10.10.2014

ITO & BPO Germany Forum 2014

On 1st October STIKK participated at the ITO & BPO Germany Forum 2014 which took place in Berlin Germany. STIKK used this trip to also meet some potential partners in order to increase the visibility of the Kosovo IT sector and its members.

During this trip STIKK met with BITKOM – Federal Association for Information Technology, where cooperation possibilities where discussed in the fields of information sharing and also joint project applications within the Horizon2020 framework. In addition, the possibility of adding Kosovo to the market reports of EITO (European IT Observatory) was addressed. STIKK also met with Mr. Ivo Betke from the webcrowd, Dr. Sandra Schulz from ECO (Association of the German Internet Industry) and Mr. Maciel Laskus from Tash.io, and discussed various opportunities available for cooperation that would benefit the Kosovo ICT sector. During this trip STIKK also met with 2 accelerators Axel Springer Plug&Play and Startupbootcamp, with whom possibilities of information sharing and cooperation were discussed especially with regards to cooperation with ICK (Innovation Centre Kosovo) as well as other startups with growth potential.

ITO&BPO Germany Forum is the only international event for the ITO&BPO industry in Germany, to exchange best practices, get information about destinations and business models. The event is noncommercial, independent and organized by industry experts. The event focused on presenting best practices and ITO&BPO sourcing destinations from Ukraine, Bulgaria and many other successful countries that are now as a favorable destination to outsource services and also provided some useful information on what should a country focus in order to increase their visibility on becoming an IT Outsourcing Destination.

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03.10.2014

STIKK participated in the meeting for drafting the strategy for career guidance and counseling

On September 30th, STIKK participated in the informative meeting which was held in the Ministry of Education Science and Technology. The purpose of this meeting was to develop a strategy for career guidance and counseling. In this meeting it was discussed about the work and methodology of drafting the strategy process. The development of this strategy aims to integrate career orientation into the education system.

STIKK has continuously performed research, and had many initiatives and projects through which it helped students to have access for guidance and information on career orientation. STIKK will continue working in this regard and will be part of the working groups organized by the Ministry, which are planned to last until December.

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02.10.2014

Nearshoring Kosovo

The B2B economic mission titled “Nearshoring Kosovo” was held yesterday on October 1st, 2014 at the Innovation Center Kosovo facilities. This event was organized by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Cooperation in cooperation with STIKK and ICK. The event was attended by five Austrian companies and several Kosovo companies who presented their activities in order to identify partnership opportunities.

The participating companies were:

– Matting Management Partners Gmbh, MeBtechnik Gesellschaft, Reiwag Facility Services GmbH, Open Software Development OG research, International WIFI.
– Adaptive IT, Appdec, Frakton, Wheels, Tekkos, Trigonom, Ameble, Knock Creative Agency, WIFI Albania, Cloud, Mikrobiz, MIT Kies, Hello World, Aca, Solaborate.

The opening speech of the event was made by Mr. Peter HASSLACHER, the representative of the Austrian Economic Chamber, who welcomed the participating companies. Mrs. Vjollca Çavolli, STIKK Executive Director, made ​​a brief presentation about STIKK and the ICT sector in Kosovo while she also expressed her hope to see this opportunity result in future cooperation between companies of the representing countries. The event was concluded with the visit of the start-ups of the Innovation Center Kosovo, whereby the companies then continued with individual meetings with STIKK member companies.

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18.09.2014

STIKK took part in the National Framework of Qualifications Seminar

On September 16, STIKK took part in the seminar on National Framework of Qualifications on the qualifications for the stakeholders of General Education and AAP.

The objectives of this workshop were:

– ensure that the participants understand the rationality of the qualification types in NFQ
– identify issues that affect communication with users about qualifications in general education and AAP
– assemble instructions from participants on the nature and use of the types of training

In the first presentation, it was discussed more about the types of training at NFQ, where several examples were given such as New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland. The main point of the discussion was which of these examples would be useful for Kosovo.These issues were presented by an international expert John Hart.

Also during the day two workshops were organized were the participants had the opportunity to address questions about the rationality and basis for qualification at NQF types of Kosovo.

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31.08.2014

Young Coders Win the Audience Award

The Festival of Code organized by Young rewired State, which this year was held on August 3 in Plymouth UK, was a very successful achievement for the team from Kosovo. This festival encompasses a number of brilliant ideas by children all around the world who know the coding language. For the first time Kosovo participated in this festival and managed to achieve good results.

Kosovo’s team includes 10 children who created an application called 101city, an application with three modules, which will provide information for the water shortage schedule, waste collection schedule and also filing complaints in case of irregularities, and the third module which includes a list of sites that can be visited as historical monuments, museums, schedule performances in cinema, theater and recreational activities that are available in our country.

