OSMOS

07/01/2025

New Year --> New Habits 🖖

Follow our Journeys on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/company/osmospartnerships

📽 Gerdžiūnas & Krilavičius
📌 Somewhere between Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq

10/12/2024

❗️NB! DEADLINE EXTENDED! New deadline December 20,2024.

📢 Call for Papers: Join us for the European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 2025) in Prague from June 25–28, 2025!

Our panel “(Post-)Colonial Echoes in Russia’s War Against Ukraine” aims to critically examine the global responses to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, exploring how post-colonial narratives shape international perceptions, alignments, and policy decisions.

🔎 Key themes include (but are not limited):

▪️Global Responses: Examining how diverse international narratives and identities shape perceptions of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
▪️Post-Colonial Perspectives: Analyzing African and Central/Eastern European post-colonial interpretations of the conflict.
▪️Solidarity and Double Standards: Critiquing disparities in global solidarity, particularly in comparison to crises in Africa and the Middle East.
▪️Russia's Self-Positioning: Exploring Russia’s framing as a "non-colonial power" and its imperial implications.
▪️Impact on Global Dynamics: Investigating how identity, historical narratives, and foreign policy shape global conflict responses.

We invite scholars from across disciplines, particularly in political science, international relations, history, and post-colonial studies to submit their papers for the panel.

Join us in discussing ways to bridge African and Eastern European perspectives on contemporary global politics and providing a nuanced understanding of how post-colonial theory informs responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

🗓️Submission Deadline: December 15, 2024
📌Convenors: Lukas Ivanauskas (OSMOS), Patryk I. Labuda (Central European University)
🎙️Chair: Dr.Bonnie Ayodele (Ekiti State University)

🔗👇 Link to submission guidelines in the comments.

06/12/2024

Echoes from Brussels 🇪🇺

Back in November, OSMOS joined a community of labor mobility experts and Commissioner Ylva Johansson herself at the annual International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) LMPN Conference, “Moving talents: scaling up action in key sectors.”

Our Managing Director Žilvinas Švedkauskas took the center stage together with Salvatore Petronella (LaMP) and Björn Gruber () to discuss the talent needs of key economy sectors across the Union, from long-term care to green industries. Žilvinas also had the privilege to moderate an insightful workshop on bridging EU ICT skills gaps with mobility opportunities for international tech talents.

A consensus in the room suggested that while the share of international ICT talents is steadily growing, challenges persist in attracting the talents with the right expertise and in opening (circular) pathways for mid and junior-level specialists to move and develop their skills in the EU.

The bigger picture is simple. To remain globally , the European ICT sector will need 20 million workers by 2030, with a current shortfall of 8 million. A key part of addressing this gap involves expanding migration pathways into the EU for international talents, who now represent only 2.7% workforce.

Political and economic factors, such as inflation and hiring freezes in major companies, are stalling the progress, but initiatives like our www.digitalexplorers.eu, implemented with the Estonian Centre for International Development and Startin.LV, showcases how spirit could lead the way in designing mutually beneficial partnerships for inspiring digital talent development and mobility with tech-savvy partners in , , and .

ICMPD, thanks for the invitation! Already looking for the 2025 LMPN edition 🔜🤓

19/11/2024

Another mission accomplished✅ We couldn't have asked for a better kick-off to our first Iraq-Kurdistan-Lithuania public sector knowledge exchange on data in public services.

A bit more than a week ago, OSMOS and our dear partner Five One Labs, invited a group of public sector leaders from and the to virtually sit down with expert counterparts from Valstybės duomenų agentūra and Valstybės skaitmeninių sprendimų agentūra to examine issues pertinent to data-driven digital transformation and share the best practices which could help governments roll out digital services more effectively.

After a series of welcoming remarks spearheaded by Karolis Žemaitis, Vice-Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania, and H.E. Mohammed Bahr AlUloom, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, we delved into the most recent digital policy shifts. Distinguished Members of the Steering Committee of Digital Explorers - Iraq Edition took center stage. Mr. Safeen Ghafour, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, presented the redesign of company registration workflow in the and laid out the many legal challenges for seamless collection and sharing of public data, whereas Dr. Hasan Alkhatib, Senior Advisor on Digital Transformation to the Prime Minister of Iraq, gave a comprehensive overview of seven key initiatives: from the development of three cloud-ready data centers to streamlining public service delivery through e-banking platforms.

