In December of 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency of the Republic of Latvia and the Ministry of Development (VARAM) and Latvias Information and Communication technology association (LIKTA) agreed upon a cooperation memorandum together with a combined goal and joint effort of maintaining and overseeing Latvia's digital transformation process and data based societal and state development. The goals of the memorandum are:
- promote exportable Information and communication technologies (IKT) solution development in Latvia and increase Latvia's IKT enterprise productivity, capacity and innovation;
- promote digital economic development in Latvia and strengthen Latvia's competitiveness in the national economy, using IKT systems;
- with modern, innovative managment processes and e-management solutions, improve public administration, buisness and investment sectors, overcome problems and promote economic development;
- develop Latvia as a data based managment and economic brand, to popularize and make Latvian made solutions and technology for export to other markets.
Within the cooperation memorandum many activities and processes are occuring to reach their goals, which geospatial information technology intrests are shared with Latvias GIS association. Currently there are discussions about opening Latvia's Geospatial Information Agency's (LGIA) geospatial data. Latvia's GIS association and its members have voiced their opinion, calculations and participated in discussions about LGIA prioritizing the opening geospatial data stores. They believe it would be extremely beneficial to the industry and national budget. Positive progress and discussions are being made on opening the geospatial data stores, but action has yet to be taken.
The Memorendum text can be found here