The “StepUp with Cortex” project of ICT Cortex and the Capital City of Podgorica improved the competitiveness of 12 small IT companies

ICT Cortex, in cooperation with the Capital city of Podgorica, realized the project “StepUp with Cortex”, which was supported by the Kingdom of Norway through the project “Norway for you – Montenegro”. The “StepUp with Cortex” project, which the ICT Cortex cluster implemented in cooperation with the Capital City of Podgorica, with the support of the Kingdom of Norway through the “Norway for you – Montenegro” project, in the period from March to November of this year, was aimed at improving and education of employees from 12 member companies, to improve competitiveness through the upgrading of institutional, administrative and organizational capacities and business skills of employees. The following companies participated in this project: Alicorn, Amplitudo, Archimede, Bild studio, Codepixel, Codeus, Data Design, DigitalBee, Fleka, Logate, Omnitech, and Oykos Development. The final event of the project was organized yesterday, which was attended by training participants, representatives of companies – project beneficiaries, trainers, and lecturers, as well as representatives of the Capital City and ICT Cortex. Chief Project Officer,, Ferida Mandić, emphasized the importance of this project. “The “StepUp with Cortex” project, in the period from March to November of this year, was aimed at the training and education of employees from 12 member companies, to improve competitiveness through upgrading the institutional, administrative, and organizational capacities and business skills of employees.” pointed out Mandić and added that the results of the training were very successful. “Five education programs were implemented, a total of 10 trainers were engaged; about 100 employees from 12 companies underwent training; employees from the ICT Cortex executive office also completed agile project management training; recommendations were made to improve the business environment for IT companies at the level of the Capital City.” Director of the Center for Information System of the Capital City, Džemal Lekić, pointed out that the administration of the Capital City is dedicated to the improvement of the sector of micro, small and medium enterprises, which is one of the key factors for accelerated economic development. “The ICT sector in the capital is recognized as one of the most important sectors for the future economic development of Podgorica because it supports all other sectors of the economy. In recent years, the administration of the Capital City has recognized digitization as one of the priorities in the development of Montenegrin society in terms of processes that can affect the improvement of the quality and standard of life of citizens. The goal is for ICT to become a strong sector of the economy that could become Montenegro’s leading export activity. Through the cooperation of the actors in the ICT community, there will be an increase in the number of employees, primarily professional staff, so the development and application of ICT are of crucial importance for economic development”, stressed Lekić. The project manager of the UNOPS office in Montenegro, Armen Čekić, pointed out that he was particularly glad that the ICT sector recognized the benefits of human resource development. “The development of human resources is the most important for the development of a company, and for the growth of the economy, which also entails the development of technology. So it should be continuously developed. I also hope that the others will follow this approach to their further development”, Čekić concluded. Trainer and NLP coach at NLP Network, Danka Ćetković, expressed her gratitude for the idea of such a project and emphasized that she is very proud of her students. “We hung out and worked together for three months, and at first it wasn’t easy, but over time we realized that the hidden goal was to connect, that we are not competing with each other, but supporting each other. The topics we covered were everyday ones that everyone needs. Especially in the IT sector, because the focus is on professional knowledge, and technological knowledge, to be the best programmers, and designers. That’s how it should be because the ICT industry is the bright spot of our economy. However, for it to be able to deliver everything that is expected, someone must also think about people. Who will develop all that, master it… Because it is an industry that changes very quickly, is very flexible, and prioritizes efficiency, short deadlines, and innovation. So we have to support people, work on their development, communication and negotiation skills, to overcome their fears, nervousness and the like”, described Ćetković. At the very end, participants were presented with certificates and certificates of completed training, where they shared their impressions from the training. A lot of interaction, group work, and exercises, as they said, facilitated the learning process and the acquisition of new skills and knowledge, and they recommend this type of education to people from different spheres because it is of great benefit to everyone. The cooperation of the Capital City and ICT Cortex on this project is another confirmation of joint action aimed at improving the overall business environment and creating an innovative ecosystem for IT companies at the level of the Capital City, where conditions are created for the development of innovative products and their placement on international markets.

Montenegrin ICT Startups presented their innovations at the largest IT exhibition in Lisbon