In the second part of the session, Mr. Vadimas Ivanovas, Head of Division at the State Data Agency, and Dr. Martynas Mockus, PhD, Senior Data Architect at State Digital Solutions Agency, respectively presented the concepts of “data stewardship” and “data mesh,” among other, that are used to guide the ongoing data-governance reforms in Lithuania.

Asked why such an event was needed by Kurdistan Chronicle, our Managing Director Žilvinas noted that “despite different digital maturity levels, seeing many parallels between the digital transformation pathways that Lithuania, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region share, we set the goal to move the bilateral dialogue to a more technical level. Since we are already training a group of young Iraqis in data analytics and are facilitating a dialogue between Sulaimani Polytechnic University زانكۆی پۆلیتەكنیكی سلێمانی (SPU) and Faculty of Informatics at Vytautas Magnus University (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas) on data science, public data governance was the next thematic area to tackle.”

We're planning to continue these exchanges offline in Lithuania in early 2025, so make sure to watch this space for more. Find more echoes from the event: https://kurdistanchronicle.com/babat/3517

Last but not least❗A special thank you to the members of the EU Delegation to Iraq - Erbil Office , International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) , Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania | iQ Group, whose contributions greatly enriched the discussions.

Iraq, Kurdistan, and Lithuania Initiate a New Chapter in Digital Transformation

20/09/2024

As the incoming commissioners were revealed in Brussels this week (congrats Andrius Kubilius!), we had the pleasure of catching up with policy thinkers and doers from Central Eastern Europe at the in Warsaw organized by Visegrad Insight & ZEIT Stiftung Bucerius.

The composition of the new Commission tells of the increasing agency and leverage the CEE countries hold at the EU level. As elegantly phrased by Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marek Prawda, such "easternization" of EU affairs presents an opportunity not only for EU enlargement but also for re-engaging like-minded partners from across the globe anew.

This was a recurring topic in discussions throughout the three days, where we had the chance to present our research and work done on building pathways for talent mobility, digitalization, and knowledge exchange with partners in , , , , and .

partly built on the EU neighborhood policy foresight "Costs of Non-Enlargement," to which we also contributed. Get your copy here: https://visegradinsight.eu/costs-of-non-enlargement/

16/09/2024

BOOTCAMP MEMORIES
As we are actively prepping for the first relocations to 🇱🇹Lithuania & 🇱🇻Latvia and a number of Explorers are accelerating their careers through local internships already, here´s a throwback to the data science training marathon in 🇳🇬Lagos, Nigeria, which we threw with our valued partners Get Global by TeleSoftas a couple of months back.

💪 49 shortlisted data analysts had their days full of immersive training and intensive networking and a group of Baltic ICT companies and organisations were exploring this vibrant digital ecosystem first-hand.

Keep up the drive, Explorers! 🔥

🙏Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV; Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV); Metasite Data Insights; Syno International; Nomad8; Būsto Automatika; Turing College; Fulljoin; BeeSage; Tallinn University.

06/09/2024

Hooray to Armenia 👏 Three Digital Explorers successfully finished their data science internships at Armenian tech unicorn ServiceTitan! Congrats to Emma Khachatryan, Rafik Arakelyan and Viktorya Mshetsyan!

🔸For Rafik, it was the real contribution and working alongside accomplished professionals that made this internship game-changing! “I had the opportunity to work on real-world data projects, contributing to the development of analytics tools that improved operational efficiency. I collaborated closely with senior data scientists, gaining hands-on experience with machine learning models and data-driven decision-making,” - says Rafik.

🔸 Emma appreciated getting a real behind-the-scenes look into the workings of a global tech company: “The most gratifying aspect was knowing that my contributions would be deployed in production, offering me meaningful insights into how a major company like ServiceTitan operates and brings new features to market.”

Good luck to our talents while finishing their data analytics course at Turing College and for their future career steps that will be supported and advised by our rockstar partner in Yerevan TUMO Labs. We will surely be keeping an eye out! 🚀

😇 Many thanks to all the partners and mentors, who are together with us on this Armenian journey- changing lives and building paths for talents to shine!

Startin.LV; Estonian Centre for International Development; EU delegation to Armenia; Embassy of Lithuania in Armenia; Sona Veziryan.

