industry

102 Computer science and informatics

202 Electrical engineering, electronic technologies, information engineering

Constituent areas of knowledge:

7.3 Fundamental Research and ExcellenceExcellence is required in the existing volume, with a significant focus on quality and research challenges in the fundamental science.

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ResultsTasksGoalsAbility to conduct

research of common interest

Industry expertise in cooperation with

research organizations

Industry expertise. Renewal of the

number of highly qualified experts

Applied research of common interest

Effective excellence groups

102 Computer science and informatics

ResultsTasksGoalsScientific excellence as a

challenge and talent attraction

Focus means to create excellent research groups

World-renowned scientific excellence-oriented

groups, researchers and research

Ability to create a strong base of teachers ensuring the quality and prestige of

education

Excellence groups create internationally networked

human resources for applied research

Constituent areas of knowledge:

There is a single main policy goal in all areas of smart specialization – the total number of research and development jobs. The number of R&D jobs demonstrates the volume of R&D activities/product.

Individual programmes can set autonomous goals related to ensuring environmental factors for achieving the RIS3 objectives, and the project complies with the RIS3 when it complies with the specific task.

RIS3 OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE INDICATORS

Base value 2017 2020 Data source

Investment in R&D (% of GDP) 0.6 (2013) 1.2 1.5 CSB

Position in the European Innovation Union Scoreboard

modest (2013)

moderate follower EC

Productivity in manufacturing industry (EUR per 1 employee)

20,126 (2013)

24,500 29,000 CSB/MoE

RIS3 MACRO-LEVEL INDICATORS Base value 2017 2020 Data sourcePrivate sector investment in R&D (% of the total investment)

21.8 (2013)

46 48 CSB

Proportion of innovative enterprises (% of the total number of enterprises)

30.4 (2012)

35 40 CSB

Proportion of high- and medium-high-tech sectors in Latvian exports of goods (%)

23.8 (2012)

27 31 CSB/MoE

Number of scientific staff in R&D (public and private sectors)

5593 (2013)

6300 7000 CSB

A smaller number of stronger publicly funded research institutions

42 (2013)

30 20 MoES/SEQS

Proportion of graduates (ISCED level 5 and 6) in the STEM fields from the total number of graduates, %

19 (2012)

25 27 MoES

Monitoring micro-level indicators

License/patent income of scientific institutions (EUR); Enterprise co-financing of R&D projects (EUR); Number of enterprises that have received aid for the introduction of new

products/technologies; Enterprise’s turnover from commercialization of research results of their

implementation in economic activity; New enterprises (spin-off) established by scientific institutions

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101 Mathematics

103 Physics

104 Chemistry

106 Biology science

Number of newly established enterprises that have received support; Number of new scientists that have received support for their post-doctoral research; The newly created jobs, including those, in which the research staff is employed in the

public sector / business sector; Funding raised by approved H2020 project applications (LV part; EUR); Scientific articles published in international databases (Scopus, Web of Science); Employees trained; Number of master’s and doctoral students involved in R&I projects.

(Source: Informative report “Smart Specialization Strategy Monitoring System”)7.4 Smart Specialization NichesIn the business sector, LIKTA identified the following potential industry specialization niches, were work has already been commenced and there is interest in cooperation between enterprises and research institutions, and where Latvia already has some competitive advantages, and further growth is possible.

Innovative knowledge management, system modelling and software development methods and tools;

Innovative sectoral ways of using ICT hardware and software; Cyber-physical systems, language technology and semantic web; Large-scale data and knowledge infrastructure; Information security and quantum computers; Computer system testing methods.

Potential development niches, where it is possible to predict the emergence of new players, are mainly related to implementation of consolidated interdisciplinary research activities. This is also confirmed by the fact that the question of how to deal with interdisciplinary issues better is one of the four main questions currently raised by the European Research Council (ERC). Considering the current urgency in the context of sustainable development, initiative would be expected from the main areas: transport, agriculture, environmental management, energy production and consumption, economic development, education and knowledge-based society. From an ICT point of view, it is possible to predict progress on development of e-health, e-government, e-signature, and e-learning. Within the ICT sector, globally topical research is related to the role of IT in sustainable development, contributing factors and factors creating risks, as well as ensuring IT sustainability.

Now, the main obstacles are related to the lack of sufficient political will, because of which, for example, the introduction of e-signature is delayed inexcusably. Development is significantly hindered by the lack of resources, which includes both human and financial resources. Despite the fact that the skills of the new generation are improving in terms of information technology, the situation with the primary and secondary education has to be mentioned as a significantly disturbing moment in human resource development. With increasing computer literacy, reading and writing skills and the ability to formulate a logical thought are becoming worse. This situation has already reached a level where a part of the time intended for learning special informatics subjects has to be spent on acquiring the said skills.

8 Discussions Research: The programmes on attraction and research of human resources were of

short-term nature, and they lack follow-up. Instruments of the previous period for the rapidly changing field of ICT are bureaucratic and inflexible. A proposal to create a

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synergy between the planning of National Research Programme (NRP) and SF financial instruments and commencement of programmes; as well as to ensure a flexible approach to the implementation of projects and project review on a quarterly basis. To open small amounts of funding for programmes in order to improve the support conditions and content. To grant funding for research programmes and the development of new products for students, support of student workshops, which could attract industries and their financial participation.

