Posts Tagged ‘Latvia’
Latvia to Host CiTech’s European Operations Following Multi-Year Cooperation with LIAA
Critical Infrastructure Technologies Ltd. (CiTech), an Australian developer of cutting-edge mobile communications platforms, has announced the establishment of its wholly owned Latvian subsidiary SIA CiTech Europe, with plans to make Latvia the company’s European headquarters by 2026. The decision marks a significant milestone in CiTech’s global growth strategy and positions Liepāja as a key hub for the company’s European manufacturing, sales, and innovation activities.
CiTech’s planned facility will be in the Liepāja Special Economic Zone (LSEZ), taking advantage of the region’s excellent logistics, access to European markets, and competitive tax incentives — including a corporate tax rate of just 4% within the SEZ.
The company’s CEO, Brenton Scott, emphasized Latvia’s strategic importance for CiTech’s European expansion: “Our engagements with Latvian authorities have confirmed Latvia’s attractiveness as the home for our European headquarters. We are very excited to be accelerating our establishment in Latvia, building strong partnerships and creating a hub to support defense, border security, surveillance, and innovation across the European market.”
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Originally published on 16 Nov
Read MoreVidzeme Planning Region highlights the needs of Latvia’s Eastern border area at the European level
Vidzeme Planning Region (VPR) continues to actively represent the interests of Latvia’s eastern border area at the European Union level, maintaining ongoing dialogue with the European Commission and international partners to ensure that the region’s situation is duly reflected in policy planning and decision-making. The needs of Latvia’s eastern border area are also represented by VPR within the EU interregional initiative Regio-Silience, which brings together external border regions from Poland, the Baltic States, Finland and Norway.
Within this initiative, Vidzeme Planning Region is represented by Santa Vītola, Head of the Vidzeme Open Innovation Hub (VAIC), who this autumn participated in the interregional seminar “Regio-Silience in East Lapland: North-Eastern Europe’s attractiveness” held in Salla, Finland. She provided a professional regional perspective in international discussions and thematic working groups, highlighting both the shared challenges of the EU’s external border regions and the development and security priorities set by Vidzeme Planning Region.
Ms Vītola reminded participants that Vidzeme Planning Region, just like the Latgale Planning Region, is an external border region of the European Union, characterised by specific security, development and mobility challenges.
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Originally published on 14 Nov
Read MoreDouble feature Baltic film in New York and London
Move over Nordic film, here comes something even more unsettling
Read MoreFrom Capital to Capability: Understanding Needs and Building Trust Across the Region
On 6 November, more than 80 participants gathered at Tehnopol for a sold-out event hosted by the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator. The aim was to help defence and dual-use startups gain a clearer understanding of current needs in Latvia and see where their work could meaningfully contribute within the regional landscape.
The keynote was given by Rihards Miķelsons, Head of Industry Development at the Autonomous Systems Competence Centre of Latvia. He introduced the Centre’s testing environments across land, sea and urban settings, and explained how operational experience and structured trials support companies moving toward real deployment. For founders, the key takeaway was that collaboration in Latvia is practical and within reach. There are defined paths to test systems, gather feedback and understand user needs in conditions that reflect real use rather than laboratory evaluation.
Regional cooperation was discussed with a view to the near future. Estonia has been part of the NATO DIANA accelerator network since the pilot year and will launch its third cohort in 2026. Latvia and Finland will open their DIANA accelerator programmes in 2026. Bringing teams together at this stage helps establish shared understanding early and supports the development of solutions that are relevant across borders. For the Estonian accelerator, strengthening these relationships is important for continuing to broaden the ecosystem and ensure that promising technologies are able to develop into practical, deployable capability.
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Originally published on 7 Nov
Read MoreAI Salon Opens in Riga – A New Platform for Latvia’s Artificial Intelligence Community
On November 6, the opening event of AI Salon Riga took place at the Tet headquarters – the first gathering in Latvia of the global artificial intelligence community AI Salon.
The Latvian Association of Artificial Intelligence (MILA) was honored to participate in the event, where Chair of the Board Oksana Sivokobiļska shared her vision for the development of Latvia’s AI ecosystem and the need to strengthen cooperation between the public sector, academia, and industry.
