Rīga to host 31st International Biometric Conference in 2022

In July 2018, during the 29th International Biometric Conference held in Barcelona, Spain, head of the RSU Statistical Unit, Andrejs Ivanovs, together with professor Krista Fischer from the University of Tartu presented a bid for the Scandinavian – Baltic region to host the 31st International Biometric Conference in Rīga to the board of the International Biometric Society. Munich and Buenos Aires were among the cities willing to host this event.

Upon careful evaluation of applications submitted by the representatives from Rīga, as well as their colleagues from Argentina and Germany, the board of the society made the decision that the 31st International Biometric Conference will take place at the start of July 2022 in Riga.

The range of conference visitors is very extensive – it gathers 800 – 1000 biometry professionals from Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia and Oceania. The conference is held for 6 days – from Sunday to Friday and takes place once every two years. In 2020, the 30th Biometric Conference will be held in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

For timely preparation for such a widely attended conference, in the beginning of December the board of the Society is already planning to visit Rīga to get to know the city and explore its opportunities to host this large-scale event, as well as to decide on the venue of the conference. Currently, two potential conference venues have been proposed – the main building of Rīga Stradiņš University and the conference halls of Radisson Blu Latvija Hotel.

Not only will representatives from the RSU Statistical Laboratory and the Association of Latvian Statisticians be involved in the conference organising committee, but also their colleagues from the Baltic States and Scandinavia.

The International Biometrics Society is the largest society to gather statisticians, mathematicians and biologists with an aim to promote the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in biomedical science, public health and ecology. The society was founded in 1947 in the USA with Ronald Fischer as the first president.