KosICT Conference brought a unique experience for the ICT sector once more
On 31 October 2014, the third edition of KosICT conference was launched. Organized by STIKK and ICK, KosICT gathered over 200 ICT professionals to discuss the latest trends in the sector for three days in a row. The conference was opened by Mr. Shkumbin Brestovci, Chairman of the Board of STIKK, followed by the Deputy Ambassador of Norway Ms. Katherina Ramberg and Deputy Ambassador Mr. Matthias Kiesler, who also addressed the conference audience.
“Digital Transformation” was the first topic of the conference, where participants had the opportunity to hear the experiences of Dr. Martin Eldracher (Capgemini Eastern Europe), Arild Bjorn-Larsen (Making Waves) and Petrit Selimi (MFA). The next topic discussed was the Future of Nearshoring, addressed by Mr. Stephan Fricke (German, Austrian, Swiss Outsourcing Association), Mr.Till Hahndorf (Sourceconomy) and Mr. Jørgen Schroder Aanonsen (Netron Holding Group). This session covered the issues of exporting ICT services from a small country like Kosovo to the countries of the region and beyond. This year KosICT brought innovation for software developers as well, while offering them a parallel session to the conference. The topics offered in this session where: Cross mobile platforms Development, 3D Printing technology, Programming with SWIFT, How to Develop apps for Windows. The first day of the conference concluded with a very impressive session on Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation, by Mr. Baybar Altuntas (EBAN), Mr.Vllaznim Xhiha (EYE) and Mr. Ivo Betka (webcrowd). Meanwhile, Kosovar companies had the opportunity to arrange meetings with companies from Germany and Norway within the special B2B session.
The following day, started with the topic of Crowdsourcing, which was elaborated by the CEO of Crowdsourcing week Epi LUDVIK Nekaj. The afternoon session continued with #PrishtinaFTW, an event organized under the umbrella of KosICT and supported by USAID, which brought together entrepreneurs with investors. The opening remarks to this session were made by Max Gurvits (Teres Capital), Uranik Begu (Innovation Centre), and Michael Gold (Crimson Finance Fund / KosBAN), as well as special guest Tracey Ann Jacobson, the US Ambassador to Kosovo, who expressed her satisfaction for the work done by STIKK and ICK and also noted that the most valuable natural resource of Kosovo is its motivated youth and educated in technology.
Panel discussions have included topics such as: Finding start-ups and supporting their growth” addressed by local and international speakers such as Kushtrim Xhakli (Fast Europe Ventures), Michael Gold (Crimson Finance Fund / KosBAN), Murry Ivanoff (Metrilo / Eleven), Can Saracoglu (String Ventures) and Irina Chaushevska (Newman’s Business Accelerator). Followed by the topic “How to build and Angel Investor Community with Toby Stone, Uranik Begu, Alejtin Berisha (KosBAN) and Baybars Altuntas (EBAN). The second day of the conference concluded with best practices learned from Turkey by Can Saracoglu.
The last day of KosICT was held at the premises of the ICK, and kicked off with a brief speech on how the entrepreneurs and start-up leaders should present their ideas to investors. Afterwards, 6 teams had the opportunity to present their ideas before the evaluation panel. This was a unique opportunity not only in terms of perfecting their skills for professional business presentation, but also an opportunity to attract and open doors to investors. One of the teams managed to receive the award by the panelists.
STIKK and ICK thank all the sponsors who made this conference possible, and all the speakers who brought their valuable experience and lessons for the sector. KosICT is the traditional conference which annually brings topics of interest to the sector.
