Archives: Актуелности

As a regional center of this part of Serbia, the City of Niš has recognized the significance of developing the innovation ecosystem and knowledge-based economy as its key opportunity and has, in cooperation with the Science and Technology Park Niš, prepared a support program for co-financing innovations.

Within the support program, the City of Niš has dedicated five million dinars, with a maximum amount of one million dinars per user for developing the innovative idea, with the obligation of employing unemployed personnel.

The Science and Technology Park Niš, which has been recognized as an example of good practice in promoting technology entrepreneurship and new innovative technological solutions, products and services in only two business years, will strive to provide the recipients of the funds with expert and infrastructural support in the process of developing their own innovative idea and business.

With their 55 member companies, STP Niš represents an innovative community which, by networking and providing expert and infrastructural support, will contribute to the accomplishment of goals and the positive results of potential winners of this Public Call’s funds.

The application for this Public Call can be submitted by startup teams of at least two members, as well as by micro enterprises registered and headquartered on the territory of the City of Niš, and were in business for less than three years at the time of submitting the application.

The expenses being financed are the expenses necessary for developing innovations (proof of concept and/or the commercialization of the innovation), which are:

• Expenses for salaries and/or expenses for compensation, including all relevant taxes and contributions,
• Expenses regarding the procurement of the equipment and tools for the development needs – expenses regarding market research,
• Expenses regarding research and testing,

whereas expert support (advice on developing the business model, legal and administrative advice, training, intellectual property protection, preparing investments, infrastructural support, mentorship work, visibility, and promotion), infrastructural support (office space, meeting, presentation, and video conference rooms, joint coworking space, access to equipment) and/or virtual membership will be provided by the Science and Technology Park Niš for free.

Development activities that can be performed within the project can include the demonstration of the technology, the creation of a prototype, piloting, testing, and validating new or improved products, processes, or services.

Through this innovation co-financing program, in cooperation with the Science and Technology Park Niš, the City of Niš will provide support for innovation development and the development of new innovative high-tech products and services, processes, and the creation of innovative companies based on knowledge, increasing competitive capabilities of business entities through financing innovative market-oriented projects, and by doing so, the goals for presenting the funds will be fulfilled.

The application deadline is September 10 2022, and interested parties can find all information, conditions, and the application form on the Local Economic Development Office of the City of Niš website.

UNDP Serbia has announced a Public Call for innovative solutions for decarbonization contributing to the just green transition in Serbia in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Mining and Energy within the “Just Green Transition and Decarbonization in Serbia” financed by the Government of Japan.

For that occasion, the Second Info Day was held in STP Niš, realized in a hybrid format, with the goal of presenting this Public Call. Attendees were able to find out which goals need to be accomplished, as well as what benefits there are and what they can expect in the further realization of the project itself.

The suggested solutions need to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and the reduction of environment pollution, encourage the development of new branches of economy, and enable the retraining of workers from sectors based on the use of fossil fuel. 🌿

The ones who can apply for the Public Call are public and private companies registered in the Republic of Serbia individually or as a consortium. If it is a consortium, companies from Japan and the European Union doing business in Serbia can also take part, as well as scientific research organizations, institutions, and companies from the private and the public sector in Serbia.

You can find more information about the Public Call on the UNDP Serbia website.

Today we hosted Mr. Nikola Bertolini, the head of the Cooperation Department of the EU Delegation in Serbia in the Science and Technology Park Niš. We were honored to present our community, introduce them to the members and their projects, and discuss further plans for cooperation.

A significant number of STP Niš member companies are recipients of Innovation Fund grants supported by the European Union, and some of the representatives had the opportunity to present their realized projects which arose precisely because of this king of support.

As an example of good practice, we presented the “Gaming Center” – a program supported by the EU and successfully implemented within the Startup Center Niš, and announced some new ideas we will be working on.

The City&Me app, made by the STP Niš member company JustStart, has created a sticker pack inspired by our city in cooperation with Viber.

Famous Niš locations and Niš phrases will enrich communication and evoke the southern spirit on this popular digital platform, while everyone who downloads this sticker pack will also become users of the first City&Me chatbot on Viber.

The City&Me app is envisioned as a digital virtual assistant intended for the citizens of Niš and all visitors, who can use it to receive current service information, information about a location with recycling spots, latest news on covid, as well as a trivia quiz about Niš.

If you have not downloaded these fantastic stickers yet, you can do that on this link.

Within the “Better Energy” USAID Serbia project, the “How to Achieve an Energy Efficient Residential Building” Workshop – one in a series of workshops organized for registered building managers, energy managers, and interested municipality administration representatives, was held in STP Niš.

The “Better Energy” project is directed towards the improvement of energy efficiency at the municipal level and the increase of the use of renewable energy sources.

The workshops are conducted within the “Introducing Modern Energy Efficiency Technologies/Measures into Residential Buildings” activity, with the goal of informing and strengthening the capacities of every involved party, and defining their role in residential building retrofitting programs.