Riga demonstrates a strong commitment to the responsible adoption of AI

The interviews and workshops held in Riga on 12–13 May as part of the fact-finding mission highlighted the city administration’s strong commitment to modernising public services and strengthening the institutional capacity needed for the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

“In Riga, they have already brought together a team of AI frontrunners who are learning together and supporting their colleagues. The workshops and interviews showed a very high level of dedication. It is truly a pleasure to collaborate with such motivated project partners,” emphasised project team lead Piret Hirv after the mission.

During the two-day mission, the e-Governance Academy team met with municipal leaders, digital experts, HR specialists, legal advisors, and other stakeholders to discuss Riga’s readiness for AI adoption in public administration. The interviews and workshops provided valuable insights into the city’s digital transformation priorities, data governance practices, legal and ethical frameworks, organisational capacities, and staff training needs.

Special attention was given to identifying future AI use cases, strengthening cross-departmental cooperation, and developing change management approaches to support AI-driven innovation in municipal services.

The findings will contribute to the development of Riga’s AI implementation roadmap and future capacity-building activities under the project. As a next step, the e-Governance Academy team and representatives of the Rotterdam municipality will continue the project’s fact-finding activities during a mission to Rotterdam.

The EU-funded project “AI-ready Municipalities” aims to support Riga in the development and responsible adoption of AI solutions in city administration and build a strong foundation for the responsible and scalable integration of artificial intelligence into municipal services in Rotterdam.