2023 Annual Report

Take a look at the overview of Visionary Analytics 2023 achievements, highlights, and contributions to the wider societal impact.

2023 highlights

Small giants among the best in Europe

As our vision is to be a standard of excellence and value in our sector and 2023 brought us closer than ever. We saw immense growth in our markets holding even stronger positions in over 10 Framework Contracts with the European Commission, Cedefop, OECD, EIB, and European Parliament among the best in Europe. In 2023 we led and contributed to over 40 projects on policies spanning from school education by 2040 to EU missions, from algorithmic management to twin transitions, from hybrid work to copyright, and much more!

Welcoming a new company partner

12 years ago, Visionary Analytics was established by three founding partners Dr Agnė Paliokaitė, Dr Žilvinas Martinaitis, and Simonas Gaušas who have been working throughout the 2023 on developing the partnership model and getting ready to welcome a new partner to join their team. Having been an integral part of VA since 2015 starting as an intern at the company, our Research Manager Audronė Sadauskaitė was the first one to step into a new role as a partner! Her growth has mirrored our own and Audronė's journey with us has been nothing short of inspiring. We are confident that her skills will play a pivotal role in steering us towards even greater success.

Going remote-first and new employer value proposition

While others are looking to find ways to bring people back into the office, we have decided to bring people together by giving them autonomy, trust, and responsibility. As we seek to foster a work culture that inspires and motivates our team, we also want to invest in their well-being. This is why we have fully embraced the remote-first culture and decided to revamp our employer value proposition by further investing into our team’s home office space, private health insurance, and team spirit through team days, travel budgets, and more.

Spotlight projects

How did we make an impact last year? Check out the selected projects and initiatives below!

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Innovation, Research and Development

  • Together with our partners EFIS Centre, finalised the assessment of EU Missions, the review of mission areas and the analysis of EU Missions’ portfolio of instruments and actions for DG RTD.
  • Worked a project on Development of European Research Area (ERA) Scoreboard and ERA country reports with Ecorys, Carsa, UNU-MERIT, and NEBS for DG RTD.
  • Contributed to an ex post evaluation of Cohesion policy programmes 2014-2020 financed by the ERDF on research, technological development, and innovation with Prognos and CSIL for DG REGIO.
  • Completed EU and national policies on Gender Equality Plans and their impact on research and innovation for the European knowledge and support facility on Gender Equality Plans in research and innovation organisations with EFIS, Ecorys, and Zentrum for DG RTD.
  • Kicked off a study on innovative practices in legislation around emerging tech with 4Front for European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
  • Started a study for mapping and scoping of frugal and reverse innovation alongside 4Front for European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
  • Supported five clusters, participating in Photonics4industry Partnership, with analytical services on value chain mapping and market analysis relevant for cluster members in the photonics industry as well as joint strategy development and its implementation roadmap of the Partnership for EISMEA.
  • Led an evaluation of the Baltic Research Programme under the 2014-2021 EEA and Norway Grants in partnership with Blomeyer&Sanz.
  • Provided technical support in a project aiming to support the growth of Lithuania‘s space sector through the space industrial coordinator role for European Space Agency alongside Tech&Space.

Digitalisation

  • Completed a zero-distance XR applications and services project assist the DG CNECT in designing lines of strategy and preparing actions to contribute to the strengthening of the XR industry and to incentivise industrial digitalisation through the uptake of XR technologies, in a competitive, secure and ethical environment with Ecorys.
  • Kicked off a study on copyright in distance education and research: exploring the role of copyright in facilitating access to digital collections of libraries and other public interest institutions alongside KEA, OK Consulting, and Ecorys for DG CNECT.
  • Led a study to support the evaluation of the Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and of the Regulation (EU) 2017/1563, which implement into EU law the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled alongside OK Consulting for DG CNECT.
  • Implemented an evaluation of monitoring framework for the code of practice on disinformation to monitor and assess the implementation of the Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoP) in partnership with Verian for DG CNECT.
  • Finished the social, economic, and legal context and trends of telework and the right to disconnect, in the context of digitalisation and the future of work, during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic for DG EMPL.
  • Began a study on international benchmarking of the digital transformation assisting the European Commission in an assessment of the EU’s digital performance within a global perspective, developing both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the EU in relation to other countries with a strong focus on digitalisation policy for DG CNECT.
  • In collaboration with our partners Kantar Belgium and everis Belgique, finalised the Observatory for the Online Platform Economy project to better steer their work at the EU and national levels as well as obtain holistic and multi-disciplinary analyses of the platform economy for DG CNECT.
  • Wrapped up an expert study in the framework of the ETUC Platform Reps project aimed at improving the working conditions of workers in digital labour platforms for ETUC.

