BITL scholarship recipients meet with the finance and technology companies providing their scholarships

Baltic IT Leadership (BITL) program scholarships recipients met with their sponsors to discuss their future plans.  Several companies representing the Latvian financial sector and representatives of the IT sector met with the students of Riga Business School recently. For the fourth year, Riga Business School (a structural unit of RTU) is providing the interdisciplinary Baltic IT Leadership program in Latvia. Future leaders study computer sciences and programming, as well as basics of business administration, leadership, data management and accounting. Representatives of the sponsoring companies met to discuss with the young people the course and quality of studies.

In 2018, representatives of several sectors and educational sector leaders concluded that interdisciplinary IT and business education should be strengthened in Latvia. This would promote and foster a knowledge base in IT also for specialists in other sectors. The Baltic IT Leadership program opened in 2019, thanks to the goodwill of companies in the finance and IT industry which provided scholarships for the students of this program. 

In total, twenty one  Riga Business School students receive support from companies to cover their tuition for this interdisciplinary program. This year the first class will graduate from this program. The total funding provided until the end of this study year is  EUR 263,000. In total, eleven companies offer scholarships in Riga Business School. 

When the program started, the following companies answered the call and  supported the young people – SEB bank, Luminor bank, Swedbank, BluOr bank, bank Citadele, as well as IT companies Squalio, TietoEvry Latvia and WeAreDots. This year, Uniso and Httpool joined this group of supporters, as well as Sanda Liepiņa, Chairperson of the Riga Business School Advisory Board as an individual scholarship provider.

Currently, when Latvia is investing significant resources in improving the quality of higher education, support of industry is essential to guarantee that, on the one hand, programs are tailored to the needs of the companies, and, on the other hand, students receive the financial support that they need. Historically, funding for higher education in Latvia is guaranteed by the state or financed by the student himself or herself. However, now,  Latvia has begun following the practice of the best educational establishments in the world where funding is provided by the state and students and, in addition, the private sector is also involved. The importance of private sector funding will continue to grow and be relevant. The main theme that was expressed both by the partners and students are opportunities. During our meeting with students and scholarship providers we focused a lot on the opportunities this scholarship offers to students. The program  is an opportunity to open the doors wider to the world and the possibility to pursue higher education in a  prestigious university which this year has received the highest evaluation in Latvia – 4 Palmes of Excellence in the Eduniversal ranking of best business schools.

Claudio Rivera
Riga Business School Bachelor Programs Director

The BITL program has brought a new perspective in the sustainable education direction, combining the specific professional knowledge essential for the IT sector with the expertise required by the modern manager. I am truly grateful that the contribution of this program has been appreciated also by the leading members of the Latvian financial industry, as well as the leading technology companies. Thanks to your support to the students of RBS BITL program in the form of scholarships, RBS can provide the opportunity of modern interdisciplinary education to a larger number of students. Also with great satisfaction I observe how recipients of scholarships will be able to multiply the means invested in scholarships many times, working in Latvian financial and technology companies! This type of young professionals and managers will be able to apply their knowledge sustainably and responsibly!

Viesturs Kuļikovskis
Entrepreneur, and Co-Chairperson of Riga Business School Advisory Board

BITL first-year student, recipient of the SEB bank scholarship: “I was faced with a big decision when choosing where to obtain my Bachelor’s degree. Considering both European and local schools, I decided in favor of the Riga Business School BITL program because of  its unique combination where business administration knowledge is complemented with technology management, thus creating a strong professional advantage in the labor market and the opportunity to work in the job that I want.

Mārtiņš Prokuratovs
BITL first-year student, recipient of the SEB bank scholarship

Currently, more than 250 Bachelor program students, more than 200 MBA and Executive MBA students are studying at the Riga Business School. Almost 2000 students have graduated from Riga Business School.