SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS ONE OF THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN RURAL AREAS OF LATVIA

Since 1 of April 2018, it is possible to register social entrepreneurship in Latvia as one of the type of business and to take advantage that is only suitable for this type of business. The study analyses how coud social entrepreneurship become one of the opportunities to address social problems, directly in rural areas, where today in Latvia is concentrated the largest population of a socially unprotected groups. This means that, while developing social enterprises and solving social problems in the regions of Latvia, at the same time, also address other issues that are actual today – lack of labour force. For entrepreneurs in rural areas, the lack of labour is the most significant, and there is no problem in Latvian regions with finding a place of residence. The development of social entrepreneurship would also be a contributory factor in the fact that the new generation would not leave the countryside, but try to build up their business using existing infrastructure, including a rural school, kindergarten – it helps to them continue to work as well. In the Latvian countryside most are farmers and crafts companies, whose business is most often expressed seasonality. At the rural areas farmers can support with works during sowing and harvesting, and some works during growing period on organic farms. There is also a growing lack of labour force in the sales companies who support farmers with new technologies, especially in aftersales – service departments. Social entrepreneurship could be one of the solutions, especially since it is very seasonal for repairs, so that it is possible to focus the work on the season by successfully management with the contingent in the countryside. There is a great opportunities to make cooperation with local authorities on this issue, the role of the social business in the development and social Affairs of the rural environment should be clarified. As a result of successful cooperation, social enterprises can become an important contribution to local authorities in addressing the societal challenges of the municipality. The study analyses how important to develop this model of cooperation, as it needs to convince local leaders before work on regional reform begins

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN WORKPLACES AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT EMPLOYMENT IN LATVIA

Already, artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us, from self-driving cars and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest. Impressive progress has been made in AI in recent years, driven by exponential increases in computing power and by the availability of vast amounts of data, from software used to discover new drugs to algorithms used to predict our cultural interests. Digital fabrication technologies, meanwhile, are interacting with the biological world on a daily basis. Engineers, designers, and architects are combining computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, the products we consume, and even the buildings we inhabit. Companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications industry expect AI to have a significant impact on product offerings in the next five years. This research contains the data from a pilot survey from Latvian business executives’ expectations for AI and robotics for the next 5 years. The aim of this research is to find out if AI and robotics will make significant impact on workplaces in Latvia in the next five years