The "Open Europe: Open Data for Open Society" conference is one of the most important events in the field of information and communication technology during the Latvian Presidency. It is organised by the Latvian Open Technology Association (LATA) in cooperation with the PROVIDUS t hink tank and ManaBalss.lv social initiative platform. The conference will bring together 200 participants from 16 EU Member States.

The aim of the conference is to promote the development and strengthening of the European information society . At the conference, experts will share their experiences and present opportunities for the use of open data, as well as Latvian and international achievements in the reuse of information. After the discussions, proposals will be drawn up for the EU-level policy programming documents – the European Citizens' Initiative and the Digital Agenda for Europe.

The event will bring together many high-level experts from Europe. Dr. Bastiaan van Loenen from the Delft University of Technology, who is the author of over 100 publications in the field of open data, will focus on privacy issues regarding geographical data – one the most widely used data sets in the public sector. The Director of the innovative UK start-up company Spend Network, Ian Makgill, will share his experience in the use of open data not only for creating new products and jobs, but also for making profit. Nuria de Lama, the Spanish representative of the Atos Research & Innovation group to the European Commission, will present her point of view regarding big data challenges in Europe.

A presentation on open data policy in Latvia will be given by Arnis Daugulis, the Deputy State Secretary for ICT at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development and Toms Ceļmillers, the Senior Consultant of the Information Society Policy Division at the Electronic Government Department. The Head of the Information System Development and Support Division at the Latvian Register of Enterprises, Mārtiņš Štāls, will share his experience of opening data. The discussion on creating an open society and the European Citizens’ Initiative will be led by the senior policy analyst at the PROVIDUS Centre for Public Policy, Iveta Kažoka.

The target audience of the conference is made up of representatives from the public, private and non-governmental sectors who are involved or interested in building open society policy in Latvia and the EU or is the target audience of the conference.

The conference and discussion will take place on 17-18 February in Jelgava and Riga. Participation is free of charge. Transport to the discussions held in Jelgava will be provided free of charge.The discussions and conferences will be broadcast live on the portal www.delfi.lv.

More information on the events, lecturers, experts and registration is available on the LATA website.

The event is funded by the State of Latvia. The main sponsor of the conference is Lattelecom. The event is also supported by DPA and IBM.

Additional information and application.