The European Commission will boost competitiveness by investing almost €16 billion in research and innovation in the next two years under Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation funding scheme. The European Commission will invest almost €16 billion in research and innovation in the next two years under Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation funding scheme, following a new Work Programme for 2016-17 adopted today. The new funding opportunities offered by the Work Programme are directly aligned with the policy priorities of the Commission of President Jean-Claude Juncker and will substantially contribute to the Jobs, Growth and Investment Package, t... More

And although they are the youngest members of Europe’s growing family of tech startup hubs, but the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia are maturing fast. They are also among the smallest countries, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when startups need to test out their latest tech innovations within their local community and get results, fast. More: https://www.lietuva.lt/en/news/politics_economics/forbes-lithuaniaamong-the-most-attractive-and-affordable-startup-ecosystems-in-the-world     More

Lithuania has reached the final stage in the process of accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). President Dalia Grybauskaite, who will on Thursday have a meeting with one of the heads of the organization, describes it as an important recognition of the country’s long-term efforts. A visit by top-ranking OECD representatives marks an official start of the final stage in the country’s accession process, the president’s press service said on Wednesday. The OECD delegation that will visit Lithuania will include Mari Kiviniemi, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, and 14 experts. According to Grybauskaite, an invitation to hold talks on ... More

An exciting proposal to introduce information technology (IT) as a primary school subject is being considered by Lithuania’s education authorities this month. The proposal has been drawn up by Tech City Lithuania, an association of technology companies, in cooperation with Invest Lithuania and the Education Development Centre. As part of the proposal, Tech City has written a detailed programme outlining how IT could be integrated into Lithuania’s primary schools. The programme proposes gradually introducing key elements of IT into the curriculum for pupils in grades 1 to 4. Children would learn how to create and edit text documents, write simple algorithms, safely search on ... More

Fun Guide, China’s leading mobile e-commerce and integrated mobile solutions company, has chosen Lithuania as the location for its first office in Europe. The company, which counts among its customers a number of big Chinese players including major banks, will open Fun Guide Europe, a Vilnius-based mobile software development and data mining office, this autumn. The company is now recruiting a team of talented software specialists in Lithuania who will be responsible for developing new mobile software for the company and will also carry out big data analytics. More: http://www.investlithuania.com/news/leading-chinese-mobile-solutions-company-fun-guide-to-open-lithuanian-office/?catego... More