Cluster - ICT Cortex

Job opportunity: Apply for the position of Social Media Manager!

The ICT Cortex cluster was founded with the idea of creating new business opportunities and contributing to the digital transformation of Montenegro through synergistic action, cooperation with our member companies, and presenting our country as an important destination for IT investments. Our executive office communicates daily with members of 35 member companies, but also with representatives of public institutions and the private sector, to create new values in the fields of technology, internationalization, talent development, and innovation. That is why we are always looking for great people who can bring new energy to our team, making us even better and more efficient! Who are we looking for? Social Media Manager Required qualifications and experience: Minimum of two years of work experience in similar positions Advanced knowledge of the English language Knowledge of managing and developing online communication channels College education (minimum Bachelor) What do we expect from you? Excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a team, but also to solve problems independently Creativity and attention to detail Willingness to take initiative Enthusiasm and creativity Adaptability to challenging circumstances and risks Responsible, detailed, and dedicated attitude toward work Ability to effectively solve problems and make decisions Team spirit, directness, and openness Stress tolerance and coping well under pressure Knowledge of the innovation ecosystem and ICT scene in Montenegro is desirable, but not necessary. What will your job be? Management of cluster social networks (accounts of ICT Cortex, Cortex Academy and Foundation Do Good) Preparation of communication plans and preparation of materials for campaigns Monitoring the creation of a visual identity for the needs of online communication Monitoring and improving the results of promotional and communication activities Administration of the organization’s website Communication with members and promotion of their activities through cluster communication channels Help in organizing and communicating about events Support in internal communication and other activities of the marketing sector, as needed. We offer you: An opportunity to meet all key stakeholders from the field of education, innovation, and IT sector in Montenegro, the region, and Europe This an exceptional opportunity to be the source of information, knowledge, contacts, and world trends The chance to constantly grow, develop and get out of your comfort zone Access to all courses and pieces of training by the most eminent local and global experts/organizations Daily contact and the opportunity to learn from professionals who have decades of experience in business, marketing, strategic planning, education, project management, IT An innovative work environment that includes the most successful Montenegrin IT companies and the most important partners of the innovation ecosystem The opportunity to visit the best technology festivals and the most developed innovative organizations in the world Financial conditions that are very stimulating for Montenegrin conditions Participation in the housing security program allows you to save at least 30% of the investment for the apartment Working on the latest equipment (MacBook, iPad, iPhone) A dynamic, dedicated, and innovative team – our employees say that one month of work at ICT Cortex is like 5 months of work elsewhere At Cortex, we do not waste paper, but use numerous modern tools for functioning every day, among others: Slack, Google Meet, JIRA, Confluence, Google Sheets/Doc/Forms. Do you love marketing and have social networks on your little finger? Use the opportunity to become part of the team and contribute innovative ideas to the development of the ICT Cortex cluster, but also the wider community! Send CV to contact@ictcortex.me Deadline for applications 01.07.2022. We are waiting for you!

Job opportunity: Apply for the Office Manager position!

