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Digitalisation is becoming increasingly important in today's world, as digital technologies are rapidly changing the way we live and work. The COVID-19 outbreak has heavily influenced the way many businesses operate across all sectors linked to both changes in consumer behaviour, social-distancing restrictions and also the availability of resources and services (inc. public services). In many cases the processes digitalised during the pandemic are retained in a digital form also in the post-pandemic recovery thus increasing the overall level of digitalisation and contributing to the transition to Industry 4.0. That refers to additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, blockchain, cloud computing, industrial internet of things, and simulation to achieve increased efficiency, improved accuracy, reduced costs, enhanced communication and collaboration, and greater access to information and resources. These have become priorities for enhancing Europe's long-term competitiveness and will most probably be intensified in the coming years. Meanwhile, it is necessary to take into account the disparities across European Union (EU) member states in the current level of digitalisation and in the prospects of their development. This study aims to assess the digitalisation process of EU member states, its link with the research and development and innovation via factor analysis and regression. The results of the factor analysis determined the component factors and their relations; and the obtained regression model revealed the digitalization factors that can affect economic growth and contribute to GDP per capita thus being the determinants of economic growth in EU member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current global developments that require an increase in efficiency, productivity, and sustainability are affecting fruit and berry growers. Without strategic initiatives at the governmental, non-governmental, and farm levels, the sector might fall behind in the global race for competitiveness. The goal of this study is to examine digitalization solutions in fruit and berry production and analyse whether and how they will impact the economic performance and competitiveness of Latvian farms working in this specific agricultural sector. To achieve this aim, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied, including theoretical analysis of digitalization solutions in agriculture, sectoral analysis, and gathering empirical data from Latvian fruit and berry producers, NGOs, researchers, and technology industry representatives. The results suggest that digitalization leads to increased efficiency and productivity, contributing to competitive advantage of Latvia's agricultural holdings growing fruits and berries. However, numerous recommendations by stakeholders and the authors have been developed in order to accelerate the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the possibilities of introduction of digitalization solutions for enterprises of the fisheries sector of Kurzeme region in Latvia and their impact on the improvement of business operations. The study describes the nature of digitalization, digitalization of the fisheries sector and the theoretical aspects of business models. The characteristics of the fisheries sector in the EU, Latvia and Kurzeme region. Empiric part is based on the individual interviews with business owners in 4 fisheries and a survey of their employees. This paper aims to assess the progress in digital transformation in the fisheries sector and elaborate scenarios for further digital transformation of the sector. The results are summarized in a SWOT analysis, which identified the advantages and disadvantages for digital transformation in the fisheries sector resulting in elaboration of three development scenarios: 1) non-compliance of SMEs in the fisheries sector with the digital transformation; 2) efficient management of the fisheries sector through the expansion of sales networks; 3) implementation of digitalisation tools in all stages of production. Considering obtained results and overall trends in the fisheries sector, implementation of digitalisation tools in all stages of production as suggested by scenario No 3 is the most advisable path to significantly increase the competitiveness of the companies and their exportability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation and the concept of industry 4.0 has revolutionized the tourism industry in recent decades and has become an important aspect for tourism enterprise competitiveness, growth and sustainability. Digitalisation and technological development are changing people's lives, habits, work, behaviour, perceptions and decision making, and have opened new opportunities for travel enterprises to be competitive in the global market. This article provides an analysis of the most recent literature focused on digital transformation in tourism, concept of tourism 4.0 and digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, big data, the Internet of Things, blockchain, mobile technologies, cloud computing, robotics and social media in tourism. The article discusses the main opportunities that affect the digital transformation in tourism. Digitalisation adds value to tourism products and experiences, provides many new opportunities for businesses and helps achieve long-term competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. Innovation and the creation of new technological solutions are highly recommended for tourism enterprises that want to compete, grow and increase productivity and management. The current study also identifies the challenges of digital transformation in tourism and proposes areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although our daily life within a modern society is unimaginable without the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), the COVID-19 crisis really highlighted the ways we can maximise the use of digital technologies in optimising our work in distance working conditions with limited ability to contact each other physically, make direct sales and ensure the physical document rotation. All these limitations have pushed the governmental organisations, enterprises, and households to utilize numerous means