Agrita Kiopa, a director at Latvia’s science ministry, tells Jenny Maukola of the country’s ambitions to modernise its research and innovation policies.
To anyone who arrives in Riga, it’s clear that Latvia is excited about its first opportunity to host the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers. The National Library of Latvia is decorated with a huge EU2015.LV logo advertising the country’s time at the helm of EU political discussions. The library complex was completed last summer, just in time for it to host a range of events to mark the six-month presidency.
However, the presence of the shiny, modern building—which hosted a presidency conference on smart specialisation on 12 and 13 February—cannot mask the fact that Latvia is one of several victims of a widening innovation gap in the EU. Despite being a decade into its EU membership, the country still wins far less per capita from the Framework programme than stalwarts such as Germany, the UK and the Nordics. This is something that Agrita Kiopa, the director of science at the education and science ministry, says the country is desperate to change.
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