Labour Market and Social Affairs

  • Finalised a study exploring the context, challenges, opportunities, and trends in algorithmic management in the workplace. Providing an analysis of the context, challenges, opportunities, application areas, and trends in algorithmic management in the workplace as well as potential gaps regarding the relevance and effectiveness of the existing legal and policy responses to this phenomenon for DG EMPL.
  • Began a study supporting the impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal to expand the knowledge base on causal mechanisms and necessary conditions for successful structural change in broad areas of ESF+ intervention with FBG for DG EMPL.
  • Researched support to integrated monitoring of national implementation plans (NIPs) in line with the EU priorities 2021-25 in EU-27, Norway and Iceland for Cedefop. Complementing Cedefop’s own analysis and ensuring support to Cedefop in in-depth analysis and collecting additional evidence to provide a more complete picture on the work carried out.
  • Started a study on hybrid workplaces in the EU: provision of case studies from the public and private sectors alongside Notus for Eurofound.
  • Implemented a study on improving collective bargaining in Europe to understand why some countries in the EU have low or very low levels of coverage as well as propose policy recommendations to effectively promote it in said countries for European Economic and Social Committee.
  • Kicked off a study “Skills pay dividends – accounting for human capital” on how to increase employer training investment and make it more visible in company accounts for DG EMPL.

Education and Human Capital

  • Finalised a foresight-on-demand project developing four exploratory scenarios defining the future of school education in the EU by 2040 in partnership with AIT, GmbH, ISINNOVA, and 4strat for DG EAC.
  • Launched a study on well-being in digital education of the European school community taking into account the broader ecosystem and covering not only the state of play but also the needs and ways forward for JRC.
  • Assessed the impact of the online learning programme Girls Go Circular delivered to equip European schoolgirls with knowledge about circular economy and deep tech for European Institute of Technology Innovation Community RawMaterials.
  • Finalised the external monitoring of capacity building in the Active Citizen Fund programmes in the Baltics to monitor, identify best practices, report, and make recommendations for the EEA and Norway Grants.
  • Wrapped up a study supporting the evaluation of the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2017 on the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning for DG EMPL.
  • Completed the research on the state of adult education in six municipalities: profiling the activities of adult education representative groups and developing recommendations for the promotion of adult education as well as indicating opportunities for its future development for Lithuanian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

Green Economy and Sustainability

  • Implemented INTERCEPT project that aims motivating, mobilizing, and supporting NEETs green career pathway to come up with solutions for youth involvement in the green economy with Jobsplus and other partners for the EEA and Norway grants.
  • Finalised Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis (SAIS) – a cross-sectoral blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry (SPIRE) aimed at an ongoing and short-termed implementation of new skills demands with TU Dortmund University and other partners for EACEA.
  • Concluded Industry-driven Sustainable European Steel Skills Agenda and Strategy (ESSA) project together with TU Dortmund University and others for EACEA.
  • Kicked off a 2-year research project on accelerating sustainability in telecoms organised by the European social partners in Telecom, ETNO and UNI Europa ICTS, aiming to understand the potential of new technologies to enable the twin transition in Telecoms, their impact on skills needs and the labour market.
  • Researched prevention of OSH risks emerging from the dual transitions and at the centre of the EU trade strategy for the European Trade Union Confederation.
  • Began a study on the social impact of EU circular economy policies to contribute to the current understanding by developing a CE policy and socio-economic impacts’ typologies for JRC.

Social Sciences Research and Methodology

  • Researched European system for collection and analysis of online job advertisement data (WIH-OJA) towards the European Web Intelligence Hub for CEDEFOP.
  • Provided methodological insights and training for public officials.

Spotlight publications

Take a look at some of our reports and academic papers published in 2023!

