KosICT 2015 – The fascinating tech voyage
KosICT 2015 was successfully completed after 2 days of sessions and workshops. Once more KosICT brought forwards futuristic and contemporary topics such as Virtual Reality, Mobile Development, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things. Not only were these topics and their future trends presented and discussed upon, but also advice was given on how the local market here can contribute and catch-up with the rest of the world.
The success of KosICT is largely attributed to the speakers who shaped its course. Coming from prominent companies, all speakers were well-prepared and offered valuable insights. In the topic of Virtual Reality, KosICT had Mr. Florian Stadlbauer, Executive Director at Deck 13 Interactive, and Mr. Endri Tolka, Co-Founder and COO/CFO of YouVisit present. After that, Mr. Christian Kulas, Managing Business Analyst at Capgemini, Mr. Matthias Hamburg, Managing Consultant at Sogeti Germany, and Mr. Ermal Sadiku, CEO at LinkPlus, presented on the topic of Mobile Development. On the topic of Industry 4.0 the speakers were Mr. Rolf Glunz, Sales Director at imbus AG, Mr. Mentor Sahiti, CEO at Adaptivit, Mr. Peter König, SAP Coordinator and Lecturer at UBT College, and Mr. Villu Arak, Co-Founder at Funderbeam. Lastly, the topic of Internet of Things was covered from Mr. Blaz Umek, Manager of Product Development at IPKO Telecommunications, Mr. Kiril Izov, Lead of SMS&P organization at Microsoft for Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo, Mr. Stoyan Boev, Managing Director at InterConsult Bulgaria, and Mr. Falk Schubert, Vice President Sales EMEA at PAY.ON.
In addition, the more tech-savvy audience had the opportunity to participate in developing sessions where the technologies behind the trends and products discussed in the main room were explained and discussed.
Bigger and greater as the years go by
KosICT 2015 was organized with the help of many individuals and prestigious organizations. This was noted even in the opening remarks. KosICT was officially initiated by Mr. Shkumbin Brestovci, President of STIKK Board. In his remarks he focused on the importance and the potential that Kosovo has in the IT field. After Mr. Brestovci, Mr. Blerand Stavileci, Minister of Economic Development, took the stage; he again ensured the audience of the continuous support that Kosovo’s Government has given and will give to the IT community. The opening session was completed with Ms. Christina Gehlsen, Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Germany to the Republic of Kosovo that referred to the potential for outsourcing in the IT and the importance of KosICT as the largest regional conference.
I – Virtual Reality: Where will it go and how it will change our lives?
A very interactive Q&A. moderated by Jeta Zagragja, denoted the successful conclusion of the first session of KosICT 2015. Our esteemed speakers, Mr. Florian Stadlbauer from Deck 13 Interactive and Mr. Endri Tolka from YouVision gave their input on the topic of virtual reality.
Florian focused in the way gaming industry uses virtual reality to enhance the user experience, while bearing in mind the difference between classic software packages and games. He began by introducing the audience to the evolution of games since the relatively early introduction in 1972. From that point in time, games have become more complex and diverse. Now, from 50 to 200 individuals participate in game development, for up to 4 years. Florian mentioned the flow-zone, where the user is actively involved, yet enjoys a degree of relaxation, as one of the defining criteria for the success of a computer game. Virtual reality plays a role in enabling games to offer this state of flow. The degree of interaction and realism in the games was also part of Florian’s presentation. He mentioned that even though realism is highly appreciated in gaming, too realistic pictures can convey uncanny feelings to users. For the future, he predicted that a complete sensory integration would be the next step.
Endri continued presenting on the future overlap of virtual and augmented reality. This combination, according to him, is the next step in technology. He denoted virtual reality as the platform that would ultimately revolutionize human interaction. Virtual reality, offering an immersive and interactive experience, brings us all one step closer to immersion of digital and real worlds. He spoke about the realm of virtual reality in terms of tools needed to build it, its content and application and lastly, the infrastructure needed. In this regard, Endri differentiated some of the technologies that help accessing virtual reality such as headsets and haptics, focusing on how these technologies will enable further development in this field. Endri made a reference to the high adaption rates of virtual reality devices and financial projections regarding the growth of virtual reality; some projections are saying that in a matter of a couple of years, it will amount to more than $20 billion. Endri concluded on presenting case studies of YouVisit’s products.