For their hard work during the 4 month training period and their work during the last week of the competition, the children were awarded with 10 tablets which were sponsored by EYE-Enhancing Youth Employment project funded by SDC Swiss Development Cooperation. The jury of the festival awarded the children with “Special Mention Award” by which the children will be awarded with 10 Raspberry Pi, and certificates will be distributed for their first participation in the festival. However, the awards did not stop here.

This year for the first time , the festival decided that these ideas be shared with the general public and through the website of the Young Rewired State to vote for their favorite idea. From the four posted ideas, the Kosovo’s team application was the most voted and also won the audience award under the category Should Exist of the 5 categories altogether (Should Exist, Best Design, Best Example of Coding, Code a Better Country, Best in Show). The participation in this festival was a great success not only for our children but also for the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK), which now after this success will continue to engage with Young Coders project for the upcoming years.

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18.08.2014

Prishtina’s Mayor Shpend Ahmeti Visits “Young Coders”

On August 13th 2014, the mayor of the municipality of Prishtina Mr. Shpend Ahmeti visited “Young Coders” at the premises of ICK. “Young Coders” is a group of 10 children from Kosovo who after a four month period of training, which was initiated from the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology- STIKK in cooperation with ICK, participated in the international competition of “Festival of Code” which was organized by Young Rewired State in England, from July 29th until August the 3rd this year.

Our 10 young coders worked for four consecutive days to develop a web application called 101city which they identified as crucial to facilitate the lives of our citizens and the tourists who choose to visit our country. The effort of this tireless working group toward making the application was awarded with a special prize “Special Mention Award” which was awarded to the competitive team from the jury of the Festival of Code.

During the visit, Mayor Ahmeti had the opportunity to see the children present their ideas one more time and then emphasized that the municipality that he runs will continue to support this group and other programs from primary schools, now that the “smart cities” are ahead and the technology is an essential part for the future.

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05.08.2014

Kosovo children awarded with Special Mention Award from judges at the FoC

The “Special Mention Award” by the judges was awarded to the Kosovo Young Coders team for the development of their web application 101city which intends to make the daily lives of Kosovo citizens more easier and manageable.

After a four month period of training, which was initiated from the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology- STIKK, on 29.07.2014, ten children from Kosovo began their work with the purpose of getting ready to participate at the international competition of “Festival of Code” which is being organized for the sixth time now by the Young Rewired State in England.

The Kosovo children worked for four consecutive days to develop an application which they identified as crucial to facilitate the lives of our citizens and the tourists who visit our country. On Tuesday 29.07.2014, at the premises of the Innovation Centre of Kosovo-ICK, a partner to this project, the 10 children were divided into three groups, and presented their ideas in front of the guests. The main idea was to create an application with three modules, which will provide information for the water shortage schedule, waste collection schedule and also filing complaints in case of irregularities, and the third module which includes a list of sites that can be visited as historical monuments, museums, schedule performances in cinema, theater and recreational activities that are available in our country. The application was named 101City.

Throughout the week the children worked intensively under the supervision of their trainer Driton Haxhiu and their other mentors Doruntina Sadiku, Fitore Salihu and Enkela Osmani. The member companies, individual members and other project partners of the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology-STIKK supported this event and also shared their experiences and gave advice during the children’s working phase.

After submitting the idea, the news came that the children from Kosovo’s team will be competing in the final with 20 other ideas. On Sunday August 3, 2014 at 13:00 Kosovo was presented with its new representatives through a video footage at the “Festival of Code” which this year was held in Plymouth, Great Britain.

At the end of the day the children were awarded with 10 tablets, through sponsor EYE-Empowering Youth Employment project funded by SDC Swiss Development Cooperation. However, the real surprise came when the jury awarded the children with the prize “Special Mention Award” by which the children will be awarded with 10 Raspberry Pi, and certificates will be distributed for their first participation in the festival. This event was also supported by Ipko Foundation, Frutomania, City Bakery and Pizza Proper.

Watch the video: YOUNG CODERS KOSOVO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-E-INAxP-8

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01.08.2014

Media Coverage of “Young Coders” project

For the first time young coders from Kosovo are competing at the “Festival of Code” which is part of Young Rewired State (YRS), an independent global network of young people aged 18 and under who have programming skills.

Starting from July 29 until August 3, 10 children aged 9-15 from Kosovo, will compete with their peers around the globe. “Young Coders” project, which represents Kosovo for the first time in this competition, was initiated by Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK) in cooperation with the Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK). Such an event, especially in Kosovo needs great attention so that in the future this project can be further developed, and what a better way to do this than to share it through the media. Many international and local Medias have shared the news that Kosovo is now part of the “Festival of Code” and also introducing the team members to the whole world.

