Latvian
IT
Cluster
Established: 2000
Re‐established: 23rd of November, 2007 Turnover (2008): 142 MEUR in 2008, ca 76MEUR in 2009 Employees (2008): 2500 in 2008, ca 1900 in 2009 Export countries: Scandinavia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine,
South Eastern Europe, USA and others Export, % of TO: ca 30% in 2008, 35%‐40% in 2009
Member Company segments
‐ Banking & Finance
‐ Public (government/municipality)
‐ Cross‐industry
‐ Business
‐ Health & Insurance
‐ Education & IT Training
‐ IT outsourcing
Innovation spirit partners in Latvia
‐ BA School of Business and Finance
‐ Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science
‐ Rezekne Higher Education Institution
‐ Riga Business school
‐ Riga Stradins University
‐ Riga Technical University
‐ The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
‐ Transport and Telecommunication Institute
‐ University of Daugavpils
‐ University of Latvia
‐ Ventspils High Techology park
‐ Ventspils University College
‐ Vidzeme University of Applied Science
Contact information
Address: Skolas Str. 11, Riga, LV‐ 1010
Contact: Lilita Sparāne Position: CEO
E‐mail: itcluster@itbaltic.com Phone: +371 67089815
Latvia's IT Cluster – Global solutions from local market leaders
Bank card management in Southern Africa, software solutions for banks from New York to Australia, insurance solutions for insurers in Scandinavia and Azerbaijan, maritime monitoring systems for NATO and language technologies for small languages – these are just part of the regional and global reach of member companies of the Latvian IT Cluster.
The Latvian IT Cluster brings together the top information technology companies in Latvia, one of the three Baltic states and a European Union (EU) member, with an emphasis on business and public sector solutions. Established 10 years ago, the IT Cluster is member-financed and member companies are seeking export opportunities in the Baltic-Nordic region and globally.
Cluster companies range from large enterprises with hundreds of software developers and other IT specialists to small, lean teams offering sophisticated, unique products in database management, mobile payments and document management.
Latvian IT companies have world-class competencies in such areas as IT consulting, hardware architecture, networking and data transmission solutions, financial and business management solutions for enterprises and organizations, business analysis solutions, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, finance management, bimetrical and accountancy solutions.
Using these competencies, member companies have developed software and systems that are already on the market, both locally and for export. The Latvian IT industry has delivered products for the public sector, from e-government services to an online e-purchasing system for public authorities.
A glance at our members
For the private sector, Latvia's Financial Management Solutions (FMS) has developed an ERP system, Horizon (renamed from the Latvian Apvārsnis for export markets) that is the market leader in Latvia. FMS CEO Jānis Bergs is currently chairman of the managing board of the IT Cluster.
Clusterpoint , a relatively new start-up, has developed a database architecture and
server that is searchable up to 100 times faster than with previous technologies.
Clusterpoint's solutions are of interest for banking and finance, e-commerce, new
media archives and other customers with large data bases and a need for rapid search.
Clusterpoint products can also be used for internet traffic surveillance, archiving and
analysis for security and auditing purposes, among other applications. The company has obtained British venture capital financing and has established a sales presence in the UK.
Exigen Services, the largest IT company in the Baltics, has its roots in pioneering
Science (IMCS) in the field of business process modeling. The IMCS developed the business process modeling language GRADE, which became the basis for a number of solutions, some of them tailor-made, developed by Exigen and delivered to international customers from Scandinavia to the US and Australia.
Exigen Services specializes in implementing business process streamlining solutions
and the upgrading of existing, complex business IT systems. Its customers include
Wachovia Securities (previously Prudential Securities) in the financial sector, the
US-based online data backup and recovery services company Intronis, the Swedish-based mobile communications group Tele2 and the US medical laboratory management software company CSC.
The Latvian unit of Nordic-owned Tieto, one of the largest IT services companies in Europe, is the global development center for the Tieto group's bank card and payment card services. The company's current Tieto Card Suite solution is derived from payment card management systems developed by the Latvian company Konts in the 1990s and acquired by Tieto (then called TietoEnator) in 1998. At the time Konts was considered the largest software company specializing in information systems for the financial services sector in Latvia. Card solutions developed for Tieto in Latvia are used, among others, by banks in South Africa, other African countries and the Middle East.
Tieto Enator Alise, the software development, services and systems integration unit of
the Tieto group in Latvia, has been honored by Oracle Magazine in 2009, which
named Raimonds Simanovskis from TietoEnator Alise as Developer of the Year. On the domestic mobile payments market, CityCredit has developed the Mobilly
service, which allows paying with a mobile phone for a range of services from parking fees to commuter train tickets, taxi rides, pizza deliveries, courier mail services and a range of online purchases, including an e-government service, examining property data from the State Land Service.