II – The creation of the ‘World of Apps’
The second session for the first day of KosICT ended after three eminent speakers presented their share of knowledge and experience in Mobile Development, talking about general trends in this area, user testing and the idiosyncrasies of the industry. After that they answered questions by the moderator, Drin Mulliqi, and the audience.
Mr. Christian Kulas, from Capgemini, kicked-off the presentations in this topic. He spoke about User Experience and general mobile development trends. Christian acknowledged that mobile development involves difficult tasks because of the low tolerance for errors and the pace of the market, among other things. He focused particularly on the fast-paced market concerning mobile development and how can a company create procedures that aid it to thrive in this sort of market. There are two technological trends that are prevailing right now in regards to mobile app development: Computers Everywhere and Advanced Analytics. He also pinpointed the importance of visualization as a means for clarification. However, according to Christian, clarification should also precede the process of creation of the apps, as verification and clarification are crucial elements. That he is why he recommends the Rapid, Design and Visualization approach to tackle these problems and many more. The importance of security measures and of an interactive process was especially emphasized as decisive by Christian, who has more than one decade of experience in the field.
The next speaker, Mr. Matthias Hamburg, a representative of Sogeti, focused specifically on the testing of mobile apps. He debunked statements suggesting that the quality of apps is built-in and there is not much need for testing mobile apps, compared to other pieces of software. He continued to stress security as the main concern of many mobile app developers and users, ascertaining that testing could help to avoid this problem. To illustrate this, he mentioned several examples of his own experience where different apps had not worked as promised. To further enhance his points, Matthias mentioned the World Quality Report for 2015-16, which was based off 1560 interviews, which prioritized testing as an important mean to reach quality. That being said he noted a positive development for mobile development testing: more and more companies were adopting it. However, the main problem in this regard remains the lack of professionals in this field. That is where professional testing organizations such as ISTQB step in: they certify individuals in the field of software testing. They offer data that should be transformed in information and knowledge for the future testers.
The presentations were concluded with Mr. Ermal Sadiku, from LinkPlus IT. Ermal focused more in the specifics of the industry of mobile apps. His own experience of entering the market helped him to illustrate his points. He said that mobile development consists of more execution and less innovation, taking into account the fact that it mainly revolves around finding a business where something can work better as an app rather than something else. Referring to it as the ‘World of Apps’, he explained how this world differs from other IT-related worlds. He mentioned that this world could help businesses in their marketing processes and make them stand out in relation to their consumers. Moreover, the apps can be used for payments and other business-related processes. However, he noted that the world of apps is not as simple and has diverged from the initial planning surrounding it. With their smaller teams and specialization & flexibility, app development teams, according to Ermal, could well find their ways in Kosovo.
II.I – Local developments in the dev sessions
Meanwhile, in a smaller over packed room above the main event, KosICT 2015 offered a developers session, which presented the local developments of IT in Kosovo. What would #KosICT15 truly be without something for the tech geeks and enthusiasts? That is why we invited sessions featuring prof. Blerim Rexha and his students, Faik Ispahiu, journalism disrupter together with two municipal representatives from Prishtina and Gjakova, Milot Shala & Bardh Shasivari, futuristic programmers, Ardian Haxha and Egzon Mjeku, young enthusiasts from AdaptivIT, Valmir Hoxha, mechatronics and robotics fanatic.
These sessions presented the participants with unique developments in regards to social networking, where the UP representatives talked about a social app that finds out the hidden features of facebook like unfriending, removal of likes, views, profile views etc. Afterwards the boys from AdaptivIT presented an application that they had developed for Indoor Localization and Guiding System that secures the places from unforeseen disasters. Next, Milot and Bardh talked about the experience on developing in virtual reality context, where there exists a different environment for developers than those we are usually used to, where motion sickness and other types of human psychology behavior is involved. After the lunch, Valmir Hoxha from UBT talked about mechatronics and robotics, and a device that UBT scientists had developed. In the end, Faik Ispahiu from Kallxo.com talked about the implication of tech into the social life and how easy it is now to generate content about things happening around you. Moreover, two representatives from municipalities of Prishtina and Gjakova talked about their municipality initiatives in terms of tech, respectively one talked about the e-governance in Prishtina and the smartcity in Gjakova.
III – Industry 4.0 and its role in smart factories, waste-water management and beyond
The second day of KosICT kicked-off with vivid and thorough presentations on Industry 4.0. The fourth industrial revolution captured the attention of the audience as the speakers, directed by the moderator Alejtin Berisha, disclosed the ideas and the implications behind it.
