. Presentation at the international conference Knowledge Society and Implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in Europe and Latvia Riga, October 2004 organized by the Banking Institution of Higher Education in cooperation with the UNDP Latvia, the Municipality of Riga, SPACE International Association - Network for Language and Business Studies, the Forward Studies Unit (Latvia), "Consort Ltd." (Latvia).

The Lisbon Strategy, set out in 2000, is a commitment to bring about economic, social and environmental renewal. We, in Europe and Latvia, participate in a process to make the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive economy that will drive job creation alongside social and environmental policies to ensure sustainable development and social inclusion. This is the process towards Knowledge Societies of Europe.

To Bridge Knowledge Society Foresight and Latvia By Dr Arturs Puga Forward Studies Unit, Riga

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY ? We can think about Knowledeg Society that it involves intersection of several interrelated trends We, our children lie and will live within intersection of these challenging trends and processes Why and how can we use Knowledge Society framework in research as well as in everyday’s practice? Knowledge Society thinking and research instrument – foresight activities

‘ Foresight constitutes a systematic attempt to observe the long-term future of science, technology, society, the economy and their mutual interactions in order to generate knowledge with which to effect social, economic and environmental improvements based on well founded projections. However,it is not enough to establish a clear and efficient technology to conduct foresight. It is also vitally important to ensure that foresight outcomes are taken into consideration in policy debates and decision making. Only in this way can its maximum benefits be obtained.’ EU foresight conference, Seville, 2002 Foresight – instrument for European policies, Lisbon strategy research and implementation

Forsaits (forsaita aktivitātes) ir sistēmiska domāšana, kopīga apspriešana, vidēja un ilgtermiņa nākotnes priekšstatu un projekciju veidošana politikai un stratēģijām, skatoties uz priekšu un pielietojot starptautiski atzītas metodes Par Eiropas pieredzi: A. Puga. Forsaits un zināšanu vadīšana Lisabonas procesā. Priekšlasījums Saeimas Nākotnes attīstības apakškomisijā,

Issues of Knowledge Society

1) The Development of Information Societies based on the large-scale diffusion and utilization of new IT, which have allowed for unprecedent capabilities in capturing, procession, storing and communicating data & information. Other important developments: GLOBALIZATION 2) The increasing importance of innovation (especially technological but also organizational) as an element of corporative and national competiveness, and in strategies to increase efficiency and effectiveness of organizations of all types. CHANGES in 3)The development of Service Economies in which the bulk of economic activity, employment and output is taking place in service sectors of economy, in which service is an important management principle in organizations in all sectors, and where specilized services (especially Knowledge-Intensive Business Services) are providing critical inputs to organizations in all sectors DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURES CULTURAL PRACTICES 4) Knowledge management arises as a specific issue, as organisations seek to apply formal techniques and information systems to help them make more effective use of their data resources (e.g. data mining), information assets (e.g. Enterprise Resource System) and expertise (e.g. human resource development, groupware and collaborative systems). ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS

Bezprecedenta potenciālas iespējas ‘satvert’, radīt, uzglabāt un izplatīt tālāk datus un informāciju, pamatojoties uz IT attīstību un lietošanu, to nepārtrauktām izmaiņām GLOBALIZĀCIJA Pieaugošā inovāciju (tehnoloģisko un, kas ne mazāk svarīgi, arī organizatorisko) nozīme. Inovācijas kā īpaši svarīgs elements korporāciju un valstu konkurētspējā, kā arī stratēģijās, lai palielinātu visu tipu organizāciju produktivitāti un efektivitāti. KVALITATĪVAS IZMAIŅAS Lielākā daļa saimniecisko aktivitāšu, nodarbinātības un produkcijas tiek īstenota pakalpojumu sektoros tautsaimniecībā, kur pakalpojums ir svarīgs vadīšanas princips visu sektoru organizācijās. Specializētie pakalpojumi (īpaši ar zināšanām pastiprinātie uzņēmējdarbības pakalpojumi) dod svarīgāko ieguldījumu visu sektoru organizācijām strauji pieaugošos apmēros DEMOGRĀFISKAJĀ STRUKTŪRĀ KULTŪRĀ Zināšanu vadīšana iegūst arvien plašāku atzīšanu kā specifiska joma, jo organizācijas cenšas lietot formālas metodes un jaunas informācijas sistēmas, kas palīdz efektīvāk izmantot datu resursus un informāciju, radoši pielietot netveramās vērtības APKĀRTĒJĀ VIDĒ 21.gs. zināšanu sabiedrība, kurā atrodamies un ko veidojam tālāk Lisabonas procesā

In the context of its four-year work programme, Analysing and Anticipating Change to Support Socio- Economic Progress , the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions undertook a foresight project (EUFORIA) concerning the European Knowledge Society. The project was coordinated and led by PREST at the University of Manchester, and the process was jointly managed with project partners in Finland (Futures Research Centre), in Germany (Empirica) and Greece (Atlantis).

EU-US SEMINAR: NEW TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT, FORECASTING & ASSESSMENT METHODS-Seville May 2004 XTREME EUFORIA: COMBINING FORESIGHT METHODS Rafael Popper, Werner B. Korte Project was designed to investigate a mix of living conditions, working conditions and industrial relations with the purpose of identifying positive paths leading the EU15 countries towards a Knowledge Society (KS). Within this context, EUFORIA was also linked to the Lisbon objectives for the EU to become ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, capable of sustained economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.’ The project’s three main objectives were to: (1) increase understanding of the forces shaping the evolution of the EU as a KS; (2) anticipate the potential impacts of the KS on living conditions, working conditions and industrial relations; and (3) identify and support paths to positive transformation (while avoiding those deemed to be unsatisfactory).

