At the second workshop in the “Valorization of Knowledge EU” series conducted by the EU Info Point Niš in partnership with the Science and Technology Park Niš – “Knowledge as the key for business development”, we learned that intellectual property is the core of companies in the 21st century, the driving force of innovations, the competitiveness and growth of business, as well as an asset for validation and attracting investors for startup companies.
Through the discussion and examples given by Dr. Nedeljko Milosavljević and Dr. Milan Banić, we found out that patents, brands, industrial design, and copyright can serve as a “shield” and/or “sword” and, as such, be the key to business development.
At this workshop, as well as further workshops in this series, EU experts for business and innovations and experts for knowledge transfer will offer their expertise and support by means of a webinar for the connection of research and its application, representing examples of intermediaries connecting knowledge producers and knowledge users, especially small and medium-sized companies.
The Science and Technology Park Niš held the opening ceremony for the Public Call for employers – a platform for workplace training within the “Education to Employment (E2E)” project. The details of the Public Call were presented, as well as the benefits companies expect by participating in this program, after which there was a discussion about experiences in cooperation on the program were discussed in a panel discussion with representatives from partner companies STAX Technologies, DMV, Photon Optronics, and Inmold.
The main purpose of the Call for employers is to provide technical and financial support to employers from the private sector who need competent workforce, through creating different possibilities for learning by working through the Platform for workplace training for current or future employment seekers, with primary focus on young people under 30 years old, but not excluding other potential participants, especially from vulnerable groups. The E2E program promotes dignified work and will support employers offering proper employment conditions.
The “Education to Employment” project is being conducted by the Government of Switzerland and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and was conceived to create prerequisites for employing the youth in Serbia more quickly.
During the past two years, the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus has somewhat forced entrepreneurs to get used to the newly formed digital environment which, as it turned out, significantly made their business easier. Within the “Digital Business in the Microsoft Ecosystem” conference, organized by the GoPro Company, in partnership with STP Niš and the Microsoft Company, entrepreneurs, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, were able to hear what the first steps are if they were ready to completely digitalize their business.
With clear guidelines about the process of digitalizing business itself and practical examples, speakers made an effort to bring the possibilities, but also the threatening risks if the process is not entered on time, closer.
We were pleased to accommodate representatives of the Microsoft and GoPro Companies in this innovative community of ours, share experiences, and use the opportunity to start a narrative about some future joint projects an potential cooperation.
The first live training for teams from the region of Niš at the Raising Starts program was held in the Science and Technology Park Niš.
After a series of online workshops and 1-1 mentor sessions in the fields of business development, IPs, defining KPIs and the budget, the topics this time were – the team as the key player (strengthening competencies and work in a team) and presentation skills, which will be particularly important for startups when preparing future pitches for passing into Phase 2 of the program.
Sandra Savanović, a long-term coach for developing business skills and the president of CEFA Serbia, worked with the startups.
After DemoDay, we come to the finale of the first part of the program.
This year’s Advanced Technologies Forum had over 50 panelists from the coutry and abroad take part, and within 10 of the panels, discussions were about topics of exceptional importance for the development and improvement of the innovation ecosystem, as well as for the development of the information-communication infrastructure important for improving the global competitiveness of Serbian economy.
Even though the impressions after the sixth Advanced Technologies Forum have not settled down yet, even though most of the panels left room for thought – which steps to take going forward, we can conclude that the innovation and startup ecosystem of our region, even being this young, most certainly has potential for further development!
The best in the field of advanced technologies were rewarded, and within the scope of the Forum, the Specialized Job and Professional Orientation Fair was held, as well as a workshop on the topic “Introduction to the Smart Specialization Process.”
Forum participants pointed out what the priorities and shortcomings when forming startups are, gave answers to the questions of how to overcome the connection between startup companies and the scientific research community, and also what kind of support is needed for business and the public sector in order to strengthen the position of the Serbian innovation ecosystem.
