How Digital Serbia is boosting tech talent in the country

Although the Western Balkans region is still in the early stages of developing its technology and startup ecosystems, it nevertheless has pioneers. It appears that Serbia is setting the tone and others will follow suit.

After going through a series of wars and sanctions during the 1990s that led to the collapse of its economy, Serbia is now trying to create technological talent that will contribute to the digital transformation of its society through industrial development ICT, R&D institutes and startups in different technological sectors.

Various governmental and non-governmental actors played an important role in this process. One of them is the Digital Serbia Initiativea non-profit organization with the strategic objective of developing a strong and globally competitive digital economy in Serbia.

The initiative combines the strengths of more than 30 members from all sectors relevant to the growth of a digital ecosystem – including technology, banking and finance, telecommunications, consulting, law, education and research , media, pharmaceutical industry and startup support organizations.

According to Nebojsa Bjelotomic, general director of Digital Serbia, when it comes to creating a new wave of Serbian tech talents, the most important aspect is how to change their mentality, which will help Serbian youth think more about their skills and career development.

“Serbia and the rest of the Balkans are fighting a brain drain. So we want these young people to know what is happening in Serbia and what opportunities they can actually have in development centers, startups or in academia. So we organize these tours for high school students so that they see the real work spaces where they can maybe imagine themselves, and they think about where they would want to work, rather than where they should go to university,” says Bjelotomic. The recursive.

Therefore, Digital Serbia has also created interdisciplinary programs that can help students understand how to best use their skills and talents.

“If you have engineering or other skills, if you’re not technical and want to get into a technical field, we try to give you computer science knowledge. So, for example, if you have completed studies in visual design and sound design, we will give you some IT muscle so that you can get into the gaming industry for example, because this industry also combines music and cinema “, he emphasizes. .

As Bjelotomic adds, for example the game The industry is one of the most developed in the country, so it is also one of the practical examples where students can already start training and working for large gaming companies present in Serbia.

Practical knowledge and commercial know-how

Another practical aspect implemented by Digital Serbia is to help students learn how to create so-called “student companies”.

“They learn early on about the balance sheet and the income statement, as well as pricing policies, how to create the product and what the components of the product are, so that if they go into one of the STEM fields, they can keep this in mind and possibly have the know-how to commercialize their ideas, inventions and technological advancements,” Bjelotomic told The Recursive.

According to the Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Jelena Begovic, to be able to achieve all this, it is of utmost importance that the private sector can communicate with the best universities.

“We want to educate people in the best way possible so they are prepared for what’s happening.” It is now very difficult to imagine what new jobs will look like, even in the biotechnology sector, in the next five to ten years. Things are evolving and changing very quickly and the education system must keep up with this and must be prepared. The best way is to communicate with the private sector, because some of these people will end up in the private sector. On the other hand, we are also open to mutual R&D projects with companies, as well as to development of IT with companies,” Begovic tells The Recursive.

Commercialize the best ideas and develop startups in different sectors

Commercialization of such ideas is particularly important for everyone entering the country’s technology sector, and the Serbian Innovation Fund is one of the institutions that fosters the process for young startups ready to take on the many challenges of this sector . sector.

“We are working to expand technology transfer and knowledge transfer in both directions, as some of the projects and project ideas came from the research and development sector. Today, small and medium-sized businesses teach or coach them how to approach commercialization,” Ivan Rakonjac, general director of the Innovation Fund of Serbia, told The Recursive.

Created in 2011, the Innovation Fund has so far invested around 60 million euros, around half of which came from different European Union funds available to the country. But beyond funds, it is also important to develop cooperation with the different players in the ecosystem, believes Rakonjac.

“Cooperation with other players in innovation ecosystems, such as the country’s science and technology parks, is something very important in terms of infrastructure, because it not only provides a roof for startups and service companies public, but also to provide certain flexible support. And for some, it even constitutes preparation for access to financing and the challenges of doing business on the market,” he emphasizes.

Biotechnology, the next big thing in Serbia

To be able to achieve all this, the Serbian Authorities have also created a number of institutions focused on research and development, while supporting the development of a variety of startups through resources and incentives.

The BioSense Institute in the city of Novi Sad is one of these institutes, which particularly focuses on the development of biotechnology and has become one of the country’s success stories.

Established seven years ago as the country’s first new institute after 40 years, BioSense today has a team of 150 researchers, including 50 PhD holders, as well as around 50 external researchers and consultants.

“TThe idea of ​​the project was to create a new institution that would be a game-changer in the European research area, and bring new ideas and a fresh start. So indeed, we started with 10 enthusiasts and reached 140, 150 people today with the crucial moment that the people are young, oriented towards multidisciplinarity, with the idea of ​​cross-fertilization between different fields. So I’m an electrical engineer and I’ve been teaching artificial intelligence for 20 years, but we have molecular biology, agriculture, etc. within a single institution. So, the large part of the government investment is spent on research equipment and future projects that will be important even in 20 years,” BioSense director Vladimir Crnojevic told The Recursive.

According to Crnojevic, the institute and its programs have already spawned successful biotechnology companies such as Agremo for example, which is an intuitive agricultural platform and data analysis software.

“Agremo now works on five continents and started as an idea on the BioSense platform. We also have the regional BioSense program where we are looking to identify potential centers in the region and create a network of centers working on biotechnology. We want to have a demonstration farm where we will have hands-on experience for people to understand what a digital transformation of agriculture and other traditional activities means and finally, a shared research center where we will showcase the equipment and technology that everyone can use,” concludes Crnojevic.