VEFRESH provides a platform for innovation topics and organizes engaging events in VEF innovation district.
The movement organizes various thought-provoking and educational activities with the aim of bringing together residents, tech enthusiasts and urban development experts. Similarly, VEFRESH promotes and supports public innovation and technology events that take place in VEF innovation district.
VEFRESH x Open Innovation meetup ↓
VEFRESH audio
Audio course is about current issues of urban environment, mobility and social innovations in Latvia and in the world.
In the six episodes of the first season of the audio course, Viesturs Celmins, Lasma Ivaska and Linda Sleja together with foreign and local experts discusses about topics such as "15 Minute City", energy efficient neighborhoods, city data, citizen involvement in smart city solutions, neighborhood currency and crowd funding for better outdoor space.
VEFRESH audio is created for everyone who is interested in the development of their neighborhood and city, but especially for those who, inspired by the good examples of the world, would like to try an idea in a real environment. At the end of the podcast series, a 24-hour urban development hackathon took place with the aim of inviting residents to create their own ideas for technology or social processes.
VEFRESH x Open innovation meetup
Open innovation meetups are event series in VEF district that bring together people from different sectors to share knowledge and experiences related to a selected innovation topic.
Idea that innovations are developed in closed-off, confidential labs is now an outdated concept, and has been replaced by open innovation model that involves co-creation with different partners and customers. In order to promote this idea in Latvia and foster cooperation, VEFRESH together with neighbourhood partners organizes events that are dedicated to different innovation and technology topics. To this date the events have had speakers from a wide rage of fields including design, architecture, govtech, linguistics, advertising, law, bioethics and more. Follow VEFRESH on social media not to miss the next meetup!
Open innovation meetup series a collaborative project and VEFRESH is open to institutions and businesses that that want to propose meetup topics and participate in the event organization.
Startup x Mentor speed dating
VEFRESH not only encourages innovation development, but also facilitates knowledge sharing within the ecosystem. One of these events is Startup x Mentor speed dating!
In 2019 VEFRESH hosted startup ecosystem festival Startup day ‘19 and organized a special matchmaking session for startups to meet with potential mentors from larger VEF ecosystem companies. A total of 20 startups participated in the event and met with sales, business development and other experts from companies like BALTA, Tieto Latvia, Solvay Business Services Latvia, LMT, Accenture and Nordigen solutions. During the speed dating sessions a total of 39 one-on-one sessions were held which amounted to about 10 hours of mentoring and knowledge sharing!
For information about the next events, follow VEFRESH on social media.
5G Techritory
In November 2020 VEFRESH will host forum 5G Techritory and will be in charge of the smart city section in the programme, focusing on 5G enablement in cities.
Baltic Sea region 5G ecosystem forum 5G Techritory is one of the largest 5G technology events in the world and this November it will take place in several locations across VEF district. The event aims to bring together the leading minds in 5G deployment in the Baltic Sea region, increase collaboration and reinforce commitment to joint development.
VEFRESH in Smart city section will focus on 5G innovation testbeds, innovation-friendly regulation, best practices on sharing city infrastructure for 5G deployment as well as the benefits of 5G for all resident groups from kids to seniors.