The Latvian Open Technology Association is calling on the Ministry of Economy to make open standards and open technologies one of the core themes of the ministry's business education efforts. The group published a statement on Wednesday, pleading for a continuation of funding of ICT training for Latvian companies. The ministry earlier this week announced a four-fold reduction in the budget for such trainings.

The association (LATA) wants the ministry to continue to provide financial support for training companies of all sizes in the use of ICT. "Businesses get the maximum effect from the right skills to use open technologies and open standards." The association argues that this type of ICT solutions makes companies more efficient. It also helps to improve the interoperability of solutions and services.

Apart from stressing open technology, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group explained this morning that the planned cuts on training subsidies will also directly impact its members. This includes large ICT companies that previously used the funds to train their staff as well as firms that provide ICT trainings.

Latvia's Ministry of Economy is currently preparing its 2014 - 2020 plans for the use of European Social Funds. It announced that it intends to reduce the budget for ICT training to 5.25 million lats (about 7.51 million euro) and to restrict these to small and medium-sized businesses. The spokeswoman: "This means that large companies will no longer have access to co-financing for ICT training." Between 2007 and 2013, over 20 million lats (about 29 million euro) was available for grants to train employees.

According to LATA, many Latvian ICT companies are using the European fund to improve ICT skills and gain knowledge of new technologies.

More information:
Press statement by LATA (in Latvian)