VARAM to hold a discussion on opportunities for developing smart municipalities in Latvia
Published: 22.02.2021
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As part of Vidzeme Innovation Week 2021, on 23 February this year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) is organising an online information event, “Smart Municipalities – Opportunities and Challenges”. The aim of the event is to inform municipalities, entrepreneurs, researchers and other interested parties about the “Smart Municipalities” activity in the new European Union funds programming period, as well as to inspire potential project applicants to develop new and innovative ideas.
As part of the European Union funds programming period for 2021–2027, VARAM will implement a new “Smart Municipalities” activity, which will give municipalities the opportunity to become commissioners and users of innovation by making their services more efficient and modern in new and innovative ways. Municipalities are significant consumers of goods and services, as well as providers of a broad range of services. Regional and global development challenges such as population decline, the low proportion of innovative companies in the regions, the “ageing” of the existing range of municipal services, high municipal service costs, and the challenges posed by climate change require the search for new ways for municipalities to become more efficient and modern, and capable of responding to the diverse needs of their residents.
Ilze Oša, Deputy State Secretary of VARAM responsible for regional development, emphasises:
“Municipalities are among the most important providers of services to their residents. This activity will give municipalities the opportunity to review their service delivery processes, assess their weaknesses and offer high-quality, technologically advanced new solutions for service provision. Changing circumstances have created the prerequisites for Latvian municipalities not merely to adopt the experience of other countries, but to define new solutions themselves and become an example for others. At the same time, in order to achieve change and find new solutions, cooperation is crucial—both between municipalities in developing solutions at the regional level, and between municipalities and service users, as well as between municipalities and potential solution developers, innovative businesses and researchers. Through joint efforts, municipalities can achieve rapid and positive change, which we also seek to promote with the support of the new European Union funds period.”
To inspire municipalities with new project ideas, the VARAM event will feature implementers of smart and innovative projects in the field of social care—the Welfare Department of the Riga City Council, which is implementing the project “Ensuring Smart Monitoring Systems in the Homes of Care Clients”—and in the field of municipal utilities, researcher Dr. sc. ing. Kaspars Grīnbergs, whose solution has been implemented at the Ogre Municipality Library, “Using the Internal Energy of Wastewater in Energy Supply”. The seminar will also feature researchers offering new solutions for public health and safety—University of Latvia researchers Dr. phys. Andris Jakovičs, Dr. phys. Jānis Virbulis and Jevgēņijs Teļečko, who will present a new project idea, “A Safe Space System for Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 Infection”. Representatives of the RTU research platform “Information and Communication Technologies”, Professor Jurģis Poriņš and Associate Professor Jānis Kampars, will also participate in the VARAM event and provide information about the research and cooperation opportunities offered by the research platform for developing new project ideas.
The “Smart Municipalities” activity is included in the Regional Policy Guidelines for 2021–2027 to ensure support opportunities for the use of smart solutions in municipalities to improve the efficiency of their operations and to adapt these solutions for the private sector.
The VARAM online event can be viewed on 23 February from 13:00 on the Vidzeme Innovation Week 2021 website and on the VARAM YouTube channel.
The event can be viewed without prior registration.
Information prepared by:
Public Relations Division
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Public Relations Division
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Categories:
Society;
