«What cannot be solved with data can be solved with big data,» says Riga Technical University (RTU) Rector Tālis Juhna, launching an unprecedented programme «Creating Innovative Digital Solutions to HPC Challenges». Using digital tools also used in industry and high-performance computing technologies, students will seek solutions to challenges defined by well-known companies and the Children's Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) to improve the quality of healthcare, education, the environment and various services.
Through the programme, students will learn to create innovative digital solutions through digital prototyping and design thinking. They will use various digital tools and the RTU supercomputer, collaborate with industry experts and mentors from different fields to develop and present solutions in the form of a prototype, conceptual project or research. In addition, both participants and anyone interested in the programme will have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge by participating in a series of lectures on various digital tools, which will be led by the faculty of the project «High-Level Digital Skills Acquisition in Latvia in High Performance Computing» (project No. 2.3.1.1.i.0/1/22/I/CFLA/003).
Digital skills combined with the use of a supercomputer open up opportunities to create new solutions and innovations, says Professor Alla Anohina-Naumeca, content manager of the project «High-level digital skills training in Latvia in the field of high-performance computing technologies». «Students participating in the programme will be better prepared for their professional careers, will be more competitive on the labour market and will increase the prosperity of the country. Latvia cannot take part in the competition between the big countries to see who has the best supercomputers, because we are a small country, but we can be proud that we have a supercomputer and we can use it to create innovations,» she continues.
41 students, mainly from RTU, Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) and the University of Latvia (LU), are participating in the programme. The students represent different study levels - from Bachelor to PhD - and study programmes. They will tackle challenges defined by BKUS, «Datamed», the association «Step Ahead of Melanoma», the telecommunications company «Tet», «Accenture», «Rīgas meži» and the start-up «Bruntor».
«Data is the most important thing we have in medicine,» says Kaspars Gross, Head of Customer Relations and Business Development at «Datamed». Healthcare institutions have accumulated large amounts of medical data, such as paper-based patient charts, images and reports of visual diagnostic examinations, etc. The company invites students to propose solutions to digitise this sensitive information efficiently and quickly.
BKUS invites students to map information related to patient treatment and care. The BKUS Palliative Care Service team cares for more than 250 seriously ill children requiring long-term care at home every year. This requires taking into account information on where the child lives, the treatment and care process and its outcomes, the multidisciplinarity of the treatment and care team, medical devices in the home, the need for psychological support, etc. Information tends to be fragmented and rapidly changing, so it can be challenging to plan visits and keep track of patients' conditions.
Meanwhile, the association «One step ahead of melanoma» is interested in an app that reminds users of their UV index level and provides daily skin protection tips according to their skin phototype and daily activities. The challenge for the students is to create a mapping solution for urban green infrastructure, which would allow them to list trees, shrubs, etc. in the city or in specific areas of the city by collecting information available on the web. The solution should also be able to calculate the amount of CO2 sequestered and accumulated by green infrastructure, tracking its fluctuations in real time.
«Tet» invites students to create a computer vision solution that distinguishes between quality and poor quality cable connections. The solution should include data labelling and pre-processing, training of a machine learning model, validation of the model results to create a reliable solution for identifying poor quality cable connections. It is vital for the company to ensure both continuity of service to the end customer and fair competition in the telecommunications market. The team that will take on the Accenture challenge will have to develop an interactive and adaptive training programme that combines the latest innovations in generative artificial intelligence, face/emotion recognition, etc. The Bruntor challenge will require the team to develop a solution to help plan the staff needed to make deliveries by analysing and processing delivery transport data.
«Creating Innovative Digital Solutions to HPC Challenges» is part of the project «Acquiring High-Level Digital Skills in High Performance Computing in Latvia», in which 12 study modules on high-performance computing are developed and implemented by RTU, RSU and LU. The teaching staff has already developed the modules' study courses, and from this year onwards they will be validated at universities and in industry. Successful participation in the programme will also lead to a certificate certifying students' high-level digital skills. Participation in the programme will be equivalent to a two-credit free elective course.
The project «High level digital skills training in Latvia in high performance computing» is funded by the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility. It aims to increase the number of professionals in Latvia with high-level digital skills (DigComp levels 7-8) who are able to use technology to develop knowledge- and technology-intensive new products and services in different sectors, and to create synergies between higher education, science and industry that foster innovation with maximum commercialisation and export potential.
