The award was presented by the Innovation In Politics Institute, which is based in Vienna with an office in Berlin.
This year, eight innovation nominations from Lithuania made it to the finals of the award, and two from Estonia. Nominations must be submitted by politicians of the respective country or state, or local government officials. In Latvia's case the advocates were politician Vita Anda Tērauda, and Iveta Reinhold, professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia.
The award was won by the ManaBalss team for its role promoting citizens' digital participation in the legislative process. When the award application was submitted last fall, there were already 56 laws that have been changed by citizens' initiatives via ManaBalss and by now that figure has increased to 60.
"In the assessment of the organization ManaBalss, Latvia is no less a digital superpower than Estonia, especially in the digital participation of citizens, and Latvia definitely has no fewer internationally distinguished policy innovations as there are in Lithuania," said ManaBalss.
More about the awards and the awarding body can be found at: https://innovationinpolitics.eu/
