LATVIA – Ministry of Environment and Regional Development
According to the Ministry of Environment and Regional Development, on 14-15 December 2022, the Ministerial Meeting of the Digital Economy Policy Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development took place in Spain, focusing on long-term recovery and promotion of economic growth, as well as reliable and sustainable use of digital technologies. Latvia was represented by a delegation headed by Gata Ozola, Undersecretary of State for Digital Transformation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.
In the discussion, Undersecretary of State Gatis Ozols shared the work done by the Ministry in digital transformation towards green transition, highlighting the developed Action Plan for Transition to Closed Loop Economy 2020-2027, a green procurement initiative.
The Digital Transformation Guidelines for 2021-2027 identified actions as well as government initiatives to use digital opportunities in public administration. There are good examples of practical initiatives in Latvia, for example, “green procurement” already accounts for more than 28% of total public procurement, a mandatory “green procurement” condition has been established for the purchase of state office equipment, and requirements for public systems to become not only more modern, but also more energy efficient have been established. The consolidation of public computing resources, which is one of the most important sources of emissions into the digital sphere, has also begun.
The conference also announced the creation of a Global Technology Forum to provide a venue to assess future technological developments and their impact on the values and rights of people in democracies, and to discuss necessary actions for managing future technologies.
