COLOURS CoLab Will Address IT Sector Challenges in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

April 7, 2026

From May 20 to 22, the CoLab "Challenges of the IT Sector in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" will take place in Ventspils. This year, it is dedicated to the challenges of the IT sector in the age of artificial intelligence. On the first day of the CoLab , entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to learn about the most actual issues and solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence and human resources in the IT sector by participating in discussions with industry experts. This day will serve as a foundation for the subsequent forum activities, during which students will analyze the identified challenges and develop ideas and practical solutions.


On the first day of the CoLab, May 20, the main focus will be on strategic industry issues and current challenges. The program includes expert keynote speeches, panel discussions, and co-creation sessions involving representatives of IT companies, developers of artificial intelligence solutions, cybersecurity specialists, as well as representatives from universities and the public sector. Discussions will center on topics such as labor market transformation under the influence of AI, the availability of qualified specialists, cybersecurity challenges, and companies’ adaptation to the new technological reality. The day will also feature solution presentations (pitches), highlighting existing initiatives and approaches to industry development.


“The CoLab is an important platform where education, business, and the public sector come together. Artificial intelligence is already significantly impacting the economy and the labor market, so it is important to identify both risks and development opportunities in a timely manner to strengthen the region’s competitiveness,” emphasizes Jānis Vītoliņš, Chairman of the Ventspils City Council.


On the second day, May 21, the CoLab will continue with practical work and the promotion of collaboration. The day will begin with the interfaculty activity “Networking Exchange”, where students will present their ideas, projects, and initiatives, fostering new connections and cooperation among representatives from different fields. Afterwards, students, academic staff, entrepreneurs, and industry experts will work together in teams to develop solutions to the challenges defined on the first day, receiving methodological and content-related support in structuring and developing their ideas.


The third day, May 22, will be dedicated to refining, presenting, and receiving feedback on the developed ideas. Teams will summarize their work, refine their solutions, and prepare short idea pitches to present to a jury and other participants. The final day will highlight the most promising ideas and outline their further development opportunities, promoting continued collaboration between students, universities, and industry partners even after the event concludes.


“The CoLab enables the university to closely link studies and research with real industry needs, helps the region develop its innovation ecosystem and strengthen competitiveness, and serves as a clear example of how international cooperation can translate into practical benefits at the local level,” notes Andris Vaivads, Rector of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences.


The CoLab is organized as a unified three-day collaboration cycle, encompassing the identification of challenges, development of ideas, and presentation of solutions, thereby forming a complete innovation process and strengthening the connection between education, business, and the public sector.


More information about the forum program and agenda, as well as registration, is available HERE


Participation in the event is only possible with prior registration.


The forum is organized by Ventspils University of Applied Sciences within the framework of the European Universities Alliance COLOURS, which brings together nine regional universities to address challenges relevant to regions, in cooperation with the Ventspils City Municipality, the Freeport of Ventspils Authority, and the Latvian Artificial Intelligence Association.

Share on other platforms

Other news

How to Monitor a 32-Metre Radio Telescope – VIRAC Experience at the International Zabbix Summit 2026

By Rota Žagare • October 22, 2026
From 7 to 9 October, the international Zabbix Summit 2026 conference took place in Riga, bringing together representatives from various countries to share experience on the capabilities of the Zabbix monitoring platform and its use across different industries. Kristaps Blumbergs, a Research Assistant at the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC), also attended the conference. 

Career Day for Early-Career Researchers

By Rota Žagare • October 20, 2026
On 16 October, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences hosted a Career Day for Early-Career Researchers, during which doctoral students and early-career researchers explored various professional development opportunities both within and beyond academia. The event highlighted the importance of international cooperation in research, featured personal experiences of scientific career development, and fostered collaboration among representatives of different scientific disciplines. The Career Day was organised as part of the international NextTechTalents project, introducing participants to opportunities to advance their research careers, develop professional skills, and engage in international initiatives. Special attention was also given to the opportunities offered to doctoral students and early-career researchers by the COLOURS European University Alliance. Gvido Grīnbergs from Ventspils High Technology Park shared his professional experience, describing his journey from research to entrepreneurship. He emphasised that the knowledge and skills acquired through research can be successfully applied beyond academia, including in entrepreneurship and technology development. Drawing on his personal experience, Gvido Grīnbergs highlighted the need to strengthen collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology developers to transform scientific expertise into practical and innovative solutions. Oskars Teikmanis, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Young Researchers (LJZA), presented the diverse career paths and opportunities available to early-career researchers. He emphasised that a career in science is not limited to conducting research but can also develop in areas such as scientific publishing, research integrity, science policy, research funding, administration, innovation, and science communication. A doctoral degree demonstrates not only scientific qualifications but also a broad range of competencies that can be applied across various professional fields. The Career Day also featured a networking session, providing participants with an opportunity to engage in discussions, exchange ideas, and establish collaborations with fellow early-career researchers, doctoral students, doctoral supervisors, project representatives, and industry professionals.  In addition to presentations and discussions, participants explored the research infrastructure of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences by visiting the laboratories of the Faculty of Information Technologies. The event concluded with a visit to Irbene, where participants took a guided tour of the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre, learning about its research infrastructure and how it is used in scientific research.

