KosICT Technology Festival – 11th Edittion

The KosICT Technology Festival kicked off its eleventh anniversary with 60 speakers and over 2200 physical participants, reaffirming itself as one of the leading events in the region for exchanging and promoting technology ideas.

KosICT was celebrated in the Youth and Sports Center in Prishtina and was powered by ProCredit Bank Kosovo.

Between the 7th and 8th of October 2022, top decision-makers and officials, company executives, startup developers and well-known experts from various technology sectors shared their vision and best practices with participants with diverse backgrounds and professions.

The main stage of the 11th edition of KosICT was moderated for the third time in a row by Global Public Speaking & TEDx Coach, Peter Hopwood who officially opened the festival by highlighting some of the main topics to be discussed over the two days. The welcoming note for the audience was made by the President of the Board of Directors of Kosovo ICT Association (STIKK), Mr Valon Canhasi who also gave a brief description of the path and achievements of KosICT over the last 11 years.

The 11th edition of KosICT was honoured by the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti who spoke about the support of the government to the ICT community in Kosovo, as well as, some of the future plans related to the growth of the local ICT industry. The floor was then passed to Norway’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Jens Erik Grøndahl who highlighted the potential of digitalization and the ICT industry for the development of Kosovo and the whole region. Then, the Deputy Mayor of Pristina Mr Alban Zogaj shared the will of the Municipality of Prishtina to support all future ICT projects in the future. His remarks were followed by the Executive Director of Innovation Center Kosovo, Mr Uranik Begu.

During the two days of the festival, a total of 60 speakers (26 international and 34 local) explored topics like Blockchain, Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Power of Innovation, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, Digitalization, 5G Networks, Smart Cities, Women in Tech and many more. KosICT was attended by over 3,200 participants.

Continuing the tradition of supporting and promoting promising Start-ups, KosICT once again welcomed the Innovation Fair, where 9 start-ups highlighted their work. A total of 9 ICT companies and 44 kids from Shkolla Digjitale, J-Coders, BONEVET and Finnish school were part of Future developers Corner, sponsored by Gjirafa. The Brokerage Event brought together 24 local and international businesses for 36 private meetings and potential partnership explorations for two days. Two E-gaming tournaments were part of the festival as well.

More details on the 11th Edition of KosICT can be found at the FULL NARRATIVE REPORT

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Girls in ICT Days – Activities in Pristina by DigiWomen Cluster

On the occasion of the International Day of Girls in ICT, the Municipality of Pristina, in partnership with 16 organizations that contribute to the promotion and empowerment of girls and women in ICT, organized the #VAJZATNETIK22 campaign. This event took place on April 26-28, turning the “International Day of Girls in ICT” into the “Days of Girls in ICT”. This initiative will continue to be organized every year, with more activities and partner organizations.

DigiWomen Cluster Kosovo, which operates under the umbrella of STIKK, is one of the main partners of this campaign. Throughout the duration of the campaign, DigiWomen Cluster held discussions, trainings and information sessions with girls from primary and secondary schools in Pristina.

Aiming to create a more favorable environment for the development of ICT with the inclusion of women, DigiWomen Cluster Kosova (DWCK) determined the scope of the problem of engaging girls in the ICT sector, proposed solutions, communicated and promoted them by creating opportunities for networking, motivation and reducing the gender gap. In this line, the following activities were carried out.

Members of DigiWomen Cluster Kosovo participated in the opening of the campaign with a panel discussion “Past, present and future of technology”. The Executive Director of STIKK, Vjollca Çavolli, made an overview of the development of the ICT sector over the last 30 years, where she underlined that despite the obstacles, the number of women entrepreneurs in this sector has increased, also developing the quality of products and businesses.

The entrepreneur and co-founder of Starlabs and the Digital School, Hana Qerimi talked about her experience as a woman in the ICT sector and also about the potential that the sector offers to young men and women in Kosovo.

The opening ceremony of the activities was joined by the mayor of the Municipality of Pristina, Përparim Rama and the vice-mayor Donjeta Sahatçiu, who is also a member of the DigiWomen Cluster.

 

During the three days of the campaign, DigiWomen Cluster held two sessions “Ask me anything” and three sessions on “ICT as a career choice” with girls from primary and secondary schools in Pristina.