Mr. Rolf Glunz, from imbus AG, explained how software quality played a central role in the automation of devices. The Industry 4.0 implies a stronger connection between many factors such as smart products and smart sensors, outernet, augmented reality and virtual reality, internet of things and internet of services and requires data access to a mixture of access points. This stronger connection that will help solve some of the modern problems or enhance modern processes has software and its quality at its very core. Industry 4.0 requires a higher amount of fluctuating data as it will enable a revolutionary amount of human to machine communication. This also means that there will be opportunities for personalized products. This whole process will be enabled from smart sensors and mobile devices. While this revolutionary process will indeed add to the communication of humans to machines, humans will largely be confined within the control room and will have observing and monitoring roles. Software plays an important role in this aspect because the monitoring will take place through software; but also it is important in devising and creating the tools that will help this process according to Rolf.
The importance of software was emphasized also by Mr. Mentor Sahiti, from Adaptivit, who took a practical approach in explaining how Industry 4.0 will enable us to solve daily problems. Beginning his presentation with the famous quote of Bill Gates “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it”, he brought up the idea that this industrial revolution will require less physical resources to solve tangible issues such as waste-water management. This, he pointed, illustrates how many different factors such as data, business process, engineering and technology will be embedded and closely connected. What this meant, looking at it from a broader perspective, is that engineering and business will have to meet at a point. Again, he pointed out at the necessity to incorporate the concepts and ideas of Industry 4.0 for competitive purposes. Data integration, according to Mentor, would play an important role in this process.
Mr. Peter König, a SAP Coordinator, focused on how Industry 4.0 is truly a revolution by introducing the concept of a ‘Smart Factory’. Peter explained how this smart factory would enable faster production using less physical resources while also sharing data and information in real time. This, in his opinion, is needed considering the ever increasing challenges that manufacturers face in today’s world. Manufactured goods have to be competitively priced, but fulfill all the standards and legal requirements; have to have faster life cycles, but also have access to faster data; offer on demand production, and at the same time mass production. This is where smart factories, easy customizable, come handy. These smart factories would constitute of interoperability, modularity, service orientation and decentralization, among other features, that would enable them to respond to today’s market needs. Peter mentioned also that these smart factories could be reachable with the help of SAP. He also gave his input on how Kosovo can participate in the newest developments in Industry 4.0. He emphasized the establishment of a maker-mentality and of education in general in reaching this goal.
The goal of interconnectedness as an essential part of Industry 4.0 was also mentioned by Mr. Villu Arak, from Funderbeam. In the long-held visions for the future, interconnectedness always prevails; people imagine that the future will bring down more and more barriers. When talking about business that is what Funderbeam is trying to achieve. He focused around a type of technology, Blockchain, which will enable investors to easily connect with start-ups in a very dynamic market. Based on this technology, Funderbeam will create a platform that will enable investors and start-ups get to each other faster and with fewer restraints, which will make the markets more transparent.
IV – What do Darth Vader and farmers have in common? They all benefit from Internet of Things
The last session of KosICT2015 was successfully concluded under the moderation of Alejtin Berisha, marking also the end of this year’s KosICT. This session has been full of surprises, including an explanation on how farmers and Darth Vader can benefit from the Internet of Things.
Blaz Umek, from IPKO Telecommunications, initiated the session focusing on how Internet of Things can drive development. Internet has brought down barriers when it enabled devices to communicate with applications, altering the way we work, play, travel, advertise and entertain ourselves. Internet has enabled businesses to reach masses while not trading this off for the amount of information shared. With the Internet of Things, when devices are enabled to communicate with other devices, our lifestyles will continue to improve and be made easier, with data quickly being converted to information and knowledge. The next step will be the Internet of Everything, when devices and applications can communicate with people, with which IPKO is ready to help businesses. However, Internet of Things and Internet of Everything also pose problems and challenges such as the large amount of data but a lack of capacities and technologies to use them or devices communicating more than people do. Nonetheless, the benefits would also be considerable. A real life example would be the help sent to farmers through devices to help them enhance their productivity.
