The Western Balkans Digital Summit, which was held in Belgrade last April, is being held online this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, in the organization of the city of Tirana. Mihailo Jovanović (Assoc. Prof, PhD) participated, along with the representatives of other economies of the Western Balkans, in two panels: “Trust and Security - Role of Governments in Digital Transformation” and “Building a Regional Digital Economy at the interplay of Governments and Businesses”.
“The concept of digitalization, which was adopted by the previous Government as one of the priorities at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, quickly began to give successful and visible results. The promotion of knowledge, young and talented professionals, and orientation towards development based on innovations and new technologies, have proven to be crucial in recognizing Serbia as a regional leader in digital transformation. “The fact that the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, will lead the next Government as well goes in favour of Serbia continuing even faster with the project and concept of digitalization”, said Jovanović.
“In the coming weeks, Serbia will complete the construction of the State Data Centre in Kragujevac, a project of importance for Serbia, designed according to the highest technical and security TIER 4 standards, which will serve public administration, local self-government and commercial users. Serbia is ready to offer the economies of the Western Balkans equipment and data storage in this Data Centre because we are aware that there is no other Data Centre of such capacities and characteristics in the region. By putting the State Data Centre in Kragujevac into function, Serbia is also making a strong step forward in strengthening national information security”, Jovanović pointed out.
Serbia is also ready to spread knowledge in the field of digitalization, both at the level of the Western Balkans region and beyond, starting from the development of eGovernment services, all the way to the improvement of information security through the launched “Serbia Digitalizes” Programme.
“Digitalization, regional exchange of knowledge and ideas, but also regional connectivity and the provision of electronic services within the entire region is paramount for the further development of each economy, but also the region as a whole. An example of how the national economy is developing with the help of digitalization is the platform “My First Salary”, established by the Office for IT and eGovernment. With this project, the Government of the Republic of Serbia is creating a kind of digital labour market, connecting on the one hand companies that have difficulties in finding adequate staff on the market, and on the other hand young professionals who are waiting to get their first job. With this platform, we have completely removed all bureaucratic, administrative and paperwork obstacles and enabled fully digital and transparent communication between citizens, businesses and the state. Thanks to that, the state will soon subsidize entry into labour for 10,000 young professionals”, added Jovanović at the end of his presentation.