From Socialism to Capitalism: Low-Skill-Biased Change in the Baltics during the Transition and Beyond

From Socialism to Capitalism: Low-Skill-Biased Change in the Baltics during the Transition and Beyond

How did technological upgrading in the Baltics during the transition from planned to market economy affect labour? Existing academic literature would imply a skill-biased or polarising effect. However, Visionary Analytics team found that the opposite is likely true—technological upgrading predominantly benefited lower skilled workers. This is explained by an abundance of lower skilled labour, which fostered the usage of less advanced technologies that such workers could utilise. This article contributes to the discussion on the relationship between technology and labour by highlighting that technological upgrading may lead to low-skill-biased change.

Full article in EN.

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Institutionalisation of Participative and Collaborative Governance: Case Studies of Lithuania 2030 and Finland 2030

Institutionalisation of participative and collaborative governance: Case studies of Lithuania 2030 and Finland 2030

Engaging active citizenry in public policy decisions using participative and collaborative processes is increasingly recognized as a critical step in implementing the open government concept. Visionary Analytics team examined challenges and success factors as well as specific instruments and good practices in implementing participatory and collaborative governance in different governance contexts. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the approach adopted for the development and implementation of long-term strategies in Lithuania and Finland, we specifically focused on institutionalization of participative and collaborative processes along the policy-making cycle. The findings suggest that the most serious challenges associated with transitioning from ‘old’ to ‘new’ governance modes can be expected in countries associated with classical bureaucracy and legalistic institutional culture. In particular, such systems create internal and external pressure to focus on outputs as proof of results, which often trump efforts to enhance learning and consensus-building. Lessons learned from “Finland 2030” and “Lithuania 2030” suggest that institutionalization through leadership, clear responsibilities, a wide consensus within the society and administrations, and permanent stakeholder involvement platforms, is crucial to enable cultural change. The paper proposed a participative and collaborative governance maturity model that could be applied for benchmarking countries or policies.

Full article in EN.

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Science, Technology, and Innovation for Ecosystem Performance – Accelerating Sustainability Transitions

Science, Technology, and Innovation for Ecosystem Performance – Accelerating Sustainability Transitions

In a world grappling with unprecedented sustainability and environmental challenges, the European Green Deal emerged as Europe’s robust response. The Green Deal’s vision of a clean planet by 2050 underscores the vital role of science, technology, and innovation (STI). Visionary Analytics along with other partners from Austrian Institute of Technology, Insight Foresight Institute, ISINNOVA, Fraunhofer ISI, and Institutul de Prospectiva have worked on the “S&T&I for 2050” project to identify future scientific and technological advancements that can significantly enhance ecosystem performance, aligning with Horizon Europe’s second strategic plan in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our team’s role in the project was to support the research for DG RTD through extensive bibliometric analysis to identify emerging STI topics as well as provide insight on clustering of the topics. The study concluded that the inclusion of social sciences, humanities, and non-scientific knowledge in research projects, as well as the design of the instrument portfolio, further enriches our ability to address planetary health challenges.

Full report in EN.

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Supporting the Assessment of the Five EU Missions

Supporting the Assessment of the Five EU Missions

In 2021, the EU launched an ambitious initiative – the EU Missions.  These are a set of goals that aim to deliver concrete solutions for the benefit of European citizens and beyond. The Missions contribute to the EU’s strategic priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the Digital Agenda, and the Horizon Europe programme. The team of EFIS Centre, Utrecht University, KMU Forschung Austria and Visionary Analytics aimed to provide evidence and to assess the relevance of the EU Mission areas based on the collected evidence, to review the appropriateness and relevance of the Mission areas and to analyse the EU Missions’ portfolio of instruments and actions. The main contribution of Visionary Analytics to the study was the implementation of a broad stakeholder survey. It helped to identify what worked well and less well, lessons to be learned and suggestions for improvement for the short and longer-term EU Missions’ implementation. The five mission assessment reports concluded that the scoping of mission areas and the design of the mission objectives and plans have been generally well handled in an open and transparent manner and based on the available scientific evidence.

Full report in EN.

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Extended Reality: Opportunities, Success Stories and Challenges (Health, Education)

Extended reality: opportunities, success stories and challenges (health, education)

Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term that refers to immersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). These technologies integrate digital information into the physical world or generate entirely new digital environments, revolutionising the way we interact, live, and work. As the XR market continues to expand and the potential for XR technologies to transform all sectors is increasing, this article examined how XR technologies can disrupt critical sectors like healthcare and education. We focused on the role and benefits of XR in these two sectors and barriers to wider adoption. In conclusion, XR technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way we learn and teach, as these technologies offer several advantages that traditional learning methods lack in a wide range of areas. However, the analysis also revealed several barriers that need to be addressed to ensure that the development and uptake of XR technologies will continue to grow to their full potential.

