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The Economic Council, a permanent working body of the City Council, which plays a key role in creating and implementing strategies for economic development and improving the business environment, has been formed in Niš.
Milan Ranđelović, PhD, managing director of the Science and Technology Park Niš, was elected president of the Council. The members of this body are prominent businesspeople – directors, co-owners and owners of companies that have been successfully operating in Niš for years, as well as the rector of the University of Niš and representatives of domestic and foreign companies.

The main task of the Council is to contribute to the development of the economy in Niš through cooperation with institutions, businesspeople, and the professional community. It is the competent authority for:

• Launching initiatives for economic development
• Reviewing strategies and plans for economic growth
• Monitoring the implementation of local development programs
• Identifying the comparative advantages of Niš in the economic sector
• Improving the business climate through making conclusions and recommendations

The process of forming the Council included consultations with business associations and entrepreneurs, representatives of the professional public, institutions, and prominent individuals from the economic sector.

Milan Ranđelović, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, local economic development, attracting investments and managing development and infrastructure projects. He is a Doctor of Economics and the author of more than 30 scientific papers and publications in the field of economic modeling and decision theory.
He has been the Managing Director of the Science and Technology Park Niš since 2020, a key institution for the development of the regional innovation and startup ecosystem.

According to him, with the formation of this Council, the City of Niš gains an important body that will, through a professional and analytical approach, contribute to strengthening the economy and creating an even more favorable business environment.

The Science and Technology Park Niš presented a new four-year project Serbian European Digital Innovation Hub on AI – S4AI_HUB, which will be implemented in cooperation with 22 key partners from various institutions in Serbia, which will work together on the process of digitalization and application of artificial intelligence in business.
In addition to project partners, the event was attended by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Prof. Miroslav Trajanović, PhD, and Nikola Bićanin, Acting Assistant Minister for Information Society and Information Security of Innovation at the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications. In their address, they emphasized the importance of digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, as well as the application of artificial intelligence in that process.

“Thanks to exceptional proactivity and a well-designed project, together with the formed consortium, STP Niš managed to obtain funding worth 1.7 million euros from the Digital Europe program. It should be noted that STP Niš has already developed an innovation hub that, in addition to startups, brings together 9 regional innovation startup centers and 4 academic incubation centers. This project will be a huge step towards a digital innovation hub, which will enable broader cooperation, especially in the field of artificial intelligence,” said Trajanović. As an initiative supported by the European Commission, this hub will provide support in understanding, integrating, and applying AI technologies, so that the business sector in Serbia can remain competitive and sustainable in the era of accelerated technological development. “Our goal is to provide SMEs, startups, and the public sector the means to understand, integrate, and implement solutions based on artificial intelligence and Industry 5.0, helping them to improve their products and services, increase competitiveness, and ensure long-term sustainability in conditions of accelerated technological development,” said Ivan Pavlović, Assistant Director at STP Niš and Project Manager of S4AI_HUB.

Assistant Minister of Information Nikola Bićanin pointed out that this project is part of a broader initiative launched in 2023, when Serbia became a full member of the Digital Europe program – “In cooperation with other institutions, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications is working intensively on further improvement, on further digitalization; we are expanding the services that are available to our citizens through the e-Government portal, and this only shows that we are paying attention to the services that we can provide to citizens in this manner, because consequently, their lives are made significantly easier,” added Bićanin.

S4AI_HUB will provide four key services: connectivity and collaboration, capacity building, test before invest, and securing investments. This way, users will be able to complete the entire cycle – from the initial idea to the final implementation – which has not been possible in our ecosystem so far.
The project is funded through the Digital Europe program (Project: 101191029 — S4AI_HUB — DIGITAL-2023-EDIH-04), with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications. By implementing this project, Serbia will take a significant step towards digital transformation and strengthening the domestic innovation ecosystem.

*The project “Serbian European Digital Innovation Hub on AI – S4AI_HUB” is co-financed by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed in this document are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

 

DataArt, a software engineering company, the Serbian IT Association (SITA), and YugoLogo, in cooperation with the Science and Technology Park Niš, have joined forces and organized a creative exhibition of logos of companies and institutes that operated in the IT sector in the second half of the 20th century in former Yugoslavia.

