From data to smarter decisions: what Latvia can learn from Malta

Artificial intelligence is often seen as a miracle cure that, once a licence is purchased and a tool is implemented, promises greater productivity on its own. In practice, however, the benefit of technology depends on people’s ability to work with it. Without a basic understanding of data, its quality, and how to use it, even a very powerful tool cannot deliver a full result. Just as a calculator does not replace an understanding of basic mathematics, artificial intelligence does not replace data-driven thinking. 

It starts with seemingly simple but essential everyday practices, understanding the difference between structured and unstructured data, following consistent principles when entering addresses and other information into systems, and being able to assess why specific data is being collected in the first place and whether it is later used in analysis and decision-making. If information is entered into systems inconsistently, if unused data accumulates for years, or if performance indicators are defined without specifying who will measure them and how, where the information will be stored, and who will have access to it, the result is not data-driven governance but digital chaos. 

This understanding also has a major effect on how effectively technology can be used. It helps to precisely define the need, choose the appropriate data, and formulate the expected result, while also building a clearer picture of what artificial intelligence and analytics tools can actually achieve in a given situation. This applies to both public administration and businesses in every organisation, the quality of data and the ability to formulate precise tasks determine how fully the available technology can be used. 

I had the opportunity to see this shift in thinking up close while taking part in the development and implementation of Malta’s public administration data literacy programme. Malta, which ranked first for online public services in the 2026 European eGovernment Benchmark, chose to start not with the purchase of new tools, but with people’s knowledge. We first assessed the skills of around 150 employees across all ministries and, based on the data obtained, developed a nine-month programme tailored to their level of knowledge and needs. In it, senior managers and young specialists learned data fundamentals side by side, worked hands-on with Malta’s open data, and shared experiences about the data and digitalisation challenges facing their institutions. 

After the programme, some participants went on to specialise further in data analysis and became data leaders within their institutions, able to help colleagues and continue building a data-driven work culture. But the benefit of the programme was not limited to training new specialists – it also helped to more precisely define needs, formulate tasks, and evaluate analytics and technology solutions. As a result, institutions gained both drivers of change and a shared foundation of data literacy. 

Latvia, too, could learn from Malta’s experience, starting with an assessment of existing knowledge and needs, and then developing practical training adapted to different roles and levels of knowledge for working with real data. The next step could be building a network of people and cooperation that would help reinforce this shift in thinking within each institution and gradually pass the knowledge on. Not everyone needs to become a data specialist, but the benefit would be a shared understanding of how to structure information, assess its quality, and identify opportunities for its use. 

In this respect, public administration sets the tone for the whole ecosystem — its standards, procurement, and digital services shape practices that go on to affect both businesses and society as a whole. That is why investing in data-driven thinking can become the foundation that allows the potential of technology to be used more purposefully and enables better decisions to be made, both within and outside public administration.  

Link to whole article: https://www.delfi.lv/898102/versijas/120129570/arturs-lazdekalns-no-datiem-lidz-gudrakiem-lemumiem-ko-latvija-var-macities-no-maltas