The goal of AI Salon is to bring together people who work with artificial intelligence daily – developers, entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and product specialists – to exchange experiences, build new connections, and collectively strengthen AI literacy in Latvia.
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Originally published on 11 Nov
Read MoreMILA has developed practical guidelines for the implementation of artificial intelligence in public administration
The Latvian Association of Artificial Intelligence (MILA) has developed the first practical guidelines for state and municipal institutions on the implementation and use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in public administration. The guidelines will help institutions better understand the potential of AI and more clearly understand how to organise the process of introducing and applying AI solutions.
The document was created within the project “Development of Practical Guidelines for the Introduction of Artificial Intelligence in Institutional Work and Services,” in cooperation with AI Master Lab experts, commissioned by the State Administration School (VAS) and with methodological support from the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development Republic of Latvia (VARAM).
As MILA emphasises, the purpose of the guidelines is to provide a practical and easy-to-use framework for public institutions, enabling them to assess the suitability of AI use, prepare their organisations for the introduction of such technologies, and ensure a responsible, transparent and publicly accountable approach to the use of AI.
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Originally published on 10 Nov
Read MoreAigars Rostovskis re-elected Eurochambres vice-president
Latvian is first to hold senior position with association of European chambers of commerce
Aigars Rostovskis has been re-elected as vice-president of Eurochambres, the association of european chambers of commerce and industry. Aigars is the president of LTRK, the Latvian chamber of commerce. His re-election helps the organistion to maintain a powerful voice among European business representatives.
Eurochambres acts as the voice of the business community at the EU level, representing more than 20 million companies. It is an important player in the European business environment, driving significant initiatives and supporting entrepreneurs to ensure a sustainable and competitive European economy.
Aigars is the first Latvian representative to hold a senior Eurochambres office.
Read MoreOpinon Beyond profitability
The economic case for Rail Baltica can be found in examples of other major infrastructure projects that were initially deemed too big not to fail
Read MoreIn the largest NATO “Digital Backbone Experiment” unmanned systems have been tested
From 27 October to 7 November, NATO’s Largest Digital Backbone Experiment “DiBaX 2025” was taking place at military base “Ādaži” and virtually across several NATO nations. This year, “DiBaX” strategically focused on the use of unmanned vehicles in contested environments and the application of artificial intelligence in detection and decision-making tasks.
‘”DiBaX” is the only military technology experiment of this scale that NATO has been conducting in Latvia for already four years. This demonstrates the advancement of our defence industry in the field of 5G technologies, the National Armed Forces’ contribution to innovation development and Latvia’s defence infrastructure capacity to host such high level experiments,” underlines Andris Spruds, Minister of Defence of Latvia.
The digital backbone is a vital component of NATO’s infrastructure, enabling connectivity for complex Multi-Domain Operations. During the DiBaX, the latest technological advancements was demonstrated and assessed for integration into real-world environments to enhance interoperability and efficiency among Allied Forces.
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Originally published on 7 Nov
Read MoreThe Baltic states must move towards a unified economic and political identity
On Thursday, October 30, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene met with representatives of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts (ALCCIC), as well as representatives of entrepreneurs from both countries, focusing on the conclusions of the study “Baltic Tiger” and the idea of a joint global brand for the Baltic States.
During the meeting, the main conclusions of the study “Baltic Tiger” conducted by the Latvian Institute for Strategic and Economic Studies “LaSer” were presented. The author of the study, Professor Daunis Auers, pointed out that in order for the Baltic countries to maintain their growth rate and security stability, deeper integration is needed in four areas: defense, diplomacy, functional cooperation, and joint branding. The study shows that the potential of the Baltic region increases when the countries act as a single player rather than three separate economies. Closer integration and a shared economic vision can become the main drivers of growth in the region. The author also emphasized the importance of the Nordic countries’ experience—close cooperation and joint solutions have helped to strengthen economic and political stability.
“The economies of Latvia and Lithuania are closely linked, and we have ample opportunities to deepen cooperation, especially in the defense industry and the digital sector. With a more favorable environment for entrepreneurs, closer economic cooperation, and fewer bureaucratic obstacles, we can increase the international competitiveness of the Baltic region,” said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa.
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Originally published on 30 Oct
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