ICT Cortex gathered the ICT community for the biggest informal meeting so far

Podgorica, PR press service – ICT Cortex begins the establishment of professional committees, which will strengthen the community through the association of experts from both cluster member companies and from numerous areas related to ICT. This was announced at the event marking the successful year of existence as well as the launch of professional committees, which was attended by over 150 representatives of the IT community from 29 member companies of ICT Cortex, as well as partners and associates of the organization. Milena Aković, coordinator of the professional committees, in front of ICT Cortex, said that in the previous year, the cluster managed to connect the economy, the academic community, and institutions and that it signed a contract with the state worth one million euros. “We received funds for internationalization and education. We have become members of numerous professional bodies. We secured a grant worth half a million euros for equipping the Vaso Aligrudić School of Electrical Engineering. We increased the number of members from 11 to 29. We launched numerous initiatives that we are particularly proud of, and which we will continue this year as well,” Aković said. It is planned, as she announced, to establish eight professional committees. “The goal of the board is to connect middle and top management, to act on the community, strengthen capacities within companies, but also to promote the profession. The first board we started is the board for HR and education, which consists of 12 members from IT member companies. In order to be a fully inclusive association, we will organize various focus groups and involve many of you to give your contribution”, said Aković. After the committee for HR and education, a committee for sales and internationalization will be established, followed by a committee for the empowerment of women in ICT. “What we plan to achieve with the boards is joint strengthening, launching of ideas and initiatives and to show through that segment that we can only do more with united forces.” – concluded Aković The president of the board for HR and education, Jelena Janković from the company Amplitudo, said that the goal is to create the best possible environment for all people working in the IT industry, to find all the problems that exist in the market and “to try to fix it”. Also, Janković expressed her hope that the gathering of employees from all member companies of the cluster will continue, and that there will be more similar gatherings. The sponsor of the event was Crnogorski Telekom, and the official part was followed by a party of the IT community with the Ribnica band, which was also supported by sponsors: Nikšićko beer, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, and G3 Spirits.

ICT Cortex is a true example of synergy

Podgorica, PR press service – ICT Cortex is a real example of synergy and shows that it is a strong sector, which is moving on an upward trajectory and which is well worth investing in, it was announced at the ceremony marking the first year of operation of that cluster. The president of the cluster assembly, Nenad Novović, said that a lot had been achieved in a very short time. “The professional association of companies in Montenegro is not that common, but in this case, I think it turned out very naturally,” said Novović. He presented the honorary accession to the cluster to the representative of the Ministry of Economic Development, Marijeta Barjaktarović Lanzardi. The President of the Management Board of the cluster, Sanja Gardašević, said that more than a year ago, the pieces of what is today ICT Cortex began to fall into place and that work is being done to achieve the six goals that 11 companies gathered a year ago. “First of all, we wanted to establish a professional inclusive organization, to implement education programs for both new and existing staff and to find a way to keep the existing staff, to work on the internationalization and strengthening of the potential of our products, to strengthen the innovation and competitiveness of the cluster members themselves, to influence the digital transformation of society and to implement programs of socially responsible business”, said Gardašević. “We signed a memorandum on cooperation with the Central Bank of Montenegro, we also achieved cooperation with the Capital of Montenegro, we connected with numerous organizations, universities, schools and business associations,” Gardašević pointed out. She also stated that an internship was conducted for high school students with the Vaso Aligrudić School of Electrical Engineering, and training was also organized for employed members of the association. “The crown of our work in the field of education is the Cortex Academy, which managed to unite all the education programs of the cluster members and provide an additional online form of education in five areas. We are extremely glad that we had 1,292 applications, which speaks of the great need for a program of this type and the great impact we can achieve through projects like this,” explained Gardašević. ICT Cortex today, as she said, has 29 members, and they have over 600 employees. “We estimate that the export of member companies participates in about 18 percent of the total export of goods of Montenegro for the year 2021. It is a strong sector, which moves on an upward trajectory. Total revenues have almost doubled over two years. We see that profits have increased, that exports have almost tripled, and that the number of employees is constantly growing, which all shows that this sector is very much worth investing in,” Garadšević pointed out. The executive director of the cluster, Tarik Zaimović, said that he is particularly proud because ICT Cortex is a true example of synergy. “We managed to connect directors and owners of companies very well. What we did not succeed in, and what was not even possible for the year, was to connect the people who carry the work. That is our plan for this year. We intend to open three committees, namely the Committee for Human Resources and Education, the Committee for Internationalization and Sales, and the Committee for the Empowerment of Women in IT,” said Zaimović. One of the capital projects, as he added, is a project to provide housing for 120 IT families, and the intention is to retain the best IT staff with this program, to provide them with savings of up to 45 percent for solving the housing issue, buying an apartment. “Also, we received a serious grant for half a million euros, which was earmarked for equipment at the Vaso Aligrudić School. We intend to do the second phase of infrastructural equipping of schools and we will decide that for Nikšić and Bijelo Polje. For this year, we intend to educate 300 high school students. We do that in six municipalities. At the same time, we train 15 professors and educate an additional 250 participants, who are young people and students, who are trained in member companies. The goal is to have 80 junior staff produced, of whom we will most likely hire,” said Zaimović. The plan, as he announced, is to visit Eastern, and Western Europe, and America in the coming period, all to find new jobs, and partners, open representative offices in Montenegro and increase exports. “This year, we intend to apply for a large tender and unite a large force of the best companies in Montenegro. Together with the Central Bank of Montenegro, we plan to organize the second Fintech conference and Hackathon. We are making plans with the Central Bank of Montenegro so that this year the Hackathon will be on an even bigger, regional level, and there will be a significantly larger fund for the best team and idea for the development of Fintech”, said Zaimović. The director of the Foundation “Čini dobro”, Aleksandra Bošković, said that “Čini dobro”, a non-profit association founded by ICT Cortex, aims to empower young people, invest in education, help with healthy innovative ideas and contribute to the digitization of society. “I am proud that throughout last year and 2020, we focused our work on the local community and on the segments of society that needed it the most. In the coming period, the Foundation will be mostly focused on education and will provide support to ICT Cortex in all the projects it will lead,” said Bošković. As she stated, the target groups are talented pupils and students, employees of the Foundation’s members, educational institutions, and organizations. “In the previous year and a half, we donated over 80 thousand euros, launched the website cinidobro.me, and increased the membership by three new members. We helped socially disadvantaged families and donated over 50 thousand euros. We reached almost 200 families, and we helped in the distribution of school equipment, textbooks, clothes,

