30.05.2015

Promoting Youth Employment through Social Partnerships and Cooperation

On 30 May in Mitrovica, PIPS organised a seminar about the project “Promoting Youth Employment through Social Partnerships and Cooperation was held”.

This project aims at facilitating cooperation between local self-governments, business community, education providers and civil society organizations from 6 towns/municipalities in resolving the issue of youth unemployment through exchanging innovative ideas and best practices, as well as engaging in social dialogue and networking at the level of local communities. Municipalities and towns participating in the project are: Nis, Leskovac, Vranje, Mitrovica, Peja and Prizren.

In this seminar presentations of local initiatives, cooperation, and examples of best practice were presented, where participating was also STIKK. Mr. Lorik Mullaademi, Project Manager at STIKK discussed about the practices, achievements and initiatives of the association. For more, find the link to the presentation.

• 
• 
• 
• 

29.05.2015

TAIEX Expert Mission on Information Society Statistics

On 26 May, under the patronage of the Ministry of Economic Development and the help of the TAIEX Expert Mission, a three-day workshop on the topic of Information Society Statistics has been organised.

The aim of this expert mission was to support the beneficiary in the creation of a statistical system aligned with European and EUROSTAT standards to produce accurate information and communication technology statistics.

The first day summarized topics about EU Legislation concerning Community Statistics on Information Society, the second day was about ICT Statistics for Enterprises and the third day was about ICT Statistics for Households.

In this event, also the working group was formed consisting of STIKK, MED, MPA, Kosovo Statistic Agency and ARKEP, which will responsible for the conception of the survey in the future.

• 
• 
• 
• 

28.05.2015

Conference “Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Angel Investment Ecosystem in Kosovo”

From May 26-30, a delegation of International Angel Investors visited Tirana, Prishtina and Skopje to observe closely the current entrepreneurship environment in the region and the possibility to invest in entrepreneurial ventures.

The Conference took place on May 28, 2015 from 11am, at Innovation Centre Kosovo, organised by the Kosovo Business Angels Network in Kosovo (KOSBAN), Crimson Capital and ICK.

Participants: Norwegian Ambassador to Kosovo, Mr. Jan Braathu, Turkish Ambassador to Kosovo, Mrs. Songul Ozan, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Hykmete Bajrami, Vice-President of European Trade Association for Business Angels (EBAN), Mr. Baybars Altuntas, KIESA Director, Mr. Besian Mustafa, etc. Furthermore, the STIKK Board President, Mr. Shkumbin Brestovci, held a presentation on “Innovation in ICT in Kosovo”.

Facebook event & agenda: https://www.facebook.com/events/850179735058525/

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.05.2015

Discussion on methodology for study on skill needs of the labour market

On 27 May, the UNDP office in Prishtina organised a discussion on methodology for study on skill needs of the labour market. Associations and companies from six different sectors participated: ICT, metal processing, textile, tourism, timber and trade.

Participants discussed what possibilities each sector offers, what the key themes and issues are, and how those will be addressed in the future.

• 
• 
• 
• 

25.05.2015

The South-East Europe IT Network signed a Memorandum of Understanding

On 22 May in Sarajevo, members of the SEE IT Network (ICT Clusters) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the goal of which is to jointly promote cooperation and networking in the region for the mutual benefit of exchanging experiences, improving knowledge, and thus developing business opportunities of a broader range.

You can find more about the MOU here: www.stikk-ks.org/fileadmin/PDF/MOU_-_SEE_IT_Network.pdf

• 
• 
• 
• 

22.05.2015

South-East Europe Information Technology Conference

On 22 and 23 May in Sarajevo, the South-East Europe Information Technology (SEE IT) Conference was held. This conference gathered ICT clusters and associations, companies from those which have just been established to those with decades of experience in the ICT sector, and companies from other industry sectors that use ICT technologies in their business.

Amongst the panelists and participants we the Executive Director of STIKK, Mrs. Vjollca Çavolli, and Founding and Managing Partner of CACTTUS, Mr. Driton Hapçiu.

The main goal of the conference is to create an effective environment for two days where companies can interact and trade freely for SEE and EU target markets’ mutual benefit. Participating countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey.

This conference has been made possible by the USAID Partnership for Innovation (PI) project from BiH, together with the USAID REG project and the GIZ Open Regional Fund for Foreign Trade Promotion.

You can find the conference program and more information on this link: seeit.ba/program/.

• 
• 
• 
• 

18.05.2015

MED launches the Information Technology and Innovation fund

Cooperation which started in 2014 between the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) and STIKK the result of which is the National IT Strategy. The IT and Innovation fund, as part of the strategy, has been a recommendation from STIKK, which the Minister of the MED, Mr. Blerand Stavileci, has taken into consideration in order to support new and growing companies, based on public-private cooperation concept.

The Fund would address key problems and obstacles in accessing finances, whereas the Government will allocate an investment fund of 2 million Euro. This investment fund will be support with 2 million Euro from donors, and would additionally stimulate 2 million Euro investment from the private sector, and so achieve a total of 6 million Euro.

The Fund would offer access to finances for new and growing companies with main focus on ICT, the amount of which will be from 20,000 – 500,000 Euro.

For more information, visit: mzhe.rks-gov.net

• 
• 
• 
• 

18.05.2015

Girls in the Technology Sector

Technology sector offers huge employment opportunities, especially for girls, but this sector has not been seen up to now as attractive in this part of the population. The Norwegian Embassy in Prishtina has funded a project that aims to increase the participation of Kosovo women in IT. Currently, the gender composition of employees in the information technology sector is 80% male and 20% female.

On May 15th, KS-Kosova organised a conference on the issue of women in IT, where a project on this subject was presented. This project focuses on early educational level of women, secondary education that will increase the employment of women in the ICT sector, and strengthen the position of women in the Kosovo economy.

Besides the Norwegian Ambassador, the KS-Kosova had the honor of hosting many important guests during the conference, such as the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. Arban Abrashi, STIKK Executive Director, Mrs. Vjollca Çavolli, and other important key-players of the ICT sector.

• 
• 
• 
• 

13.05.2015

Information Technology (IT) and Innovation Forum

On 6 May, the forum about Information Technology (IT) and Innovation was held. This forum is an initiative launched by the Ministry of Economic Development that aims meeting key players in the field of IT decision makers, who discuss important issues that relate to the development and advancement of this sector.

The vision of the forum for Information Technology and Innovation is based on opinions, experiences, policies, reforms, and elaborated relevant recommendations on the field of ICT.

Part of the panels have been economic experts, academics, government institutions, companies about information technology sector and innovation as well as potential donors who will contribute on creating opportunities for a new dimension and reality of the national IT strategy. STIKK has been part of the panels as well.

Mr. Shkumbin Brestovci, showed the importance of the Business and Technology Park and asked the government to support this project with special significance for the economic development of the country.

Mrs. Vjollca Çavolli showed the challenges which businesses face, given the high rates of bank interest, lack of development funds and a lack of government support in terms of tax relief for companies aimed at exporting services.

At the end Minister Blerand Stavileci pledged on behalf of the government for their continued support towards the development of this important sector.

• 
• 
• 
• 

12.05.2015

Meeting with Committee for Education, Science, Culture, Youth, Sports, and Diaspora with Membership based Associations

On 12 May, a meeting between the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Youth, Sports, Diaspora, and association/interest groups, was organised by the mentioned committee and the Democracy for Development Institute (D4D).

During this meeting where STIKK also participated, the participants had the opportunity to get familiar with the Commission’s working plan, while it was said that all comments regarding the draft-laws and the upcoming documents to be recommended through a written-consent.

• 
• 
• 
•