Project “Digital Innovation for Cities” (DigiPlace) partners visited Ventspils

From 29th to 31st March, the partners of the URBACT III interregional cooperation program project DigiPlace visited Ventspils to discuss the achievements of the project and get to know various Ventspils companies, the city itself and the ICT industry in Ventspils together with the representatives of the Ventspils Digital Centre.

During the visit, the project partners from Italy, France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Romania and Finland arrived in Ventspils and visited both the Ventspils Digital Centre and the new Science Centre "VIZIUM" and its exhibits. Representatives of the Ventspils Digital Centre had also prepared a small challenge – a creative workshop where the partners had to create a model of a lighting system in Ventspils using light diodes and other materials. The project partners also visited Ventspils Design workshop "RADE", Ventspils Vocational Technical school and Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre.

The project partners highly appreciated the knowledge and experience of Ventspils Digital Centre in the field of ICT, as well as shared positive impressions about the visit at the new Science Centre "VIZIUM", emphasizing that they would also like such a centre in their city. The guests admitted that in near future they want to visit Ventspils as tourists and visit the science centre after its opening.

The aim of the DigiPlace project is to expand the involvement of the city of Ventspils in the European Union cooperation network with various small and medium-sized cities in Europe to share experiences and set common goals on issues related to the digital development of cities and to develop solutions to common problems. Within the project each partner develops a plan with the purpose to promote the digital development of cities. Within the framework of the project, Ventspils will develop Ventspils digital transformation strategy and action plan for the time frame from the year 2021 to 2027. The strategy is currently in the development process, data has been colected using methodologies developed in the European Union to identify the digital development of cities and regions and the quality of life. Based on the obtained data, it will be possible both to objectively compare the situation in Ventspils with other cities and regions of the European Union, as well as to identify weaknesses and take measures to eliminate them with the aim of making Ventspils city an European level city whose long-term development is facilitated by the widespread use of smart technologies.