The regional ICT conference KosICT’14 starts tomorrow

We don’t set limits, why should you? We welcome you tomorrow at KosICT’14

There is still time left for registering. The registering box will be opened the whole day until midnight at 00:00am of October 30. For all of those interested do not miss out on this great opportunity to connect and receive insights on the latest technology trends from digital leaders coming from all around Europe.

KosICT’14 will last for 3 days starting from the 30th & 31st October at Hotel Emerald and 1st of November at Innovation Centre Kosovo.

DAY 1 (30 OCT):

The first day of KosICT’14 will start with welcoming speeches from Mr. Shkumbin Brestovci – President of the STIKK Board, Mrs. Kathrina Ramberg (Embassy of Norway) and Mr. Matthias Kiesler (Embassy of Germany).

Shortly after that, KosICT’14 will begin with its first topic Digital Transformation where Dr. Martin Eldracher (Capgemini Eastern Europe), Arild Bjorn-Larsen (Making Waves) and Petrit Selimi (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo), all of whom will talk about how technology is transforming the way we are approaching business, one’s country diplomacy and transitioning the everyday life.

In the meanwhile, KosICT presents a session curated for developers that will include the topics: Cross platform mobile development, 3D Printing technology, Programming with SWIFT, How to develop apps for Windows

During the second session, the talks on the Future of Nearshoring will be held by Stephan Fricke (German, Austrian, Swiss Outsourcing Association), Till Hahndorf (Sourceconomy) and Jørgen Schrøder Aanonsen (Netron Holding Group). This session will touch the topic of outsourcing ICT services from a smaller country like Kosovo to other countries in the region close to each other and the success that can come out of these cases.

The third session of the first day will be on Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation, which will include the speakers Baybar Altuntas (EBAN), Vllaznim Xhiha (EYE) and Ivo Betke (webcrowd). This session is considered as the secret highlight of KosICT as the speakers are top entrepreneurs from the local, regional and international scenes of entrepreneurship. At the same time there will be a B2B matchmaking event between Kosovar, German, Norwegian and Finnish companies. These sessions conclude the first day.

DAY 2 (31 OCT):

The second day starts on 10:00am with the session on Crowdsourcing, which will be curated and elaborated by the CEO of Crowdsourcing week, Epi Ludvik Nekaj who is a vast representer of Crowdsourcing has a global experience on the topic.

After the networking lunch, KosICT will continue with #PrishtinaFTW, an event that is organized under the wing of KosICT and supported by USAID, which targets and brings together entrepreneurs and investors. #PrishtinaFTW will continue on the second and third day of the conference. There will be welcome and introductions by Max Gurvits (Teres Capital), Uranik Begu (Innovation Centre Kosovo), and Michael Gold (Crimson Finance Fund/KosBAN), and also a word of welcome by Tracey Ann Jacobson, U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo.

The 31st of October is the Investor Day, which will contain panels and presentations by experienced investors investors from Turkey, Bulgaria, USA, and UK will share their experience and approach in angel and venture investing. The event will start with an ecosystem panel moderated by Max Gurvits on the topic: “Finding startups and assisting their growth” that will include the speakers: 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). The day will continue with a fireside chat on lessons learned running accelerators and investment networks, Max Gurvits and Toby Stone, an investor panel moderated by Kushtrim Xhakli (Fast Europe Ventures) on the topic: “Building a successful local angel and investor community” that include the speakers: Toby Stone, Uranik Begu, Alejtin Berisha (KosBAN) and Baybars Altuntas (EBAN). In the end of the day, there will be a presentation on Lessons learned in Turkey, by Can Saracoglu.

Starting from 13:00pm there will also be a Kanban Board Game organized. The Kanban Board Game is a physical board game designed to teach the concepts and mechanics of Kanban for software development in a class or workshop setting. It has been described as the most effective way to teach Kanban. It’s hands-on, engaging, and fun.

DAY 3 (1 NOV):

The third day will be organized on the facilities of Innovation Centre Kosovo starting from 09:30am with welcome and introductions by Max Gurvits and Uranik Begu. The event kicks-off by Kushtrim Xhakli and Toby Stone. The third day will be the Entrepreneurship Day, where there will be first hand experience on building successful startups, opportunities to meet regional and international startup founders, and hear their stories on how to avoid the most common startup mistakes. Moreover a Pitching Competition will be organized for young entrepreneurs. This day will include a keynote on how to pitch your startup by Can Saracoglu and 2 pitching sessions. There will be a presentation on the importance of presence, reputation and working differently by Kushtrim Xhakli.

The day will continue with a panel discussion on building companies locally for global markets with Kreshnik Lleshi (CEED Kosovo), Vjollca Cavolli (STIKK), Michael Gold (CFF/KosBAN), Can Saracoglu (String Ventures), Irena Chaushevska (NewMan’s Business Accelerator). Additionally there is a fireside chat on the topic what does an accelerator do for a startup that includes Toby Stone, Murry Ivanoff and Mergim Cahani. The day will be concluded with pitch day results announcement and awards, and a networking party at Morena Bar 1996.

For more infos please visit www.kosict.com

See you at KosICT’14