INNOVATIONS AND USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN LATVIA.

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]