of digital services and digital transformation aspects that had been started to be used, but the last year has rapidly pushed forward such aspects of digitalisation as digital sales, distance work using co-working platforms and cloud storage, electronic signature of documents and others. This study aims to assess the trends in online sales and use of e-tools from the perspective of enterprises and individuals in Europe in the sector of bioeconomy with the focus of the Baltic States and Latvia that could be used to strengthen the digitalisation component during and post COVID-19. In this paper, the authors have reviewed the scientific literature, policy planning documents, analysed relevant statistical data, performed statistical analysis, and estimated the tendency of the use of eSignatures in Latvia by applying the Holt's two-parameter model of exponential smoothing. The main results indicate a significant increase in motivation towards digitalisation that has increased rapidly in line with the necessity for an online shopping and distance work setting. Authors suggest supporting this tendency also in the after- COVID life, which would have a great impact on the overall digital transformation and potential to unlock new markets for bio-based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is an important sector of the economy in the European Union (EU) and milk production is one of the most significant agricultural sectors in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania (Baltic countries). It has proven itself as the sector with stable development and future perspective and these countries are substantial producers of milk and milk products. During the last years farms involved in commercial milk production often had substantial modernization, the farmers are motivated to improve animal welfare, feeding and also genetics and hygiene standards, which leads to higher productivity and milk quality, thus providing economic gains to farmers. The purpose of this study is to analyse the dairy sector in the Baltic countries and trends in its historical development. To reach these purposes research tasks were set, which helped analyse the key elements of the dairy sector in the Baltic countries. After joining the EU, the dairy sector in all Baltic countries has changed - small dairy farms could not complete the new technological requirements and hygiene standards of milk production and left the business, thus reducing the amount of dairy cows countrywide, however, farmers generally choose cows with higher genetic potential that can produce more milk in lactation and improve the feeding and welfare conditions that lead to higher productivity. The sector is also heavily influenced by milk price changes in the key markets in the EU and the EU support. However, the dairy sector in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania is still the most important agricultural commodity production sector besides grain production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is an important sector of the economy in the European Union (EU) and milk production is one of the most significant agricultural sectors in Latvia. It has proven itself as the sector with stable development and future perspective. The purpose of this study is to analyse the dairy sector in Latvia and trends in its historical development and the future perspectives. To reach these purposes research tasks were set which helped to analyse the key elements of dairy sector in Latvia. This study allowed to conclude that although the number of dairy cows in Latvia has decrease over the last years this has not affected milk production as the productivity has risen. After joining the EU dairy sector in Latvia has changed - small dairy farms could not complete the new technological requirements and hygiene standards of milk production and left the business thus reducing the amount of dairy cows countrywide. The sector is also heavily influenced by milk price changes in the key markets in EU and EU support. However, dairy sector in Latvia is still the most important agricultural commodity production sector besides grain production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming in Latvia is becoming more and more popular. The number of certified organic farms in Latvia increases annually. In 2016, the number of certified organic farms was 4147. The number of companies offering organic products as well as the number of consumers who are willing and able to buy these products is increasing. However, organic products are relatively expensive and less affordable than conventional products, which makes it difficult for farms to sell their produce, thus hindering the development of the regions. Therefore, co-operation can be one way of dealing with such a problem because not all farmers can be entrepreneurs and sell their products in the market. A survey of organic farming enterprises has been conducted in order to find out their opinions of cooperation and collaboration with other farmers. After analysing all the data, it has been concluded that only 15% are the members of any kind of cooperation, however more than a half has expressed the wish to collaborate. Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP), three scenarios have been made, according to which organic farming enterprises should work in order for the industry to develop. Based on the opinions of experts, organic farming in Latvia would develop if the enterprises were involved in cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the widespread concern about the staggering effects of climate change, particularly in the agricultural sector, has become very serious. It has been agreed that the inter-annual, monthly and daily distribution of climate variables such as temperature, radiation, precipitation, water vapour pressure in the air and wind speed affects a number of physical, chemical and biological processes that drive the productivity of agriculture. Thus, understanding the possible consequences of climate change in agriculture matters for designing adaptation policies intending to minimise negative consequences and maximise positive effects. This research study aims to identify and evaluate risks in agriculture in the context of climate change. The results of this research study reflects the