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After entering the main door of the Latvian National Library, on the left there is a vibrant green room with lots of different screens and devices. This is the Riga IT Demo Centre that invites guests of the Presidency to get to know of Latvian success stories in the field of IT and to find ways of cooperating with Latvian IT entrepreneurs.
Once inside the Riga IT Demo Centre, visitors can leave the daily hustle and bustle behind for a while – it is possible, for example, to take a virtual tour around the world or to travel everywhere in Latvia (Giraffe 360o, 360o Tours) and to see works of art from other museums across the river Daugava (Lattelecom, Mobile Art museum application). Visitors to the Centre can also try out the world's first soft wireless microphone (CatchBox, Throwable wireless microphone), which is happily being used by Presidency moderators, and listen to his or her favourite music from modified water buckets (Real Sound Lab, Audio equalizer and software)! Each visitor to the Centre can also receive a souvenir printed on a 3D printer, depicting the building of the National Library (Mass Portal, 3D delta printer).
Photo: Mārtiņš Vilcēns, MakeArt
Discover innovative Latvia!
The Riga IT Demo Centre depicts Latvia as an innovative, original country which is well prepared for the digital era, and demonstrates why development of the digital industry in Europe is one of the priorities of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Come and discover the IT Demo Centre:
- Check if the Latvian-built biometric data system is able to accurately determine the birth year of every visitor to the Riga IT Demo Centre (DPA, Biometry) and evaluate the latest-generation system which, using a phone camera, avoids the need to invent numerous login passwords (DPA ACTO, Capturein);
- Find out about the world-class data storage systems or clouds (DEAC Data centres) and mobile apps for various business needs (Exigen Services Latvia, Mobile Enterprise Applications) produced in Latvia;
- Try intelligent robots which have been created by Latvian IT and engineering technology students and have won international IT sporting competitions (Riga Technical University, Mini sumo roboti), and unique machine translation tools that provide easy translation of various texts from Latvian along with information about Latvia. One of these tools has been specifically designed for the needs of the Latvian Presidency and is accessible for foreign journalists working in the Presidency Media Centre (Tilde, Translate 2015). The machine translation tool Hugo.lv that enabled the development of Translate 2015 has been nominated for the prestigious World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Project Prize under the category “Cultural Diversity and Identity, Linguistic Diversity and Local Content.”
- Find out how parents and teachers cooperate in supervising the learning process of students by using digital solutions (DEAC, E-klase), and help to determine the competences needed for workers in different occupations (Baltic Computer Academy, Employee competencies game);
- Learn how readers can engage in the library digitisation process (Datakom, Colibrum - Reading Goes Social ) and how to avoid queues in public institutions by using more than 2 000 e-services in the Latvija.lv portal;
- Observe your own thoughts with the help of the Kinect motion sensor (Connection.codes, Interactive Multimedia Solutions).
And that is not all! In addition to the demo environments, the Riga IT Demo Centre has established an IT portfolio which presents more than 70 solutions developed by around 30 Latvian companies. All the solutions can be viewed at the Riga IT Demo Centre and explored on the Riga IT Demo Centre website.
Photo: Mārtiņš Vilcēns, MakeArt
Platform for cooperation and development
22 years since the country's first internet connection, Latvia has developed one of the fastest and most affordable internet services in Europe. Access to internet, appropriate education, creativity and a desire to create practical solutions have directly contributed to the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT).
"The Riga IT Demo Centre is a platform of national importance on which it is possible to show the local and global community the outstanding achievements and accomplishments of Latvian IT companies. These solutions confirm the knowledge and excellence of our IT specialists and their ability to create extensive social and economic added value," says Aiga Irmeja, the executive director of Latvian IT cluster (the founder of the IT Demo Centre).
The Riga IT Demo Centre not only offers practical demonstrations, but also hosts delegations, organises cross-sectoral seminars, promotes an interest in IT and education among young people and is a driving force for IT industry-related issues in Latvia. The Centre also serves as a platform for operators in the Latvian IT sector, promoting cooperation at local and international level.
All guests of the Presidency are invited to use their coffee breaks to visit the IT Demo Centre and find out what Latvia has to offer. As of July the Centre will be open to everyone visiting the Library.