An additional 200 thousand euros to support the development of the IT industry

The Ministry of Economic Development provided additional funds of 200,000 euros to support the ICT Cortex cluster for the segment of internationalization, implementation of educational programs, and mentoring services that will help the sustainability of the cluster. We remind you that at the end of last year, the Agreement on co-financing of the three-year ICT cluster program worth more than a million euros was signed, in which MER and IT companies, members of the Cortex ICT cluster, participate with equal amounts for implementation. This new cycle of support refers precisely to these segments, which represent complementary activities to the current contract. “And this support will contribute to strengthening the IT sector and creating conditions for the IT sector to become the backbone of the future development of Montenegro and a strong sector that will create leading export products,” said Milatović. “In addition, it will additionally strengthen the global connection of clusters, program activities to strengthen educational programs important for the improvement of digital skills, but also empower the cluster team to think long-term in the direction of self-sustainability,” the minister added. The executive director of ICT Cortex, Tarik Zaimović, expressed his gratitude for the support that the Ministry of Economic Development continuously provides to the ICT Cortex sector and the entire IT industry. “These additional funds will significantly help us to speed up work on all our capital projects, the goal of which is the professional training of young people, students, high school students, and professors,” he pointed out and added that “internationalization will help connect Montenegrin stakeholders and IT companies, which are key for an innovation ecosystem with international partners, organizations and IT companies through which we will upgrade our knowledge and bring new projects and partners to Montenegro”. ICT Cortex also sent an invitation to the Ministry to become a Friend of the Association, which was accepted with satisfaction, emphasizing that in this way stronger cooperation and partnership between the Ministry and the cluster will be achieved and that the Ministry will have the opportunity to get to know the implementation of the cluster’s activities directly. In the past period, the Ministry of Economic Development further strengthened the program direction of the implementation of the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) through the adoption of the Operational Program for the period 2021-2024, which achieved a synergistic effect with the cluster policy, focusing on a set of new activities that effectively connect this policy with S3. In this sense, the special focus is on strengthening the activities of ICT clusters, intending to increase the productivity and competitiveness of domestic companies and entrepreneurs by connecting them into clusters, as well as strengthening the cooperation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs with scientific research organizations.