Nexum Insurance Technologies has sold its insurance management solution to the
Swedish insurance group Länsförsäkringar and If, an insurance company owned by the Finnish Sampo Group. Nexum has also been awarded a public sector contract in Norway to develop a system with which consumers can compare the cost of financial services. It took its first step into the Azerbaijan market by winning a contract to implement its business process automation system at an Azeri insurance company. In 2008 Nexum was awarded with the Innovation and Export award from the Ministry of Economics of Latvia. In 2007, the Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association, awarded its “Platinum Mouse” prize in the Business Development and E-commerce category, to Nexum for an online insurance system it created for the If insurance company.
Nexum is a subsidiary of Tilde, a Latvia company that specializes in language
technologies for small languages and is a participant in several EU projects researching and developing language and translation solutions. It has solutions in software localization, machine translation, spelling and grammar checking, and
contributes to EU projects in multilingual terminology. Tilde’s spelling, grammar and language software is currently used by more than 350 000 users in the Baltic countries – which is considerable given the size of the countries.
Other Latvian companies are ready for a cross-border move with solutions that have proven themselves in the domestic market, especially in the area of e-government at the national and muncipal level.
Lattelecom Technology, a subsidiary of the Lattelecom telecommunications group, has
developed and maintained IT systems and solutions for Latvia's State Compulsory Health Insurance Agency (SCHIA), State Revenue Service, Department of the Interior and Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia as well as the Riga City Council and a number of private sector customers in banking, telecommunications and automotive services.
Also known for its skills in SAP enterprise solutions, Lattelecom Technology has been honored as an Oracle Support Champion.
Although a part of the Lattelecom group, a commercial enterprise, Baltijas Datoru
Akademija (BDA) is part of the training and educational resources linked to the IT
Cluster. BDA in English stands for Baltic Computer Academy. BDA is the biggest computer training center in Baltic countries. BDA's team has been in IT training and certification business since 1994.
BDA is Microsoft Gold Certified partner in learning solutions, a Cisco partner in
learning solutions, an European Council training partner, Hewlett- Packard
Authorized training center, LotusAuthorized Education Center, Novell Gold Certified partner, ElementK e-learning provider, Prometric and VUE Authorized Testing Center and an Oracle certified education centre.
DataPro, a company with around 50 employees, has developed a rental real estate
management system that can be used by both municipal housing authorities and private landlords. The system keeps track of maintenance and repairs, stores rental agreements and other legal documents, and handles invoicing of rental and other fees, as well as giving managers an ongoing overview of the physical and financial state of the properties under management.
AA Projekts has developed territorial planning and document management systems for
the Latvian public sector, including the Ministry of Agriculture. It recently started work on developing systems for the Latvian State Border Guards, including digital maps, data bases and e-services for citizens and travelers.
DEAC is an IT outsourcing services and solutions company whose highly experienced
and qualified employees offer various groups of services and bespoke solutions tailored to meet the requirements of our customers whose successful operation is ensured 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It runs two data centers in Riga and has the only high security underground data center in the Baltics, build in a refurbished Soviet-era military command bunker.
in the construction industry and banks right through to Government bodies. DEAC offers 100% IT outsourcing services, which means that our customers have no need to establish or maintain their own IT departments and that DEAC will take on full responsibility regarding our customers IT infrastructures.
The company is actively expanding its cloud computing services and seeking cloud services customer among Russia' s largest companies in addition to a number of customers and a branch office it already has in Russia.
Rix Technologies is a software developer specializing in public sector solutions.
Among its projects are an elecrtronic procurement system that has streamlined Latvian government and public sector purchasing and the government and municipal e-services and information portal www.latvija.lv.
The company has also developed the public sector document management system DAUKS and a visa adminstration system for the Latvian authorities.
Rix
Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Partner.
DPA is an information technology (IT) company with that continually plans, builds, supports and manages IT infrastructure solutions for more than 1200 of customers. It strives to consistently increase its experience in networking, security, collaboration, storage technologies, management of operating systems (OS), servers and workstations. It is a major Microsoft partner in Latvia and having branch offices in Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania and Georgia.
iSoft Solutions is a younger company, also a Microsoft partner (Gold) that develops
software for complex business processes and maintains and manages its customized products throughout their life cycle.
ABC Software has worked with specialized information systems security solutions,
but recently has developed a comprehensive, modular law enforcement workflow and information management system E POLICE covering the criminal investigation process, data bases of suspects and persons with criminal records, as well as image data bases for suspects, objects in evidence, missing vehicle and persons, suspected terrorists and the like.
