Professionals, or to be more specific, cooperation between academia and Professionals is an important element of the open innovation eco-system in Latvia (and beyond) for a number of reasons. First, in the context of development of silver economy, there is clear potential for the cooperation between academia and professionals- seniors. Such cooperation can take place both within the curricula as offered by academic institution, e.g. where Professionals(as invited speakers, guest lecturers or lecturers) can further educate younger generation in fields such as ICT and innovation; and within the framework of life-long learning programmes, e.g. where seniors- Professionals working in the private sector can update their knowledge in respective fields. Apart from providing the knowledge in ICT, innovation and related areas, such interaction (either way) potentially could also help to further develop social skills of seniors such as team work in the group that consists of various generations.
During the implementation of the OSIRIS project in Latvia, we have managed to get acquainted with many people and organizations, who can undoubtedly be described as specialists and Professionals in various fields of the Silver Economy. The main problem in this area is not the lack of the players themselves, but the lack of system and coordination. Of course, the key role in this area must be played by state and municipal organizations, which are responsible for creating this friendly and unifying environment for the development of the Silver Economy. Despite the fact that we have discovered specialists in various fields of the Silver economy, both in the private and public sectors, it is fair to say that their numbers are insufficient and their level of readiness is often not high enough. In order to successfully deal with this problem for the first time, a state order for this type of specialists is necessary, as well as it is necessary to prepare a training base for the preparation of such specialists. This work needs to be addressed by Policy makers together with teaching and research institutions, which are currently doing so. The Lifelong Learning System, which has been developing rapidly in Latvia in recent years, plays a very important role in this area. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that there are currently very few specialized lifelong learning programs in the field of the Silver Economy.
Professionals are those specialists which can provide necessary products and services to seniors to improve their well-being. In relation to the ICT usage by seniors Professionals can be involved in assisting seniors in providing training on the latest software applications, cybersecurity literacy, platforms thus encourage seniors to use these technologies in their daily life. In addition, home medical care Professionals could be intermediaries bringing smart devices to seniors for broader usage at home and in other daily activities. Social workers are another group of Professionals who are visiting seniors based on request to provide necessary social services. The professionals, e.g. marketing specialists, public relations specialists, business consultants, educators, library specialists, designers, etc. can be involved in networking for designing and delivering a new ICT solutions or updating existing ones targeting seniors thus building a high level awareness of the needs of seniors.
Professionals usually are working in organizations or are selfemployed. There are different types of organizations in which professionals are working, e.g. social workers who are usually working at municipalities. ISACA as an association uniting professionals in cybersecurity. Chamber of Commerce and Trade members are also business professionals
Number of higher education institutions in Latvia offer programmes that include training in ICT and innovation, e.g. Riga Technical University, University of Latvia, Rezekne Academia of Technologies, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Ventspils University College. Number of those institutions have affiliated life- long learning centers that also work with seniors as one of the target groups, e.g. https://ztc.va.lv/en/lifelong_learning_courses, https://www.venta.lv/en/lifelong-learning