Distance education as one of the new and perspective forms of completing higher education increases in popularity around the world. At the same time, the development of this model of education generates new problems: organization of the study process and information security. Distance learning allows solving a problem of accessibility of higher education in case of social issues, working hours, etc. Therefore, distance education is of major importance in increasing the learning efficiency.The Latvian model of distance education is passing the stage of formation and approbation in the market of educational services. However, the creation of system of distance education should not be the final step for higher education institutions as such; furthermore, this process would not be developed without students. Therefore, the objective of the present research is to find out the opinion of the students on the expediency of distance education. More than 850 students from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Belarus have participated in the research.Results of the research have revealed that the traditional form of education based on communication between the lecturer and the student is more demanded among the students. At present, distance learning, unfortunately, cannot be characterised by stable demand. In order to increase the demand for such model of education, public presentations and discussions should be made, and media support is also necessary.

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Developed countries are successfully modernizing their economies, rapidly developing innovative technologies dominated by artificial intelligence, automation, and digital platforms. World leaders in the implementation of digital technologies are IT-companies, media, finance, and insurance. Mobile communications and the Internet have a huge impact on all sectors of the economy, and agriculture is no exception. Digital technologies increase production efficiency, complement other production factors, and stimulate innovation, significantly reduce costs, overcome information barriers that impede market access for many small farmers, expand knowledge through new ways of providing extension services and provide new ways to improve management supply chains in agriculture. The main limiting factor is the specificity of agricultural production. And although there are many examples of the positive impact of digitalization in rural areas, they often do not reach the expected level. The main reason is that technology can eliminate only some, but not all, barriers that farmers face. The aim of this research is to study the level of digitization of agriculture in Latvia, identifying the main obstacles to the introduction of digital technologies in the agricultural sector of the Latvian economy. Acceleration of digital transformations in agriculture, the formation of the digital agrarian sector of the economy depends largely on the investment climate in the country, increasing investment in the industry.

Abstract. The benefits of Quality Management are widely recognized following reports of its successful implementation in many large companies. It has led to these companies becoming highly competitive both locally and internationally through the production of quality products that meet customer requirements at the lowest cost, significantly increasing their market share and profitability. Quality standards make life safer, they create a level playing field on which to compete, they allow access to state-of-the-art technology, strengthen innovation capacity, and help achieve the most effective allocation of resources. For SMEs, they are particularly vital as they remove many of the obstacles that would otherwise hinder their entry into and expansion within a market. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very important part of the European economy, accounting for 99.8 % of all businesses, 675 % of all jobs and 58.4 % of value added. Their central role has been recognized by the European Commission and the Member States through various policy pronouncements. Quality management at small business companies is one of major factors affecting entrepreneurship success. The product quality is one of the indispensable preconditions of a company´s success on the market. SMEs have a central role to play in growth and job creation, but their use of standards and their involvement with standardization is typically low. Both SMEs and the economy more widely could benefit from SMEs being more involved in the standardization process. The aim of this research is to investigate problems antecedents for Implementation of Quality Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, thereby contributing to the knowledge on how to adopt Quality Management in SMEs.Keywords: SMEs, Quality Management, ISO 9001, quality standards, small enterprises. IntroductionSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a focal point in shaping enterprise policy in the European Union (EU). The European Commission considers SMEs and entrepreneurship as a key to ensuring economic growth, innovation, job creation, and social integration in the EU. The usual definition of small and medium sized enterprises is any business with fewer than 250 employees [1].SMEs are a very important part of the economy, as they represent around 99 % of all enterprises and employ an increasing number of persons. Most enterprises are independent and do not belong to an enterprise group, but within the SMEs medium-sized enterprises are very often part of a group. This is most common in manufacturing and to a less degree in knowledge-intensive business services [1].Dependent SMEs are important in terms of employment and gross value added (GVA), especially in smaller countries such as Denmark, Norway and Finland. However, they are also significant in Germany, where they account for 43 % of GVA created by SMEs in total and employ 34 % of the total number of persons employed by SMEs. Therefore, a large proportion of total growth created by SMEs can be attributed to dependent SMEs. ...

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