forecasts of the changing climate and the following effects to agriculture and summarises the political framework of assessing and mitigating climate change and the risks related to it. The paper also describes the impact of agriculture on the national economy and characterises social and economic values of this sector. Overall, the evaluation shows that agriculture is affected by a set of risks that may not be very high individually, but can cause serious damage to crop yields if a certain combination of the risks occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is a specific industry of the national economy that is subject to permanent economic, political, environmental and other changes. For this reason, credible and unbiased projections of its development are necessary, which take into account various conditions, including climate change. Agricultural modelling is widely used to assess and simulate the development of the agricultural industry; it has two key purposes: to contribute to the scientific understanding of a particular system and to analyse and project the effects of policies made and support instruments applied. The scientific literature provides a lot of information on modelling and simulation of dynamic systems. Therefore, the overall aim of the present research is to examine the key agricultural production and market forecasting models employed in the EU. To achieve the aim, the following specific research tasks are defined: 1) to analyse the theoretical aspects of simulation modelling; 2) to examine the key agricultural simulation models employed in the EU, including Latvia. The research has found that in the European Union (EU) diverse models by the approach and scope are employed for developing outlook of agriculture or its individual sectors. However, the most widely-used global and EU level models not always meet all the needs to accurately simulate the agricultural changes in the Member States level. For these reasons, in 2015 and 2016 two agriculture simulation models were developed in Latvia in order to project the potential development of agriculture and the key challenges related to climate change policies more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The daily life within a modern society is unimaginable without the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Also the use of collaborative work and fail storage platforms becomes increasingly popular. These technologies contribute to making the work fast and efficient and allow working together in multinational groups with no geographic constraints. Such processes advance the dynamics of work and the ability to create ideas without the limitations of the physical location. Thus people that can work with these technologies and are also creative and innovative are the key factor of successful entrepreneurship. Therefore, investment in human capital is considered highly important and enterprises orienting towards new knowledge, creativity, innovative ideas and skills are strong rivals of the traditionally oriented enterprises. The aim of this study is to analyse the links of the use of ICT in Latvia with the innovation activity and compare the national situation with the situation in the European Union (EU). The results of this study indicate that Latvia is reaching low results in both innovation and the use of ICT comparing to other member states and the use of ICT would need to be enhanced for the improvement of innovation potential and competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the gradually declining number of horses, horsemanship has long-standing and strong traditions in Latvia; although, the role of horses and the equine sector in general has changed tremendously during the past century. If 50-100 years ago horses were mainly kept in rural farms and used for transportation, agriculture and forestry, and the main product of the equine sector was the horse itself, then, currently the equine sector has changed to become a sector that provides mostly services -- trail rides, riding lessons, horse boarding, and recreation. The horse, which traditionally has been a core product, remains only as one component of the equine sector. Contemporary, challenges related with animal welfare, environmental issues, horse and service quality, safety issues, economic performance, and financial support available for equine businesses as well as new trends in customer needs require equine entrepreneurs both the ability to adapt to rapid changes and innovative solutions. These issues were investigated during the INNTEREG IV project "Equine Industries Promoting Economically Competitive and Innovative Regions" (INNOEQUINE) from 2011 to 2013. This article highlights the current structure of the equine sector, presents statistical data analysis and the results of three focus group discussions regarding the challenges and possible solutions for advancement of the equine sector and its performance in Latvia. The authors conclude that, even though, the number of horses is decreasing, the equine sector shows a development potential for the future that should be promoted with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach for developing and marketing new services within the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting biogas production to generate energy is associated with several EU policy initiatives such as increasing the output of electricity and thermal energy, energy independence, and the reduction of GHG emissions. To reach both, the international and the national policy targets, all EU member states use several support mechanisms. In Latvia four support mechanisms are used - obligatory state purchase of electricity, guarantee of a set price, release from paying the electricity tax for the energy, produced from the renewable resources and public (EU structural fund) funding for investments. In few recent years in Latvia, the support mechanisms described above had created a motivating support system for joining the biogas production sector, but due to the pressure of enterprises and households the government intends to change the support policy and the amount of the support for electricity production from biogas. It creates instability and increases political risks for biogas producers thus obstructing the development of