Human resources: Very poor students’ knowledge, a large drop-out of ICT students at higher education level, lack of ICT skills and placement possibilities as well as lack of qualified specialists. A solution is offered – close involvement of ICT enterprises in development of education programmes, development of study programmes, establishment of doctoral schools, granting of student grants in the ICT sector, as well as decision-making on the purchase of research infrastructure. A proposal to activate and fund interest education, placements for students, teachers and university lecturers.

Entrepreneurship: SMEs are not technologically oriented; they lack knowledge about the solutions provided by ICT. Investment availability is necessary not only for business start-up phase, but also for further development of the company. There is no developed high-tech park in Riga and Riga region, which contributes to the formation of clusters. A call to continue the CC support programme, to create a national body according to the VTT principle, creating synergy between the NRCs and Ccs or purposefully creating and developing high-tech parks in Riga and Riga region. To open the ERDF program for meeting the technological needs of SMEs, including with the help of ICT.

9 Reference Sources:1. Guidelines for the Development of Science, Technology and Innovation 2014–2020

(Cabinet Resolution No. 685 of 28.12.2013)2. National Industrial Policy Guidelines for 2013-2020 (Cabinet Resolution No. 282 of

28.06.2013);3. Guidelines for the Facilitation of Exports of Goods and Services of Latvia and

Attraction of Foreign Investment for 2013-2019 (Cabinet Resolution No. 249 of 17.06.2013)

4. Informative Report “Regarding the Progress in Developing the Action Plan for Implementation of the Guidelines for the Development of Science, Technology and Innovation 2014–2020, including the Smart Specialization Strategy Action Plan and a Description of the Result Indicator System” (adopted at the Cabinet meeting of 21.10.2014);

5. Informative Report “Regarding the Implementation of the Structural Reforms in Latvian Science Sector until July 1, 2015” (adopted at the Cabinet meeting of 19.08.2014);

6. Draft Informative Report “Smart Specialization Strategy Monitoring System” (announced SSS on 4 June 2015, SSS minutes No. 22, Paragraph 18);

7. Information available on the website of the State Education Development Agency regarding RIS3 and discussion cycles organised in the framework thereof: http://viaa.gov.lv/lat/zinatnes_inovacijas_progr/viedas_specializacijas_iev/vieda_specializacija_jaunumi/

8. Central Statistical Bureau: www.csb.gov.lv

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9. The statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat10. Entrepreneurship Competitiveness and Innovation Promotion Programme 2007–2013

of the MoE. Approved by Cabinet Decision No. 406 of 28 June 2007. 11. Annex No. 1 to the Informative Report “Regarding Development of Smart Growth

Strategy and Establishment of Specialization”. (CoM protocol No. 67 96§ http://tap.mk.gov.lv/mk/tap/?pid=40291636)

12. IT Cluster (www.itbaltic.com ) 13. Draft concept “National Information and Communication Technology Management

Organizational Model”, Cabinet Order No. 57 of 2013)14. “Horizon 2020” supported projects of Latvia (20.07.2015)

http://viaa.gov.lv/library/files/original/H2020_projektu_saraksts_20072015.pdf15. Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association

https://www.likta.lv16. Relation of the RIS3 specialization areas to economic sectors and sub-sectors of

science is described in Draft Informative Report “Smart Specialization Strategy Monitoring System” (announced SSS on 4 June 2015, SSS minutes No. 22, Paragraph 18, page 15, Table 5; http://tap.mk.gov.lv/lv/mk/tap/?dateFrom=2014-07-08&dateTo=2015-07-08&vss&text=&org=142987&area=0&type=0)

17. Information of the State Education Development Agency regarding RIS3 and discussion cycles organised in the framework thereof: (http://viaa.gov.lv/lat/zinatnes_inovacijas_progr/viedas_specializacijas_iev/vieda_specializacija_jaunumi/)

18. Developing an indicator of innovation output. Commission Staff Working Document- SWD (2013) 325 final 22.

19. An Introduction to Sustainable Development in the Engineering Curriculum. The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre, 2010

20. Digital Agenda for Europe. http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/21. Digital Agenda Scoreboard. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/scoreboard22. European Innovation Scoreboards:

http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts-figures/scoreboards/index_en.htm

23. Internet and Technology. International Institution for Sustainable Development. http://www.iisd.org/infosoc/

24. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, ERC President. "The European Research Council and Informatics: Situation and Perspectives", 11th European Computer Science Summit, Vienna, 2015, 14 –15 October

25. JRC Technical report, How much does ICT contribute to innovation output? An analysis of the ICT component in the innovation output indicator, Annarosa PESOLE, 2015;

26. Knowledge Societies: Information Technology for Sustainable Development. Robin Mansell, Uta Wehn. United Nations Publications, 1998 – 323 pp

27. Renewing the Knowledge Societies Vision: Towards Knowledge Societies for Peace and Sustainable Development. FIRST DRAFT, 5 February 2013, Report prepared for the WSIS+10 Review for the Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO and for presentation in the “Knowledge Societies, Stakeholder Accountability for Sustainable Development” Panel at the UNESCO WSIS+10 Conference, 2013

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