The following links have shared the news of the “Young Coders” project:

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/31/children-code-young-rewired-state-festival-of-code-plymouth
Young Rewired State: https://youngrewiredstate.org/blog/2014/07/yrs-kosovo?utm_content=bufferc0ecb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Innovation Centre Kosovo: http://ickosovo.com/news/festival-codes-begins/
Prishtina Magazine: http://prmagazine.info/programeret-e-rinj-nga-kosova-garojne-ne-festival-of-code/
Kosovari Media: http://www.kosovarimedia.com/index.php/aktual/lajme/35241-programer%C3%ABt-e-rinj-nga-kosova-garojn%C3%AB-n%C3%AB-festival-of-code.html
Kosovalive360: http://www.kosovalive360.com/ekipi-nga-kosova-kthehet-me-cmim-special-nga-festival-of-code.html

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30.07.2014

PRESS RELEASE – Kosovo’s Young Coders Compete in the “Festival of Code”

“Anyone can learn how to program, all you need is work and dedication” stated the 10 year old Lum Axhemi, who together with his other nine peers will represent Kosovo for the first time in the international competition of coding and programming “Festival of Code 2014”, which this year will be held in Great Britain.

Prishtinë, July 30 —Ten children from Kosovo aged between 9-15 years old, who are part of the “Young Coders” group, will participate in the international competition the “Festival of Code 2014” which will be held from July 29th until August the 3rd in Great Britain. The “Festival of Code” is part of the global initiative “Young Rewired State” which is a children’s network under 18 years old, who have programming skills.

Throughout the whole week, the children according to their imagination will have the opportunity to code and program games, mobile applications, webpages, or other hardware products.

The “Young Coders” project was initiated from the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK), in cooperation with the Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK). The project was sponsored from ’Enhancing Youth Employment EYE, financed from Swiss Office for Development and Cooperation SDC, implemented from Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation HSI and Management Development Associates MDA and supported by “IPKO Foundation”, “Frutomania”, “Proper Pizza” and “City Bakery”.

The official ceremony of the team from Kosovo entering this competition was organized at the Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK). Mjellma Hapçiu – Alijaj, host of the event, emphasized that in this particular day, a 4 month journey of training the children ended and a new one started for the children of Kosovo who are willing to expand their knowledge of programming. “We are very happy that all children who have been part of the training phase, did not give up, and are ready to compete as of today with their peers from Europe and the United States,” said Mrs. Hapçiu – Alijaj.

The executive director of the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication (STIKK), Vjollca Çavolli said that she was very proud with the children. “These children give us hope and optimism for the future of our country” said Mrs. Çavolli, adding that the children should not take this challenge too hard, but consider it as a game. “This week you will play, have fun and show the world that Kosovo as well has talented people that belong to this field” ended Mrs. Çavolli.

The director of the Innovation Centre, Mr.Uranik Begu said that they are very pleased with the performance of the children’s group and their cooperation with STIKK. “We have been expecting this collaboration with great pleasure, knowing that this is the first generation of young coders, and that professionals in the field of ICT, should start coding at a very young age,” said Mr. Begu. “This is the beginning of a long-term collaboration that will create new generations of young coders, and why not lobby for coding to be introduced as a subject in primary schools, similar as in many developed countries,” he concluded.

The children’s group during this competition, same as in the training phase, will be led by Mr. Driton Haxhiu (Expert in Programming), which will have the support of the other mentors / students: Doruntina Sadiku, Enkela Osmani and Fitore Salihu. Mr. Haxhiu said that the children have been very patient and active throughout this 4 month period. “It will be a very busy week, so I believe that the children will have the same commitment, so that we can end up with good results in this competition,” stressed Mr. Haxhiu.

The young coders who will represent Kosovo in this competition are: Doruntina Hoti (12), Enkelena Haxhiu (15), Jozef Komani (14), Erina Gashi (12), Lekë Hapçiu (14), Gentiana Hajdari (12), Leonard Ibrahimi (12), Gresa Isufi (14), Lorenc Ramadani (15) and Lum Axhemi (12).

All participating countries in the “Festival of Code” will present their final projects on Sunday, August 3, 2014, when the winners will be announced.

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25.07.2014

GIZ donates to STIKK

On Wednesday July 23rd, four pin boards arrived at STIKK from Frankfurt, which were a donation on behalf of GIZ.

This donation was more than welcome for the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology,and is regarded as a major contribution that will facilitate the work of the association.

On the occasion of presenting this donation, the project team leader of GIZ for Kosovo, Mrs. Veronika Hofinger, congratulated STIKK for their work to date and emphasized that there is already a genuine German-Kosovar cooperation established in this sector, and that GIZ will continue to support STIKK in the future.

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