Lithuania's new RSG meeting - August 2024
On August 20, 2024, the Lithuanian Innovation Center (LIC) organized a local stakeholder group meeting in Panevėžys, Lithuania. A total of 11 participants attended, primarily representing the local business community.
During the meeting, participants were introduced to successful practices from other project partner regions. They then shared their own experiences in engaging with the public sector, expressing what they liked and disliked. The meeting concluded with a discussion on whether and how international best practices could be applied in the Lithuanian context.
The initial presentation was delivered by Povilas Bacevičius, a project manager for PROACTsme. Povilas introduced the Early Warning Europe initiative and the HelpEmpresa service. Since the primary goal of these practices is to help SMEs avoid business closure, participants were familiarized with a diagnostic tool and its various components, including risk assessment, financial status, strategy, processes, operations, etc. The discussion also covered potential paths following the diagnosis, such as business consolidation, restructuring, or closure. Another best practice presented was Greece’s public administration's single digital portal, gov.gr. Participants were shown its functionalities and the range of public services available to companies. Finally, given the importance of labor market issues for regional businesses, the Knowledge Base of Competence Needs from Norway was introduced as a potential model to align educational outcomes with labor market needs.
After the presentation of the identified best practices, participants shared their experiences engaging with the public sector. Most of them emphasized that they had never encountered proactive services from public administration or did not perceive certain services as proactive. Additionally, many participants highlighted the challenges of applying for and implementing publicly funded projects due to the complicated application processes and significant paperwork involved.
The event concluded with a discussion on how the business community’s experience could be improved by considering the best practices identified in the project. The most interesting practice for the participants was HelpEmpresa, as they found its proactive service approach appealing and felt it could reduce unnecessary or unproductive interactions between the public and private sectors.
Lastly, participants were informed about upcoming project activities, including the finalization of the Joint Study, a meeting in Ireland, and future knowledge transfer activities between project partners.