On 15 April 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft Regulation* of the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (MoSARD) on European Union funds investments for improving digital skills of citizens and employees of state and local government institutions.
Inga Bērziņa, Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development, says: "Citizens' digital skills are essential for their full participation in social and economic processes. That is why the main task of our Ministry is to bridge the digital divide so that all citizens are able to use the services offered by both the state and local governments in the digital environment. This is another step forward towards the Digital Decade goals, which call for all key public services to be online by 2030 and for at least 80% of the population to have basic digital literacy. Digital skills are not a luxury, they are a modern necessity. This is a long-term priority for the Government - to ensure that everyone in Latvia, regardless of age or where they live, can use digital opportunities safely and confidently."
The investments are intended to promote the development of digital self-service skills in society, to improve the digital skills of the staff of the single customer service centres of state and local governments, as well as to promote the use of community- and business-oriented digital opportunities and platforms, thus increasing the use of information and communication technologies and reducing the digital divide in society.
The European Commission has set the Digital Decade 2030 targets to ensure that all key public services are 100% online for citizens and businesses and that 80% of the population has at least a basic level of digital self-service skills to make effective use of digital services offered by public and local authorities.
Given that the level of basic digital literacy of the Latvian population is below the EU average (45.3% compared to 55.6% EU average), targeted education and awareness-raising activities are needed to promote the full use of public services available online.
The measure will support the improvement of citizens' digital self-service skills, training of employees of the Unified customer service centres of state and local governments, as well as communication activities on digital solutions for citizens.
The project is expected to train at least 13 600 citizens in advanced digital self-service skills, as well as 400 employees of state and municipal unified customer service centres. The staff of the Unified Customer Service Centres of the national and local governments will advise, encourage and support everyone in the society in the use of e-services and various digital tools (eID card, e-signature, e-address), so that everyone, regardless of their digital skills, will be able to receive the services they need electronically. For several years now, the Unified Customer Service Centres of the national and local governments have proven to be an important step in improving access to public services.
One project is planned under the measure, which will be implemented by the Ministry of Regional Development and Innovation, as the line ministry responsible for digital transformation. The total currently available funding for the implementation of the project activities will be EUR 3.65 million, including EUR 3.1 million from the European Social Fund Plus and EUR 547 thousand from the state budget.
*European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, specific support objective 4.2.4 “Promote lifelong learning, in particular by offering flexible skills development and retraining opportunities for all, taking into account entrepreneurial and digital skills, better anticipating change and the need for new skills based on labour market needs, facilitating career transitions and promoting professional mobility” implementing rules for measure 4.2.4.3 “Developing digital skills”
