It is a great honour and pleasure to welcome all of the participants to the 12th Baltic IT&T Forum: eBaltics. This Riga forum has become a traditional meeting place in the Baltic Sea region, bringing together leading ICT companies, members of governments and non-governmental organizations.
We all know that information technology has become ubiquitous and it is changing many aspects of human endeavour and existence. Also, ICT has become a rather efficient tool to deal with the issues and topics of the complex modern society faces.
The ICT in the current economic situation may be the most correct answer to several pressing problems both in Latvia and in other Baltic States e.g., making the performance of government institutions and also private companies more efficient, diminishing the bureaucracy and improving the service provided by government institutions.
There is another aspect too we finally have to realize that this industry holds a truly high added value where we, the Baltics are ready to successfully compete in the EU market we have the appropriate level of IT professionals and we possess the knowledge about our neighbour Russia, which becomes even more significant with the development of the economic cooperation between the EU and Russia. Therefore, taking into account the financing of the ICT allocated to our countries by the EU, we have to carefully and responsibly uptake those appropriations and develop the ICT industry thus raising our competitiveness and improving our balance of export.
Of course, with the rapid development in this sphere the question about the security in internet and information systems brings about. This is a highly important topic also for national security especially in the light of cyber attacks faced by Estonia not so long ago. Therefore I am pleased that the Forum: eBaltics will address this issue widely and hopefully will reach the next level within the long road towards a more acceptable solution.
And last, but not the least as I have stated, the priority of
my presidency is education. This means education at every level
starting from kindergarten and ending with a university education
and lifelong learning. Focusing discussion on ICT related skills
(e-skills) issues should respond to the fast-changing requirements
of the industry and ensure that every citizen is digitally literate
in a lifelong learning context, which has great importance for
improving our economies as well as our education systems. Only in
this way we will be able to meet the needs of the labour market and
build sufficient intellectual potential and contribute to the
creation of a welfare society.
I wish every success and
fruitful exchange of opinions and newest ideas to all of the
participants and organizers of the Baltic IT&T conference.
Valdis Zatlers
President of Latvia
Honorary Chairman
of the Baltic IT&T 2008 Forum: eBaltics
On behalf of the Programme Committee it gives me great pleasure to welcome all participants to the Baltic IT&T 2008 Forum: eBaltics, which has become a well known traditional meeting place in the region, where senior officials from leading ICT companies and from all levels of government come together every year in April to exchange information on prevalent topics affecting the ICTE industry and information society in the Baltics and beyond, within the European and global contexts.
This years Conference will focus on qualitative education for all in the 21st century. Employee eSkills are an absolute necessity for company competitivity, even survival, in a global economy. Different levels of skills are needed, starting from the professional technical level up to the university level. Moreover, the skills are evolving rapidly, keeping pace with the advances in technology. Constant skills upgrading is essential and lifelong skills acquisition and learning strategies are a must. ICT plays a most important role in new ways of managing the learning process and content.
As more and more people become eLiterate, the demand for innovative and qualitative e-services grows in proportion, both in the public and the private sectors. Appropriate European and individual country policies for creating environments that foster the creation of innovative and secure services play a key role. Secure information exchange and identity management are crucial for the e-services to be trusted and used by the citizens and businesses. Innovative e-services case studies will also be presented. Current trends affecting the ICT industry development and the role of Chief Information Officers will be examined.
Leading up the Baltic IT&T 2008 Forum, strategies for
collaboration among community telecenters will be discussed at a two
day European Telecentre Leaders Forum with the objective
of ensuring better community access and collaboration through the
public access Internet infrastructure points. Seminars and workshops
on April 9 will discuss topics of particular interest, such as
eHealth plans and innovative SMEs.
May all participants
take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the numerous
venues of this years Forum. I take this occasion to thank all the
session and workshop organisers, leaders, speakers, and panellists
for their most valuable contribution in making the event a success.
The active participation of our sponsors is greatly appreciated.
Imants Freibergs
Chairman of the Programme
Committee
Baltic IT&T 2008 Forum
President, Latvian
Information and Communications Technologies Association (LIKTA)