Seminar on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools and Agents in Software Development and Radio Astronomy

By Rota Žagare • October 14, 2026
The Engineering Research Institute “Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre” (VIRAC) of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences is organising the seminar “Artificial Intelligence Tools and Agents: Their Use in Software Development and Radio Astronomy Data Processing” to introduce the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) agents and their practical applications in the development of smart technologies and scientific research. The seminar will take place on 15 October at 10:30 and will be led by Jānis Šteinbergs, Scientific Assistant at VIRAC.

Rector of VUAS becomes a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

By Rota Žagare • October 12, 2026
Andris Vaivads, Rector of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, has been elected as a new foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' Class for Astronomy and Space Science. Andris Vaivads studies what is commonly known as the magnetosphere around the Earth, other planets and the SunClass for astronomy and space science. He performs his research as a professor in Experimental Space Physics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Earlier, he spent 20 years as a researcher at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Uppsala. He studies the magnetosphere around Earth, other planets, and the Sun. Much of space is filled with plasma, a gas consisting of electrically charged particles that are influenced, among other things, by magnetic fields. When magnetic fields pointing in different directions reconnect – a process known as magnetic reconnection – large amounts of magnetic energy can rapidly be converted into other forms of energy, including kinetic energy. Andris Vaivads’s research focuses on these processes, where large amounts of energy are converted within small regions of space. Plasma processes can, among other things, produce the Northern lights (Auroras), affect satellites, and heat plasma to tens and hundreds of millions of degrees. The research group at KTH, in which Andris Vaivads spends 20 per cent of his working time, develops instruments to measure electric fields on satellites. The group also designs small measurement probes that can be launched from Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna on rockets. More recently, Andris Vaivads has also studied processes in the solar wind, a kind of plasma wind that plays a major role in space weather. This research uses observations from spacecraft launched by ESA (Solar Orbiter) in Europe and NASA (Parker Solar Probe) in the US. Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences serve on committees and participate in classes that initiate investigations, respond to consultations, and organise conferences and seminars. Based on the information published on the official website of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

International Scientific Seminar on Massive Star Formation

By Rota Žagare • September 18, 2026
On 24 September, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences will host the international scientific seminar “Massive Star Formation – Latest Research and Developments”, organised by the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC). The seminar will bring together researchers and those interested in research with visiting scientists from the United States. The seminar will feature scientist Dr Todd R. Hunter and Lead Astronomer Dr Crystal L. Brogan from the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The guests will present current research in radio astronomy, state-of-the-art observational infrastructure, and the opportunities it provides for studying the Universe and the processes of star formation. Dr Todd R. Hunter will give a presentation entitled “Exploring the Universe at Centimeter Wavelengths: The Next Generation Very Large Array”, while Dr Crystal L. Brogan will present “Searching for Our Cosmic Origins Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array”. The seminar will provide researchers with an opportunity to discuss the latest research findings and methods with internationally recognised experts in radio astronomy, as well as to explore opportunities for future scientific collaboration. Such international knowledge-exchange activities strengthen the research capacity of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences and promote the involvement of Latvian researchers in the international radio astronomy research community. This information has been prepared within the framework of the project “Ventspils University of Applied Sciences` International Cooperation and Innovation for the Development of Latvia’s Smart Specialisation” (Project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/012). 

VUAS Invites to an Open Lecture on the Birth of Massive Stars

By Rota Žagare • September 18, 2026
On Friday, 25 September, at 16:15, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences invites everyone interested to attend the popular science open lecture “From Cosmic Cloud to Star: How Massive Stars Are Born”. The lecture will offer an engaging and accessible introduction to how massive stars are born, how astronomers are able to observe their formation, and what these studies can reveal about the origins and evolution of our Universe. The lecture will be delivered by guests from the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) – scientist Dr Todd R. Hunter and Lead Astronomer Dr Crystal L. Brogan. Both researchers use modern radio astronomy techniques to study star formation and processes taking place throughout the Universe. The lecture is particularly suitable for astronomy enthusiasts as well as anyone interested in space and the methods scientists use to explore the Universe. No prior knowledge of astronomy is required. The lecture will be held in English, and participation is free of charge. The open lecture will complement the European Researchers’ Night programme in Ventspils. After the lecture, participants will have the opportunity to continue exploring science at the VIZIUM Science Centre, where European Researchers’ Night activities will take place. The lecture is organized with the financial support of the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF), in cooperation with the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC).
Other news