Last week, 36 education, policy, and business leaders took part in a program led by the Education Innovation Laboratory in Boston, United States of America. Under the guidance of the world’s best universities, the program’s goal was to promote cooperation between Latvian higher education institutions, entrepreneurs, and policy makers in developing innovation, as well as exploring and discussing examples of cooperation to integrate science-based solutions into business.
During the program, participants received practical advice and case studies of collaboration from some of the world’s top universities – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), its Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL), and Harvard University. The universities shared practical examples of how to work with companies, NGOs, and private funders to develop and commercialize innovations.
Three partners are responsible for designing and developing the Education Innovation Laboratory. The Ministry of Education and Science funds the project, Riga Business School, as a structural unit of Riga Technical University, ensures the implementation of the project, and the main strategic partner in these programs is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Education Laboratory MIT J-WEL.
Our aim in supporting this program at the national level is to build a strong and excellence-driven higher education leadership. The importance of education is particularly salient now. Longer lifespan, technology, and global challenges are making everyone aware of the need for continuous learning, so further embedding higher education reform and increasing effectiveness and leadership development will be high on the Ministry’s agenda.
Santa Šmīdlere
State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science
I am pleased that this program in Boston brought together education leaders and policy makers, so that together we could look for growth scenarios for Latvia. We are partners in an elite higher education community, and we are gaining knowledge and experience from some of the world’s most distinguished academics and researchers. We will use this knowledge to strengthen Latvian higher education and science to compete globally and achieve great results.
Tālis Juhna
Rector of Riga Technical University
I am grateful that the friendship with MIT J-WEL, which started in 2019, and the subsequent cooperation agreement now allows Latvian education leaders and experts to gain practical experience in various areas – collaboration with industry, research activities, and fundraising – at the world’s most outstanding universities. We are the only MIT J-WEL partner in the Baltic States, but, based on our own experience, we want the education sector as a whole to have the opportunity to draw inspiration from the best.
Claudio Rivera
Director of Riga Business School
After Riga Technical University and Riga Business School signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with MIT’s J-WEL on September 16, 2021, the Latvian Education Leaders Program was launched in Latvia. On June 3, 2022, representatives of the institutions signed a letter of intent to establish the Education Innovation Laboratory in Latvia with the aim of supporting economic development through higher education and science.
MIT J-WEL is an education laboratory affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world’s top universities (ranked 1st in the QS World University Ranking 2023), with the aim of strengthening collaboration with other universities in the world and promoting excellence and transformation in education worldwide.
The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within project No. 1.1.1.5/18/I/008, „Support for RTU International Cooperation Projects in Research and Innovation.”
