On December 2, the event “Digital Direction: Klaipėda” took place at the Klaipėda Science and Technology Park.
The event was attended by both business and public sector personnel and IT department employees, students, startups, and all those who seek to constantly improve their professional competencies in the rich, dynamic and rapidly digitizing professional activities of information and communication technologies (ICT) and artificial intelligence tools.
The event was organized by Klaipėda State College, Klaipėda Science and Technology Park (KSTP), Klaipėda Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts – the consortium of partners implementing the activities of the international project INVESTech in Lithuania.
CoVe – the first such center in Lithuania
Jurgita Raišytė, Deputy Director for Strategic Development of the Public Institution Klaipėda State College, opened the event with a presentation in which she presented the idea of the first vocational excellence center in Lithuania planned to be established under the project, the goals set for the center, and the areas of activity. Under the project INVETech (Innovation Vocational Excellence and Sustainability in Tech), the goal of which is to promote the development of innovation vocational excellence and sustainability technologies, the planned CoVe (Centres of Vocational Excellence) center will operate in Klaipėda, in the premises of the Klaipėda Science and Technology Park.
This is an international network center supported by the European Union, the main goal of which is to create a top-level training ecosystem. Partners from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania and Slovakia are participating in the project, and the training programs they have developed will be integrated into the project’s common training platform and available to everyone seeking to deepen their international ICT competencies.
The need for digitalization competencies in the region is obvious
Similar centers of professional excellence are already successfully operating in countries such as Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Spain. This would be the first center of its kind in Lithuania. Its significance for the labor market was also emphasized by Jūratė Kažukauskienė, Chief Specialist of the Employment Service under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.
The planned activities of the center – improving the quality of vocational training, aligning training content with labor market needs, developing regional competency ecosystems, promoting international cooperation and creating innovation centers – are currently extremely relevant both for those seeking to establish themselves in new job positions and for already working specialists who need to constantly update their knowledge of ICT trends.
It is planned that the CoVe center will provide training on the following topics: artificial intelligence and ethics, big data (Big Data), blockchain technologies, the Internet of Things, quantum computing, ICT application for sustainability, Industry 5.0. Entrepreneurship and summer academies, hackathons, and networking events will also be organized.
The value of partnerships in the CoVe Centre of Professional Excellence
The INVETech project will focus on promoting cooperation and exchange of good practices between centres of professional excellence, science, business and other stakeholders. Therefore, vocational schools, colleges, universities, ICT and industrial companies and public sector organisations are invited to become partners of the CoVe Centre.
Participation in the activities of the CoVe Centre will provide partners with the opportunity not only to participate in training, but also to provide expert services themselves, develop training content, contribute to the coordination of the regional ecosystem, the creation of innovations and create conditions for improving the qualifications of the organisation’s employees.
Technology that is changing finance, business and the public sector – Blockchain
Ignas Aničas, a partner of the future CoVe Center, an expert in innovation and digital solutions, introduced Blockchain (lit. block chain) to the event participants – a decentralized data storage technology that allows information to be stored and transmitted securely, transparently and without a central manager. The main advantages of such a system: security, transparency, decentralization, increasing trust.
Blockchain is like a digital book in which all records are stored publicly, securely and without the possibility of deleting or changing them. It is a technology that is already changing finance, business and the public sector.
A report on the positive impact of technology and artificial intelligence on the efficiency of employee task performance was presented at the event by Alina Steponavičienė, RPA analyst at Robodam UAB.
This project has been co-financed by the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project number: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PEX-COVE-101143958
