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The Vidzeme pilot

A planning region with a development programme and no reliable way to tell whether it works. Vidzeme's pilot starts with the indicators.

What gap does the Vidzeme pilot address, and what does its Regional Action Plan propose to close it?

The Vidzeme Planning Region has no systematic way to track whether its Development Programme moves the region forward. RAP 1.0 proposes harmonised indicators and data-sharing, data skills in municipalities, and VPR PATHWATCH, an AI-driven geospatial monitoring platform, by 2028.

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Vidzeme, Latvia: building a monitoring system for regional development

main tellingexample world: latviadepth: standard3 min markdown

Vidzeme, in northern Latvia, is the country’s largest region, covering 30.6 % of its territory, and the least densely populated: 16.27 people per km² against a national average of 30 (2024 pilot text). Its economy includes dairy, forestry, wood processing, metalworking, chemicals, ICT, tourism and creative industries.

A farmstead in the Vidzeme countryside

A farmstead in the Vidzeme countryside. Photo: PoliRuralPlus pilot materials (RP8), poliruralplus.eu

TerritoryVidzeme Planning Region
PartnerVidzeme Planning Region, VPR (lead; the only partner)
ThemeInclusive governance through territorial monitoring
RAPVidzeme RAP 1.0, targets to 2028
Open callsOutreach: EDQMS_VR (InnoMatrix). Mobilise: “Data to Develop” hackathon (NovoFutura)

The challenge

VPR is a public regional development institution guided by its Development Programme 2022–2027. It has no systematic way to monitor progress across the territory, and no framework to judge how much the programme’s actions contribute to the region’s development. The brief traces this to data problems: data spread across state and municipal institutions; a regional indicators module (RAIM) that integrates data only partly; scarce parish- and county-level statistics; inconsistent indicators and methods; a shadow economy that distorts official figures. Low trust in institutions and little feedback to residents keep citizens out. D5.1 frames the theme as inclusive governance: residents should be involved in planning, implementation and monitoring.

What the plan sets out

By 2028 RAP 1.0 targets three things: multi-level data governance with aligned indicators across VPR, municipalities and national institutions; an AI-driven, geospatial monitoring platform that moves from looking back to predicting; and data-analytics capacity in municipal staff. The brief recommends unified data protocols and data-sharing agreements, VPR PATHWATCH as a central monitoring system with mobile access, permanent data-specialist posts, a citizen-engagement app, and a Baltic network for monitoring regional development.

Open calls and status

The pilot defined requirements before building anything. The Outreach study by InnoMatrix used desk research and interviews with municipalities, businesses and communities to set requirements for a monitoring system; it explicitly did not build the platform. The “Dati attīstībai” (Data to Develop) hackathon by NovoFutura ran online and then in person with almost 50 experts and municipal representatives. It produced a first set of indicators. The winning Housing and Living Environment team showed how existing data can track housing availability.

PATHWATCH is a recommendation; VPR continues to coordinate work on a unified regional data system. For the general pattern, see from data to decisions.

Related

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