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The fast development of information and communication technologies (ICT), the increased speed of scientific and technological progress, and the increase of global competition has led to the growing importance of knowledge and technology for economic development. Many countries and regions are seeking to shift their economies to more knowledge-intensive ones. For developing economies, these shifts in the role of knowledge in the economy present both challenges and opportunities. Traditional industrial development strategies that rely on commodity production of manufactures or routine assembly, or services clearly have limits in terms of growth -- unless the ways to leverage knowledge can be found and used to enhance the processes of products and production to add value to customers and end-users. All economies now need to develop resources and capabilities to acquire and apply new knowledge. This paper illustrates the innovative approach that strengthens the capacity of SMEs in transition to knowledge economy as well as cooperation between governmental institutions and SMEs for empowerment of people in regional development context. Continuing professional education, life long learning, and effective use of ICT and Knowledge Management (KM) is an effective instrument for the organisations to meet the global challenges of knowledge economy successfully. Innovative approaches are used to reach the regional development goals. The paper reports on the set approaches designed and piloted in Distance Education study centre of Riga Technical University. The project was funded by the European Structural Found (ESF): project "Continuing Education Programme to Strengthen the Capacity of SMEs by Developing ICT Infrastructure and Knowledge Management" No.: VPD1/ESF/PIAA/05/APK/3.2.4.2./0037/0007 financed by the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]