Blue Bridge Technologies was established by the team of experienced experts
especially to develop new projects in IT field. It has accumulated competency in internet technologies, IT safety and infrastructural solutions, RFID and contactless smart card technology.
Blue Bridge Technologies products by can be easily integrated with other systems,
helping to automate various business aspects. The company has experience working with health facilities, insurance companies, leisure, spa and fitness industry representatives. It has supplied and installed its health care services workflow management system Smart Medical with customers in Latvia ranging from small medical practices to large hospitals.
DZC (Datorzinību Centrs) has specialized in e-learning solutions, including the
Operational Planning and Performance Monitoring in the State Revenue Service“ where DZC has maintained and updated the e-learning platform for several years.
ZZDats specializes in information and workflow management software for
municipalities in Latvia, but has also worked on a predictive analytics model regarding the Latvian food processing industry for the Latvian Investment and Development Agency. It counts 31 Latvian cities and towns, including the capital, Riga, among customers for its municipal information systems solutions.
Also a member of the IT Cluster is the local office of the US-based global IT solutions company Oracle, which lists 25 partner companies in Latvia, including many IT Cluster members, that use or integrate Oracle solutions in their products and services to Latvian customers.
Latvian IT Cluster is one of the founders of International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Chapter in Latvia. Currently closest IIBA Chapter to Latvia is in Central Europe.
IIBA develops and maintains standards for business analysis and provides certification for business analysts. Latvian IIBA Chapter considers its mission to develop business analysis profession in Latvia according to the internationally accepted standards.
Bringing together thousands of software specialists and testers
Lilita Sparāne, the managing director of the IT Cluster, emphasizes that the organization strives to be more than its individual members and their accomplishments. The Cluster represents more than 1500 software developers, 250 IT project managers, 240 certified software testers, 120 systems analysts and 100 computer graphics and web site developers. These, Sparāne points out, can be mixed and combined across company boundaries and in developing new skill sets.
Software testing is a field developed in Latvia under the auspices of the IT Cluster since 2007, when the International Software Qualification Board (ISTQB) recognized
the Latvian Software Testing Qualification Board (LSTQB) as an affiliate. Testing
software is critical, “ behind the scenes” part of the software development process where Latvian testers with advanced level certification are available for international projects.
Access to university research and business incubators
The Latvian IT Cluster also encompasses universities, research institutes and technology parks that provide world-class research and development (R&D) resources and are a seedbed for innovation and entrepreneurship. These include the University
of Latvia Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science (IMCS), Riga Technical
University, Ventspils College, the Ventspils High Technology Park, the IT department
of the Latvian Agriculture University and other institutions of learning and research. R&D for their own account comprises more than 10,5 % of turnover of member companies.
The developer of the business process description and analysis language GRADE, the IMCS continues doing advanced research in complex systems modeling and graph theory, including applied research in graphs for Tom Sawyer Software of the US. Other research priorities include bioinformatics and semantic web technologies. Both areas of research have potential for commercial use.
The IMCS bioinformatics group specializes in development of advanced software and database systems for storage and analysis of biomolecular data obtained from high-throughput technologies. One of the largest projects in this field is SIMBioMS: a web-based software system developed for collection, storage, management and retrieval of data and information about patients and biomedical samples as well as experiment results obtained using various platforms.
The main goal of semantic methods research is to annotate information found in data bases and text storage with the help of formal ontological tools so it would be „understood” not only by humans but also by automatic computer programs. The achieving of this goal would provide possibilities to sort information in fundamentally new ways.
The Ventspils High Technology Park (VHTP) includes a start-up incubator with more than 30 companies, many developing IT related businesses. The VHTP works closely with Ventspils University College and its Engineering Research Center. One of the main advantages of Ventspils University College’s Engineering Research Center is the integration of business and applied sciences – first of all by using and testing the knowledge acquired in university (the employees of the center will be supplemented by students and graduates of Ventspils University College), as well as by carrying out fundamental research in modeling of economic, finance and business processes. The IT Cluster is also in touch with a younger generation of Latvian IT specialists who interact at informal “Open Coffee” sessions.
Plans for the near future include setting up a Baltic-Nordic IT “demo showroom” showing solutions from the Latvian IT Cluster and its partners (Estonia has already signed up for the idea, Lithuania should be persuaded soon) and participating in a regional “Smart Cities” project, with Scandinavian partners.
“Smart Cities” is a broad concept encompassing everything from e-government to intelligent monitoring and management of traffic, lighting, heating and public transportation. Latvian IT Cluster companies have something to offer in most of these areas, helping to make both Latvian and regional cities “smarter” and more citizen-friendly thanks to IT.
At the same time a line of cooperation projects with Russia, Belarus, Nordic countries and Ukraine are also on the agenda.