21/08/2024

Liepos pabaigoje Malio tuaregų sukilėliams nukovus 84 "Wagner" kovotojus bei Ukrainai paskelbus apie suteiktą žvalgybinę informaciją ir "ne tik ją", tarptautinėje spaudoje įsiplieskė diskusijos apie atsiveriantį naują karo su rusija frontą.

OSMOS direktorius ir Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen politikos mokslų daktaras Žilvinas Švedkauskas kartu su Viktorija Samarinaitė aptaria šios operacijos tikslus ir nevienareikšmišką įtaką Ukrainos įvaizdžiui ir intensyvėjantiems diplomatiniams santykiams Afrikos žemyne.

Žilvinas taip pat pastebimi, jog pastarieji veiksmai Malyje yra jau beveik metus vykstančio Ukrainos ir "Wagner" pajėgų susidūrimo Sudano pilietiniame kare tąsa.

Daugiau įžvalgų - straipsnyje: https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/pasaulis/ukraina-ant-kortos-stato-viska-afrikoje-medzioja-wagner-kovotojus-57-2288592

Užsienio reikalų ministerija Lietuvos Respublikos ambasada Kaire/Embassy of Lithuania in Cairo Lietuvos ambasada Pietų Afrikoje/Lithuanian Embassy to South Africa Vystomojo Bendradarbiavimo Platforma / Lithuanian NGDO Platform VU TSPMI

Liepos 27 d. Malio šiaurėje esančioje Tinzaouteno vietovėje tuaregų sukilėlių surengtoje pasaloje žuvo 84 „Wagner“ kovotojai ir 47 Malio kariai, pranešė žiniasklaida.

26/06/2024

Last week, our own Žilvinas briefed OECD Working Party on Migration about Digital Explorers progress in the Baltics, Nigeria, Kenya, Armenia, and Iraq 🌐

As the main forum for better policies improving economic and social well-being of people around the world, OECD served as a perfect setting for debating how skills mobility partnerships like ours can sustainably address global demographic challenges, while investing in up- and reskilling of young populations in emerging economies.

The content-rich day, included perspectives of policy leaders, employers, mobility practitioners, and experts not only from Europe and the U.S., but also from countries like Japan and Australia, where skills mobility schemes have been in action for decades. Experience from the Indo-Pacific thus serves as a source of inspiration for EU states still making early steps in the field🤓

Concluding his intervention, Žilvinas highlighted the whole-of-society approach and the need for small states to work together while meaningfully contributing to healthy global talent circulation in a true spirit of multilateralism.

OECD and International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), thanks for having us, we look forward to continuing the discussion and coming back to Paris soon!

10/06/2024

Looking for some inspiration to kick-start the week? - take a look at the photo story about fresh perspectives and new beginnings in the Iraqi digital ecosystem 🇮🇶 ✨

Last week, Benas Gerdziunas from Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT, paid homage to our recent mission, which took us to front-running tech companies, innovation spaces, and universities in Erbil and Suli, where we met with the brightest minds contributing to the digital transformation of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

In his two-part series, Benas explains how the country’s emerging digital sector, young talents, and returning Iraqi expats are already changing the status quo and putting the country back at the centre of regional trade and connectivity.

Through Digital Explorers - Iraq Edition, Lithuania is already contributing to positive change on the ground. According to Dr. Nawzad Al-Salihi, head of digital transformation at iQ Group, and one of the heroes of the photo story, “Lithuania is a very developed country, especially in the digital banking and technology sector [...]They should come here and see what's going on. We are a very young population that is tech savvy and we could be a good help and learn from you and share from each other.”

So, follow Dr. Nawzad’s advice and immerse yourself in the Iraqi digital sphere:
https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2289831/lithuania-s-footprint-and-the-unseen-side-of-iraq-in-pictures-ii

Many thanks for the valuable partners, who let us into their homes and agreed to share their perspectives during our last mission (University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH), Five One Labs, Sulaimani Polytechnic University زانكۆی پۆلیتەكنیكی سلێمانی (SPU), Stack Solvers, MEED Foundation, Tevin Data). 👏

Lietuvos ambasada Jungtiniuose Arabų Emyratuose/Lithuanian Embassy to UAE
Užsienio reikalų ministerija |