All the reports for the EUFORIA project on Knowledge Society Foresight, in one convenient place. Never in the field of Knowledge Society Foresight was so much written by so few in so little time... Ian Miles September 28,

Handbook of the Knowledge Society Foresight Methodology Knowledge Society in Finland Knowledge Society in Germany Knowledeg Society in Greece

The LNELS project ( ) learning space HANDBOOK OF KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY FORESIGHT International Conference, the Banking Institution of Higher Education, 2003

Full title of the interdisciplinary project Latvia towards Knowledge Societies of Europe: new options for entrepreneurship and employment achieving the goals of the Lisbon strategy

Arturs Puga. Social challenges facing Latvia : problems of identification. Foresight research outputs. Latvia in Europe: Visions of the Future. Collection of articles. Baltic Center for Strategic Studies, LAS, Riga, 2004, pp Sociālie izaicinājumi Latvijā: identifikācijas problēmas. Forsaita pētniecības izraises. Latvija Eiropā: nākotnes vīzijas. Rīga: LZA BSPC, 2004, lpp.

Arturs Puga. Social challenges facing Latvia : problems of identification. Foresight research outputs. Latvia in Europe: Visions of the Future. Collection of articles. Baltic Center for Strategic Studies, LAS, Riga, 2004, pp Sociālie izaicinājumi Latvijā: identifikācijas problēmas. Forsaita pētniecības izraises. Latvija Eiropā: nākotnes vīzijas. Rīga: LZA BSPC, 2004, lpp. Available online challenges_facing_Latvia.html

Why and how can we use KS framework and KSF in everyday’s practice?

The methods in the LNELS project Environmental scanning Background intelligence gathering Literature analysis Personal interviews Stakeholders' mapping Conferences/Workshops Brainstorming Delphi European foresight best practice learning

KS - Why and how? To develop a mindset and to act taking into account Knowledge Society developments To understand issues, processes and KSF tools, particular attention to KS language To use KSF instruments online and in mental, physical space (thinking, researching, debates, workshops etc.)

KS in a broad learning framework for a European citizen New fields of inquiries in the 21st century - to research, thinking, debating, shaping Knowledge Society change and renewal

Rethinking the Lisbon strategy way in Latvia, we propose a particular kind of entrepreneurial foresight ‘module’ – a sort of Basics derived from experience and research.

. Reflection on interrelated trends and issues (we are within their intersection) can help to guide decision making related to the entrepreneurial mindset development, innovative learning and entrepreneurial actions

. Reflection on interrelated trends and issues (we are within their intersection) can help to guide decision making related to the entrepreneurial mindset development, innovative learning and entrepreneurial actions to help in political decision-making and implementation

A bottom-up approach By using and developing this model, a ‘learning European citizen’ can both anticipate themselves and interact with other humans, social actors and environment. A framework suitable for future images, trends, maps, research, actions

Knowledge Economy plus... via-knowledge-economy-assessment.htmlhttp://arturspuga.blogspot.com/2004/08/lat via-knowledge-economy-assessment.html

Zināšanu ekonomikas 4 pilāri Izglītības sistēma palīdz radīt zināšanām bagātu (orientētu uz pasaules līmeni ) humāno kapitālu Ekonomiskais un institucionālais modelis veicina zināšanu pielietošanu uzņēmējdarbībā (visos sektoros) un high-tech izmantošanu industriālajā attīstībā Nacionālā inovāciju sistēma vieno privātos uzņēmumus, universitātes, pētniecības centrus jaunu produktu un pakalpojumu radīšanā Informācijas un komunikāciju sabiedrība spēj nodrošināt informācijas pārvadi un izkliedēšanu knowledge-economy-assessment.htmlhttp://arturspuga.blogspot.com/2004/08/latvia- knowledge-economy-assessment.html

Discussion on education and science development in Latvia Latvian TV-1, August 18, 2004 “Kas notiek Latvijā?” – in Latvian Using the EFB framework, we can better understand what is possible in Latvia in the mid-term future

On a such foundation as EFB we can create a new virtual entity that would embrace a process of interaction between individuals, organizations, enterprises; opportunities to develop communities of practice; innovative application of the Basics framework for thinking, knowledge (tacit and explicit) sharing, knowledge fusion and management aiming at possible futures for policies and strategies at all levels. This initiative is called ENTREPRENEURIAL FORESIGHT NETWORK.

For the EFN instruments and infrastructure we see the challenging blog technologies. They are innovative, cheap and users friendly, available for all, easy to learn and apply in everyday’’s practice. the blog opportunities let not only have dialogues at so-called Ba space with thousands of men from the past, the present and the future, but also let in a moment to post information or creative outputs that perhaps are important and suitable for other networkers and many unknown people.

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself" Galileo Galilei

Example 5. Stakeholders mapping as a means for finding champions, supporters and initiators for foresight activities (Latvia) In: BLUEPRINTS FOR FORESIGHT ACTIONS IN REGIONS. FOR-RIS. Experiences and ideas for developing regional foresight in a RIS/ RITTS project context “Extension of already formulated regional innovation strategies using foresight techniques, or conducting foresight in parallel with future strategic policy activities, can produce new alternatives of regional development and contribute to a better development of regional knowledge infrastructure favouring the development regional economy and quality of life.”

HKSF (p.10) "Knowledge Society” is one term that has been introduced in attempts to characterise some of the main developments in industrial societies in the late twentieth and early twenty- first centuries." "...a useful way of thinking about Knowledge Society (KS) is that it involves the intersection of several related trends."

Create your employment options yourself by Knowledge Society / Knowledge Society Foresight instruments Towards implementation of the Lisbon objectives in everyday’s practice

Thanks for attention !