Full report in EN. Executive summary. 

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Impact of Industrial Change on Skills during the Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe

Impact of Industrial Change on Skills during the Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe

How has the changing structure of the economy during the transition in Central and Eastern Europe resulted in reskilling, deskilling, or upskilling of the labor force? Using data from the Life in Transition Survey and survival analysis we find that the scale of changes in the skill-sets has been surprisingly limited. Instead, the transition has resulted in a generational change: workers from declining sectors left employment, while the young cohorts took up the jobs in the emerging sectors. Furthermore, to a large extent, pre-retirement exits can be explained by a lack of relevant skills in the older generation that were necessary for the open market.
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Contribution to public discussion

Take a look at some of our 2023 activities and contributions to the society!

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We kicked off the year with events focused on adult education. We facilitated three discussions from January to March. The events led by our Senior Researcher Beatričė Leiputė aimed to enhance the capacity and competencies of municipal representatives in the field of adult education, to promote networking among participants, and to identify common challenges and potential solutions in the implementation of adult education in the six participating municipalities.

In March our Director and Partner Dr Agnė Paliokaitė was awarded a State award “The Order for Merits to Lithuania” on behalf of the President of the Republic of Lithuania for her service to the Republic of Lithuania and for promoting the name of Lithuania in the world! The award was presented by the Chancellor of the Office of the President Agila Barzdienė and the Honorable Council of Lithuania provides, evaluates and recommends individuals for the award. We are truly proud to work alongside such an inspiring team leader!

In June our team participated in a joint Cedefop / OECD – OCDE symposium on ‘Apprenticeships and the digital transition’, held in Thessaloniki. The symposium was dedicated to exploring the links between apprenticeships and the digital transition, and their implications for policymaking, bringing together social partners, policymakers, and researchers from around the world. During the symposium, Diana presented the results of our research paper on extended reality opportunities and challenges for apprenticeships, developed together with Research Manager and Partner Simonas Gaušas.

The year was finalised with our colleague Diana Čop taking part in a seminar on „Prevention of OSH risks emerging from the dual transitions and at the centre of the EU trade strategy“, organised by European Trade Union Confederation in Athens. The seminar was dedicated to exploring and discussing OSH risks brought by the climate change and the green transition. Diana presented the interim results of our study on prevention of OSH risks emerging from the dual transitions.

One team

At Visionary Analytics we believe that people and culture are our greatest assets. We also believe that a company of the future is equally profit- and values- driven. Thus, we give our 100 percent to: our clients and employees, business and personal development, autonomy and teamwork, high standards and strong support, upholding strong values and practicing what we preach.

We pursue to advance and promote diversity in our own firm, our clients, and in society more broadly as well as to foster an inclusive culture, where every colleague - regardless of background - feels a deep sense of respect and belonging.

As our team has become remote-first, we have supported it with numerous upgrades of our employer value proposition to foster the culture, adapt to the new needs as well as show appreciation for our colleagues stepping into the 2024.

In 2023, we:

  • Worked from Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Cyprus, Australia, Singapore, Scotland, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Malta, France, Ecuador, and Greece.
  • Fully developed our partnership model and welcomed a new company partner!
  • Embraced remote-first and decided to focus on autonomy, trust, responsibility, and employee wellbeing through workplace innovation.
  • Besides formal company events, organised seven informal gatherings to commemorate colleagues’ personal achievements, gather for a summer closing grill, a rally to save a tree, an office farewell party, and more.
  • Conducted two VA Academies, that included trainings on interviews, writing and conducting desk research, emotional resilience and burnout prevention, collaboration across teams and more.
  • Experimented with our Hour of Openness events to encourage team discussions, freedom to fail, and honesty.
  • Delivered multiple internal initiatives to facilitate the work of our team through new IT solutions, improving cross-border hiring, and becoming more efficient through less is more but better outlook in numerous company areas.
  • Dedicated attention to our Visionaries’ professional growth and personal development through mentorship meetings and HR talks.
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