“In the early 1960s in former Yugoslavia, the development and application of computing became a pillar of science and technology development, on which banking, science, art, and education rested. With this exhibition, we want to express our respect for the institutions and enthusiasts of computer technologies in the region,” said Belgrade designer Ognjen Ranković, the creator of “YugoLogo”, which brings together hundreds of graphic solutions or logos of various ex-Yugoslav companies. “This is the first YugoLogo exhibition in Serbia, which is specific in that it focuses on IT heritage, and as part of a long-term project, exhibitions have been successfully implemented in Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia,” added Ognjen.

“In our relations with clients and when developing software, as a partner for progress, we always emphasize that people come first. Through the DataArt IT Museum, a global project led by our colleague Aleksej Pomigalov, we want to pay tribute to the engineers and companies that laid the foundations of the industry that enabled our progress and development, hence the interest in the IT heritage of former Yugoslavia, as part of a global project worthy of attention,” emphasized Marina Varzar, Director of DataArt Serbia and member of the Serbian IT Association’s Board of Directors.

“Through such initiatives, the Serbian IT Association wants to pay tribute to the visionaries who paved the way, but also to connect the community through a common cultural and technological identity. This is an opportunity to look back on the journey we have made and strengthen our faith in the potential that lies ahead,” said Marko Vučetić, Director of the Serbian IT Association, and expressed his satisfaction with the signing of the cooperation agreement with the Science and Technology Park Niš.

This exhibition symbolically represents the beginning of the cooperation between the Science and Technology Park Niš and the Serbian IT Association in the fields of innovation development, joint projects, knowledge exchange, and networking. “Our common goal is to improve the IT sector in Serbia and strengthen the local economy and global competitiveness,” emphasized Milan Ranđelović, Managing Director of the Science and Technology Park Niš.

Among the dozens of logos on display are computer manufacturers such as the Mihajlo Pupin Institute in Belgrade and the Electronic Industry of Niš, early adopters – Maribor’s TAM and Zastava, software development companies Novkabel and Velebit, importers of electronics from abroad, and Information Agencies.

Visitors can see these works every day until 4:00 PM at the Museum of Industrial and Technological Heritage, which is located within the Science and Technology Park of Niš.

As the coordinator of the national consortium, the Science and Technology Park Niš, together with its partners, starts a four-year project of establishing the European digital innovation hub – S4AI_HUB.

The Serbian European Digital Innovation Hub for Artificial Intelligence (S4AI_HUB) is a unique initiative in Serbia that enables the comprehensive digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and public administration. With a special focus on less developed regions, S4AI_HUB stimulates the development of innovations, improves competitiveness, and creates a strong digital economy.
The work of this hub is focused on the entire territory of Serbia, with an emphasis on the Southeast, Šumadija, and Western Serbia regions, and the main topics include artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and advanced digital knowledge.

S4AI_HUB provides four key services that enable successful digital transformation:

• Connecting and collaboration – We enable the connection of companies, startups, research institutions, and the public sector through B2B events, business clubs, and online sessions with the Serbian diaspora. We cooperate with the Enterprise Europe Network and the Startup Europe initiative, providing support in assessing digital maturity and developing strategies for digital transformation.
• Capacity building – Lifelong learning is the key to successful business, especially in dynamic industries. We adapt education to different levels of knowledge, organize training for beginners, intermediate and advanced levels, strengthen digital skills of employees and build a network of regional digital experts.
• Test before Invest – In cooperation with leading development centers and laboratories, we enable the piloting of digital solutions in a safe environment, thereby reducing risks and increasing the efficiency of investments.
• Securing investments – We support companies in finding and securing financial resources for digital transformation and commercialization of innovations, ensuring their long-term sustainability.

Our “one-stop-shop” initiative provides comprehensive support for innovations, with a special focus on less developed regions. Through a wide network of partners – STP Niš, STP Čačak, the Innovation Incubator of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Belgrade, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Serbia, the Center for Digital Transformation, NiCat Cluster and ICT Hub – we work to make AI technologies accessible to everyone.

The project is funded through the Digital Europe program (Project: 101191029 — S4AI_HUB — DIGITAL-2023-EDIH-04), with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, as well as the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications.