On Wednesday 24 January, Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis met with Matt Brittin, President of Google for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) in Davos.
During the meeting, the officials addressed the information security issues as well as opportunities for cooperation in the development of scientific projects.
M. Kučinskis emphasized that information security is a topical issue for Latvia, particularly in view of the fact that Latvia is a border country of the European Union, and has to take into account the cyber-security risks coming from the outside. Both sides agreed that the state of Latvia and Google experts should work together to agree on the principles for effective distinguishing between genuine information and deliberately cultivated false news.
The Prime Minister received a confirmation from the Google representative that the company is interested in ensuring the truthfulness of information.
As regards the cooperation in the field of applied science, the officials discussed the possibilities for future cooperation using the achievements of Latvian scientists in the field of quantum computing and artificial intelligence. "The state of Latvia is working on the opening of public data, which, in the era of the technological revolution, is one of the directions that will help both existing commerce and start-ups to create new and export-oriented products," said M. Kučinskis.
The meeting of Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis and M. Brittin, EMEA President at Google was held within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The two sides met at the Google initiative.
Andrejs Vaivars
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Mob.: 29228678
E-mail: Andrejs.Vaivars@mk.gov.lv