Kiril Izov, from Microsoft Bulgaria, continued to present on how Internet of Things is a key component of any business wanting to go digital. Microsoft perceives the Internet of Things not as a stand-alone set of business strategies, but rather as an integral part of every business’ digital strategy. Kiril also explained how important is for businesses to understand that the Internet of Thing is already becoming a reality and to incorporate it in plans for the near future. He emphasized the opportunities Internet of Things created for companies to reduce costs and efficiencies, increase revenues while keeping assets the same and lastly, create new business models. These three elements could be achieved through focusing on eliminating the line between physical and virtual world and bringing all stakeholders meet to a point. With applications in a range of fields, including agriculture and farming, it has begun being an important contributor in success because of the ability to absorb and process data and connect information from multiple devices. It is precisely this ability, the sharing and connection of information from multiple devices that helps companies reach new peaks of efficiency.
Stoyan Boev, from Interconsult Bulgaria, also focused on data and on how companies could get more of it. Internet of Things is about the data itself, but also about predictive analysis, control of efficiency, remote control of information and trend visualization, which are based upon their data. Their prediction capabilities are therefore based on the quality of the initial data. Stoyan also focused in the choice of platform for IoT talking about the defining criteria and elements. These criteria were data storage, data presentation and license costs; combined, these three could give an answer regarding a platform to a company. He pointed to a need for significant point algorithms that would make complex data understandable, and an opportunity to present large amounts of data.
Last, but not the least, Falk Schubert talked about how Darth Vader would be exceptionally thankful to the Internet of Things since it would enable him to stop all of those who try to steal his identity. Representing PAY.ON, a payment that provides products for online payments, Falk focused on how Internet of Things will make online payments easier as it will enable faster authentication. He began by referring to movie super-villains that possess wearables that enable them to be always on through the help of technology. Darth Vader particularly, when he gets bored, enjoys online shopping, according to Falk. In this process, his identity gets authenticated through the use of biometrics. This enables the sellers to know who is really buying their products and enables them to understand their risk of the transaction. Meanwhile, the customer, i.e. Darth Vader, can pay instantly, which only satisfies a need of human nature to instantly get rewarded. Falk also pointed out to another opportunity that Internet of Things creates and that is the opportunity to digitize decision making. Through presenting your devise with a set of rules, you can let it make your decisions for you. For instance, you can make a rule for your car to go on Mondays on your favorite bar and on Wednesdays back home after work, and your car will do that for you. This and many more are opportunities granted for by Internet of Things.
IV.I – Modern ways to project management
In the meanwhile in the second day a workshop was organized by Mr. Ivaylo Gueorguiev from ESI Center in Bulgaria, where he explained the new methods of project management called Lean-Kanban, which combined both market proven project management methodologies. Ivo was a great leader taking the participants in a venture of learning these methods in new ways such as gamification. A lot of participants were part of STIKK member companies but also from local banks.
V – Behind the presentations
Besides the information shared within and throughout presentations of our speakers, KosICT created an environment of cooperation and partnerships. Being aware of the importance of such environments, KosICT created the so-called business lounge; there representatives from different companies were offered the opportunity to socialize and discuss privately. The business lounge proved very successful both because of the cooperation and discussions taking place and due to the social media presence of its participants.
Outside of the business lounge, KosICT maintained its reputation of an IT melt-point for the region. The largest ICT regional conference was where the paths of many famous individuals representing different companies crossed. This diversity created opportunities for connections during breaks or question sessions. The informative aspect served also for many students and young-entrepreneurs; KosICT offered them a glimpse at how the future in IT will look like and a valuable opportunity to invest in their growth.
VI
All in all, KosICT promised a high-level conference with high-level companies and it delivered. The help of the sponsors though made KosICT 2015 what it was. We would like to sincerely offer our thanks and appreciations to all our sponsors: Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of European Integration, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Spark, GIZ, Encouraging Youth Entrepreneurship, Swiss Cooperation Office Kosovo, and Embassy of Sweden. Special gratitude is extended to our Platinum Sponsor, IPKO and Silver Sponsors, Adaptivit and Red Mill. We also want to thank our Patron Sponsor, Microsoft; Supporting Sponsors: Kolegji Universum, Kolegji UBT, and Kallxo.com, Industrial Partners, Bulgarian Association of Software Companies, MASIT, and AITA; Creative Sponsors: Project Graphics, Entermedia, Frakton, and Rolling Rabits; Media Sponsors, RTK, Multimedia, Telegrafi and Gjirafa; and STIKK Gold Members: Art House, Dy Gur, Entermedia, Primedb, and Red Mill.
Moreover, to everyone who participated, asked questions, presented or otherwise was involved in KosICT 2015, thank you for your contribution; it is very much appreciated.
With that, KosICT 2015 finishes its mission. We hope to see you around for KosICT 2016.
