Continuing its established course of innovation, a/s "Latvijas valsts meži" (LVM), in collaboration with the accelerator "Startup Wise Guys" (SWG), is beginning the implementation of the "SilvaTech" acceleration programme. Its goal is to create at least 10 internationally competitive products, solutions or technologies with high added value and high implementation readiness in areas significant to forestry.

The "SilvaTech" acceleration programme, which is tailored to the needs of LVM and the forest sector, helps internal teams (company employees) and external innovation teams (start-ups) to introduce technologies, products and solutions in silviculture, forestry, seed production and seedling cultivation, mineral resource extraction and production, recreation, as well as in the field of geospatial information technologies.

Head of the LVM Development Department Ilga Anita Bērzkalna states: "LVM is a leader in the forest sector, implementing responsible and sustainable forestry by introducing and developing an increasing number of innovative solutions in its operations. From its very beginnings, LVM has been an innovator. Without digitalisation and tools such as geospatial information systems, tablets and drones, the company would not be able to effectively manage a quarter of Latvia, or 1.6 million hectares of forest land. Until now, we have created and introduced innovations using our own resources, but now the time has come to take a step further and implement more complex, interdisciplinary innovations. Therefore, through the "SilvaTech" programme, we invite other participants in the innovation ecosystem to take part and delve into the challenges of the forest sector, in order to jointly find solutions in machine learning, sensors, robotics, remote sensing and other fields."