27.02.2014

ICT-KOSEU: Information session on ICT

On March 27, 2014 STIKK as one of the ICT-KOSEU project partner organized an information session on Kosovo’s participation in the new EC Framework Programme HORIZON2020 at the MEST. Z. Ulrich Boes, from URSIT, Bulgaria also a ICT-KOSEU project partner offered the participants a general overview of HORIZON2020, the main goal of which is to simplify several aspects compared to the previous framework, however still there are many procedures to be followed. Horizon 2020 should support all stages in the research and innovation chain (including non-technological and social innovation, and activities that are closer to the market), with innovation and research actions having a different funding rate based on the principle that the closer to the market the supported activity is, the larger the additional funding from other sources should be.The participants also had an opportunity to hear from the experiences of Kosovar researches from Diaspora: Priv.-Doz.Eng.Nysret Musliu, associate professor and leader for research project at the Technical University of Viena, Austria, Dr.-Eng.Naim Bajçinca, Senior Researcher Associate at the Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems & Control Theory and Lecturer in Technical University of Berlin on the topic of “Experience in research as a prerequisite for participation in research projects.” The meeting was concluded with the presentation by the STIKK representative mrs. Mjellma Alijaj on the Online Survey for ICT Research Roadmap, targeting ICT stakeholders. The roadmap will be aligning Kosovo’s ICT research priorities with the priorities set forth by HORIZON2020.

• 
• 
• 
• 

11.02.2014

STIKK presents the research findings in the field of ICT

STIKK together with the EYE project presented the reports: Analysis of Lack of Skills in ICT and ICT Market Analysis in Kosovo, held on 11 February, 2014 at Hotel Sirius.These reports were compiled after the research conducted with about 500 companies in Kosovo in order to identify the potential growth and development of the ICT sector. The event hosted over 50 participants, ICT experts who participated in the discussion on the findings of research.

The research reports can be found at the following Links:

http://www.stikk-ks.org/uploads/downloads/STIKK_Analiza_E_Tregut_TIK.pdf

http://www.stikk-ks.org/uploads/downloads/Analiza_e_mangesise_se_shkathtesive_ne_TIK_.pdf

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.01.2014

Business Tuesday #13

On January 14, 2014, at the Business Tuesday #13, experts and leader of the information and communication technology field in Kosovo discussed about the latest technology trends in Kosovo and the world for 2014 to an audience of over 60 people at the Innovation Centre Kosovo. It was stated that Kosovo is now joining the world trends in technology usage, whereby the request for mobile and web apps is predominant and necessary in various aspects of daily lives.“We are trying to promote Kosovo as a country where IT has a lot of prosperity and a huge potential” said Vjollca Çavolli the Executive Director of the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK). She stated that for the Kosovar youth technology is not only a part of the daily lives as a communication means, but rather a working tool even more.The audience had an opportunity to also listen to the presentation of Bersant Deva, PhD candidate at the Technical University of Berlin, Kujtim Gashi director of the Kosovo Information Society Agency, Dardan Sejdiu, Deputy Mayor of Prishtina and Hekuran Doli – CEO at Terabytespace.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.01.2014

ICT equipment exempt from customs duty

On January 16, 2014, the Law No. 04/L-163 ON GOODS EXEMPT FROM CUSTOM TAX AND GOODS WITH ZERO RATE OF THE CUSTOM TAX was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo. This law was approved in the 95th meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo based on decision no .03 / 95 dated 17.10.2012 and since then , the law has passed both readings in parliament and the assembly, following which it was returned from the office of the President due to a contesting article from the legal office . After many vicissitudes and bureaucratic delays, the law was finally passed in the Assembly session in December 2013 . STIKK in cooperation with its members, with the aim of creating a more favorable legislative and policy environment for the development the ICT sector, was engaged regarding this law since its initiation process and has organized working groups composed of its members and stakeholders .Despite the fact that the approved list did not include all of the equipment suggested by STIKK and its members, this list provides a good basis upon which future requests can be build upon. This law will have an impact on the development of all sectors and Kosovo society itself, while reducing the cost of ownership of these devices. We as STIKK will continue to advocate for tax breaks by deducting VAT from 16 % to 5 % in ICT equipment.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

STIKK committed to the professional development of ICT students

On 23rd and 24th December 2013 STIKK together with ICK organized 2 professional trainings for ICT students with the main purpose of advancing their skills for the labour market and their professional development. These trainings covered: Sales Techniques and Internet Marketing. Trainers Vjosa Mullatahiri- Haxhidauti- Sales Techniques and Besart Bajrami- Internet Marketing provided the students with the knowledge and skills that will be useful to them in their future careers. The trainings were attended by 26 ICT students, who were certified for the trainings attended.

ISO 27001 Lead Implementer Training

Starting December 16, STIKK organized a 5 day training on ISO 27001 Lead Implementer which was dedicated to Information Security Professionals.

The training was attended by 12 participants from whom 10 were men and 2 women. The main learning objectives of the training were:
– To understand the implementation of an Information Security Management System in accordance with ISO 27001.
– To gain a comprehensive understanding of the concepts, approaches, standards, methods and techniques required for the effective management of an Information Security Management System.
– To understand the relationship between the components of an Information Security Management System, including risk management, controls and compliance with the requirements of different stakeholders of the organization.