Over a million euros for the development of the IT industry in Montenegro – MER and ICT Cortex signed a contract worth over a million euros

Minister of Economic Development Jakov Milatović, Ministry of Economic Development, signed today the contract on co-financing the ICT Cortex cluster with CEO Tarik Zaimović. ICT Cortex is the winner of the Contest to support the development of the strategic priority of the Smart Specialization Strategy of Montenegro – Information and Communication Technologies. The total amount foreseen for the implementation of the work program of the ICT cluster Cortex for three years amounts to over one million euros. The program will be supported by the Ministry of Economic Development of over 500,000 euros, while the same amount will be contributed by IT companies and members of the cluster. “In the previous period, the government invested great efforts in creating both an institutional and an appropriate program framework, which together will enable a more adequate involvement of the innovation community in the process of planning and implementation of the innovation policy, but also create preconditions for the continuation of the implementation of smart specialization in Montenegro,” he said. Minister Milatović. “In such a reform-strengthened institutional and programmatic framework for innovation, innovation infrastructures play a special role, and cluster organizations are certainly among them. Aware of your role in the innovation ecosystem, we decided on targeted support that represents the initial impulse of your further growth and development,” the minister said. “I am particularly pleased to be here today and to have the opportunity to support the ICT Cortex program. I am happy that ICT Cortex is already operational, that it has received support through several projects, has a development strategy, and is slowly positioning itself as a niche of technology companies, which further encourages the Ministry that this story will be successful and that during the period of cooperation on this program to open up other numerous opportunities for cooperation”, said the minister. On that occasion, he said that the Government will continue to work on improving the framework and ecosystem that is necessary for providing digital innovations in industry and education, and that he sees ICT Cortex not only as a user of one of the programs but also as a credible partner in the creation of Government policies. The State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Development, Milena Lipovina-Božović, said that this sector is the easiest because there are no inherited problems, but also the most challenging. After all, it is at the very beginning and a lot of effort is needed from all actors in the community to feel significant progress. “These are processes that require a lot of time and the results cannot be seen in such a short time,” said Lipovina-Božović. When it comes to that innovation ecosystem, the Government wanted to strongly support the innovation community with the funds it allocated for the Innovation Fund of EUR 1 million. “We see this story with ICT Cortex as something that will give additional strength and incentive to make everything we envision happen much faster and with better quality in the coming period,” said Lipovina-Božović. According to her, the benefits of the program relate to the strengthening of the administrative capacities of the cluster organization, education programs that will include the strengthening of digital skills, participation in the strengthening of an innovation culture, and the creation of partnerships. The executive director of the ICT Cortex cluster welcomed those present and expressed his gratitude that MER made an important step towards the creation of an innovation ecosystem that will be based on the synergy of public-private partnerships. “I think that the innovation community should be the main engine of the development of our economy and that it is our most valuable resource. I believe that every euro invested in knowledge, technological development, innovation, and young and capable people will be returned many times over,” said Tarik Zaimović, executive director of the ICT Cortex cluster. The president of the ICT Cortex assembly presented the results of the cluster, which gathered around four main goals: education, internationalization of business through increased exports, digitization of CG society, and philanthropy through the establishment of the Cortex Foundation. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to open a new chapter through cooperation with the state by signing today’s contract. Concrete results have already been achieved by doubling the membership, establishing the Foundation, tangible help in digitization processes, as well as the launch of the large Cortex Academy.” – said Nenad Novović, president of the ICT Cortex assembly. ICT Cortex was founded by the innovative IT community in March 2021, to be a leader in the digital transformation of the economy and public administration, and to improve the framework and ecosystem necessary to provide digital innovations in industry and education. The association will contribute to the strengthening of the IT sector and the creation of conditions for the IT sector to become the backbone of the future development of Montenegro and a strong economic activity that will create the country’s leading export products.

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