European funds to be used to digitize study processes at Latvian universities

RIGA - The digitization of the study process will be implemented in Latvian universities by the end of 2029 with financial support from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the government decided on Tuesday.

The modernization will cover four study support systems: integrated digital resource and library management with extensive artificial intelligence support for search and content processing, modern student internship management, study process evaluation and management of the use of personal data in student research.

Listing the benefits of the project, the Education and Science Ministry said students will be able to choose courses at different universities in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe, gain micro-qualifications and create a tailor-made study plan.

E-diplomas, student e-files, as well as a unified internship management and digital library system are to be introduced to allow public institutions to automatically exchange data. The introduction of shared systems will improve the use of public resources, reducing costs by 10-15 percent compared to tailor-made solutions, the ministry said.

The measure will be implemented in two phases with a total funding of EUR 33.4 million, 85 percent of which will be covered by ESF+.

In the first round, the development and implementation will be carried out by the Single Service Centre, which is composed of four science universities - the University of Latvia, the Riga Stradins University, the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies and the Riga Technical University. The students represented by these four universities represent more than 66 percent of the total number of students in Latvia, or 49,200 students.

The second round of the grant program will be announced with a total funding of EUR 10 million to introduce new digital solutions in all Latvian public and private universities and colleges. Funding will be open to both individual and collaborative projects.

The ministry provides the funding for the project and is also responsible for the development of the regulatory framework, cooperation with the Single Service Center and project monitoring.