the sector. The current article reviews the integration of the risk assessment results and changes in the governmental support policy for biogas production in the dynamic model of the farm level biogas production and estimates the impact of political risks and current changes in the support policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015 in Latvia, livestock products accounted for 36.6 % of the total final value of agricultural production, including meat production - 15.5 % and egg production - 3.4 %. Beef and pork production stabilised in the last decade, mutton and goat meat production has tended to increase since 2010, while poultry and egg production has shown an increasing trend since 1999 in Latvia in the period 1995-2015. There are all preconditions for the development of these industries in Latvia, which allow expecting growth in the industries. It is determined by globalisation processes: the increasing world population and growing demand for food, rising incomes and change in eating habits. Livestock output is determined, to a great extent, by the number of agricultural animals kept. For this reason, it is important to project the population of agricultural animals for the period until 2050 in order to assess the development of the livestock industries. This paper reflects the projections elaborated by an econometric, recursive, dynamic, multi-period scenario model developed by the authors of this paper in 2016. The model has been developed according to the specifics of every agricultural industry and takes into account the trends in the industries. The present research on the livestock sector exploited only a part of the model functions - calculations were performed for cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry. The results allowed to conclude that the processes in livestock industries were determined by diverse drivers, e.g. increase in productivity, expansion of large livestock farms, export opportunities and the market situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk production is the second most important agricultural sector in Latvia with 17.7 % in the distribution of agricultural final products in 2015. However, the proportion of milk production decreased by 5.3 percentage points in comparison with 2014, reaching the lowest proportion recorded. The agriculture of Latvia depends on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that continuously changes and is reformed. The European Union (EU) decision makers have traditionally used the results of a wide range of quantitative tools in framing their choices among alternative policy instruments. To do it, it is necessary to make long-term projections for the sector. Modelling is a way of solving problems that occur in the real world. There are two important motivations for agricultural model development; 1) scientific understanding; 2) decision making or policy support. In 2016, the Latvia University of Agriculture developed the Latvian Agricultural Sector Analysis Model to simulate the development of agriculture and its key sectors for the period until 2050. The present paper reflects part of the research results - a simulation of dairy farming and a projection made for it. The following factors were taken into account when simulating the dairy sector of Latvia: commercial sales of milk, consumption of milk for food, consumption of milk for feed, milk prices, milk yields, the number of dairy cows, costs (total, as well as feed, labour and investment costs and depreciation expense), and the produced projection is useful for making policies and applying special support instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation and development of innovations is unimaginable without some particular system. Innovation systems approaches may be classified as national, regional and sectorial, and individual system elements may be analysed as well. A national innovation system has been created in Latvia, yet no such a system has been established at the level of individual industries of the national economy. The research aim is to develop an innovation systems approach model for the agricultural industry in Latvia and to assess financial support elements. The national innovation system creates prerequisites for a favourable environment for innovation in the country. Three key sectors are distinguished by the innovation systems approach model for the agricultural industry: 1) farmers; 2) national institutions; 3) service, involved institutions and agents. A number of factors hindering cooperation among institutions affect the creation and introduction of innovations in the agricultural industry. Although support elements are available, they are not exploited sufficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lower price on poultry meat, compared with other meats (beef, pork etc.), affects the increasing demand for poultry meat. The productivity and production cost of broiler chickens are directly related to the amount of feed fed, the proportion of crude protein in the feed, and the biological value and price of the feed. The EU produces only 30% of the protein crops used for feed; thus, the large import of protein feed crops contribute to agricultural instability and production cost increases. To reduce the consumption of imported protein feeds and the production cost of poultry meat, it is necessary to assess opportunities to use a domestic protein crop as faba beans. The research aim is to identify economic gains from the production of broiler chicken meat if using domestic faba beans in broiler chicken diets. Specific research tasks are as follows: 1) to identify the effect of the use of faba beans on the cost of broiler chicken feed; 2) to assess changes in broiler chicken productivity due to faba bean diets. It is economically efficient to replace soybean protein with domestically produced faba beans in the feed ration for broiler chickens; it provides an adequate amount of crude protein and reduces the feed conversion ratio and production costs. A faba bean ration in the broiler chicken diet provides the broilers with necessary nutrients, thereby contributing to their growth and increases in their live weight, reducing feed costs and resulting in increases in economic return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]