The training was held by Mr. Lekë Zogaj from PECB/Canada. This is another training organized as part of the STIKK Training Academy.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

STIKK participates at the PIN-SME meeting

On 5th of December, STIKK participated at the Board Meeting of PIN-SME(The Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for SMEs) which took place in Milan, Italy. During this meeting STIKK was informed about the activities of PIN-SME during year 2013 and had an opportunity to discuss the future possibilities to further strengthen the cooperation between STIKK and other PIN-SME members in order to create cooperation possibilities between the STIKK member companies and the members of these associations.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

7 students started their internship with STIKK member companies

During December the SPARK project, one of the goals of which is increasing the student capacities of the ICT students and their preparation for the labor market, enable 60 ICT students to become a part and receive basic training in “ Career Building” and “ Entrepreneurship”. 26 students from this group of 60, were selected to further continue professional training ICT thus attended the “IT Fundamentals” and “Network Training”. Following the training, STIKK in cooperation with its member companies has managed to place 7 students for internship in these companies.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

Export promotion and ICT strategy workshops

In December, STIKK in cooperation with Capgemini Consulting and with support from GIZ , organized workshops on export promotion strategy in ICT . STIKK member companies, governmental institutions relevant to the IT sector and academic partners participated in these workshops. During these workshops, the participants expressed their views on the challenges, activities, methodology and tools necessary to further develop the ICT sector. In these workshops were presented the detailed activities divided into nine pillars, separated by priorities.

9 pillars of the national IT strategy:
1. IT Promotion Policy
2. Company Excellence & Quality
3. Export promotion
4. Domestic Market Development
5. IT Education
6. IT Cluster & Collaboration
7. Entrepreneurship
8. Innovation and R & D
9. Invest Promotion

STIKK in cooperation with its members and partners will start implementing the strategy during 2014 based draft strategy which will be ready in January 2014.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

STIKK and its member companies meet the representatives of the Kosovo Customs

Based on the request of STIKK members regarding several concerns and difficulties faced with the customs. On 13th of December 2013, STIKK represented by the Executive Director Mrs. Vjollca Cavolli, together with the member companies CACTTUS, EKONET, ASSECO SEE, ART HOUSE, ITD Prishtine Shpk organized a meeting with Mr. Bujar Kelmendi, Head of the Sector for Legislation and Counseling. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the difficulties and the unexpected blockages that have occurred with the customs more respectively the storage department, the problem of transferring, as well as the main issue of company access to their ASYCUDA. On this occasion the companies requested from the Customs to enable them this access. Mr. Kelmendi, who expressed his willingness to assist in any way companies explain that Kosovo Customs is now in a phase of transition from one program to another and therefore this may have been the cause of several difficulties encountered.

• 
• 
• 
• 

27.12.2013

Businesses are concerned about the delay on the adoption of the Law on Custom Exempted Goods

As a result of the delay of relevant committees of the Assembly of Kosovo in returning the Draft law on Custom Exempted Goods on the agenda of the Assembly for approval and with the purpose of discussing these delays and the faster approval of this draft law, which would be of a great importance for domestic producers as well as for the sector of information, communication, and technology, the Kosovo Association of Information Communication and Technology, and American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, organized a roundtable with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance. Members of the Committee on Legislation and Constitution were also invited, but none of them participated in the roundtable.

Vjollca Çavolli, Executive Director of STIKK, stated that such debates are an excellent opportunity for finding solutions to several issues that concern the business community, in this case to find a solution to the issue of the draft law in question, which was recommended in 2009 in cooperation with AmCham and other business associations, always aiming to facilitate the conditions of the private sector, in particular the manufacturing and ICT sector. Ms. Çavolli added that the adoption of this draft law would bring many advantages. She expressed her concerns regarding the continuous decrease of the revenues from import of IT equipments, which can suggest an increase of informalities in this regard. Considering that 76 per cent of the population uses the internet, it is of a great importance to provide a free approach on electronic communication equipments. This initiative would be among the firsts and the most important for the ICT sector, which is continuously growing and becoming more important in our country.

On the other hand, Arian Zeka, Executive Director of AmCham, said that due to the difficult situation faced by the manufacturing sector, which prevents the growth of a competitive position for Kosovo manufacturing enterprises as compared to those of the neighboring countries, it is of a great importance that the Draft law on Custom Exempted Goods is passed by the Kosovo Assembly as soon as possible, considering that the approval of this law will enable the strengthening of the private sector as a major driver of economic development.

Safete Hadergjonaj, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, expressed her appreciation to business associations for taking such an initiative, by offering a good opportunity to businesses to express their concerns. “However, the issue regarding the approval of the Draft law on Custom Exempted Goods is of concern to the Budget and Finance Committee as well” added Ms. Hadergjonaj. After briefly explaining the drafting procedures of this draft law, she promised that much more effort will be put into the adoption of this draft law as soon as possible.

While understanding the concern of the business community, Naser Osmani, 1st Vice Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, said that in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, they aimed to have provisions within the draft law which enable the Ministry of Finance, to decide on changing the list of custom exempted goods after consulting the Budget and Finance Committee, with the purpose of avoiding long procedures of amending and supplementing the laws. He invited the business associations and the businesses present at the event to give their recommendations on overcoming this issue. Businesses that were present at this roundtable expressed their personal concerns regarding the lack of fiscal policies that are in favor of manufacturing companies and the ICT sector, while at the same time requesting for a faster approval of the respective draft law.

• 
• 
• 
•