In the previous weeks, Lisbon was the epicenter of technological innovation. Over 70 thousand participants from 161 countries, 2696 startups, 1050 speakers, and 1081 investors gathered at the largest technology conference in Europe – Web Summit. Thanks to the Capital City and ICT Cortex, Montenegrin startups also had the opportunity to present their innovations at this event. Listen to the statement of Džemal Lekić, director of CIS, about the project implemented for the second time by the capital and ICT Cortex. The biggest attention was attracted by the startup Spectro Solutions, which presented an intelligent fire detection service, which entered the shortlist of 105 startups, out of a total of 2,696, and presented itself to potential investors as part of the Siemens Pitching competition. It is software based on artificial intelligence algorithms that functions as an upgrade to any type of monitoring tool, making it intelligent in the way of providing feedback to the client about the situation on the ground being recorded, in terms of fire. The goal of the software is a reliable, fast, and affordable form of early fire detection. Behind the idea and the first version of the software is a five-member team of young startups: engineers, programmers, and managers, who have already established the first digital AI assistant for monitoring fires on the Luštica peninsula. Read about all the activities Spektro participated in at the Web Summit from Ana Ašanin’s statement. Medpack, a startup that aims to increase proper adherence to therapy, and thus the long-term quality of life of the patient, also had a notable performance at this IT fair. Medpack consists of an application and a smart box. With the help of the application, the user will define his schedule, and which medicine is in which compartment. It is envisaged that the application will contain a database of drugs available on the user’s market, which would facilitate the creation of a schedule and help users to take the drug correctly, and would inform the patient and his doctor or guardian if a drug is not taken correctly (too long, too often or in a way that can be harmful). Also, it is planned that the application learns from the user’s habits and accordingly modifies his schedule. See what the impressions of the members of the Medpack team from Lisbon are. The representatives of the Fintech startup Flash were also part of the Montenegrin startup delegation. Flash connects banks, merchants, and customers through a single platform, increasing their efficiency while reducing costs. With the Flash mobile application, clients can make cardless and cashless payments at merchants, in stores, or online. Clients can centrally manage all their bank accounts, transfer funds, request a loan or return of funds from another client, share an account with another client or define a payment at a specific time based only on a phone number. Flash is the beginning of the digital banking revolution and aims to transform traditional payment approaches. Milica Gazivoda shared her impressions from the Web Summit. At the Web Summit, the startup Guidi was also presented – a platform designed to enable a completely new way of visiting famous places. The app is used to correspond with historical figures and characters specific to each location, while a fictitious guide talks about history from his point of view making the experience more personal and real. Guidi helps users experience the era and tourist destination they are visiting. According to their team members, Guidi is actually a virtual friend from the past. In the video, learn more about this start-up and listen to their impressions from the Web Summit. The digital accountant is another Montenegrin startup that presented itself at the Web Summit. It is a solution that improves business through the digital transformation of administrative and accounting business processes in companies. The platform enables a simple exchange of documents between the company and the accountant by taking a photo of the document at the time of its creation via a mobile application or by uploading it directly to the Tiramisu ERP information system. With any of these actions, the accountant receives a notification and validates the structured data from the document for further postings, which will automatically be reflected in the reports on the company’s operations that are available live in the system to their owner. In the video, listen to Zoran Mastilović from the company Data Design about their participation in the Web Summit. Montenegro also had a startup in the field of the green economy – Prezla, a startup that aims to raise awareness towards reducing food waste, a healthier environment, and a happier society. Their team developed an application that connects everyone who has surplus food (hotels, supermarkets, restaurants) with those who want to buy that food for themselves or those who want to donate it to others. With one move, the user can influence the solution of the pressing problems of food waste, environmental pollution, and the increasing growth of the malnourished part of society. The company Oykos Development presented its startup, Dixi Digital, at the Web Summit. Dixi digital is a social network where all users earn money. All content, interactions, and time spent on this social network are a direct source of income for users – both creators and audiences. In the video, you can learn more about this startup from the founder of Dixi Digital and the CEO of Oykos development, Filip Anđelić. Startup Flourish is at the Web Summit for the second time, this year as a BETA startup. Flourish is a smart assistant for the development of the emotional intelligence of employees, a software solution that develops and maintains emotional intelligence through personalized educational exercises. Jasna Pejović, co-founder and CEO of Flourish, spoke more about the Flourish startup and their second participation at the Web Summit. In addition to startups, the Montenegrin delegation at the Web Summit also included representatives of the executive office of the Montenegrin ICT cluster Cortex, who had the opportunity to learn

The Kingdom of Norway supported the ICT Cortex cluster project – “StepUp with Cortex”

Five projects aimed at increasing the competitiveness of small businesses in Montenegro through their transformation, among which the ICT Cortex cluster project – StepUp with Cortex, are supported by the Kingdom of Norway through the project “Norway for you – Montenegro”, which is implemented by UNOPS in partnership with UNDP. The “StepUp with Cortex” project, which the ICT Cortex cluster implements in cooperation with the Capital City of Podgorica, will be aimed at improvement and education in the field of business skills, in order to improve the competitiveness of our companies through strengthening the skills of employees. The companies that will participate in this project are Alicorn, Amplitudo, Archimede, Bild, Codepixel, Codeus, Data Design, DigitalBee, Fleka, Logate, Omnitech, and Oykos Development. “We will use the received donation in the amount of 50,000 dollars to strengthen the skills of over 100 employees in the members of the ICT Cortex cluster. The focus of the training will be on the development of knowledge and competencies in the areas of business communication, project management, sales, finance, and leadership. The IT sector and the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises form a pillar of the economic development of Montenegro, and we consider the capital city a very important partner for the development of the business environment and the creation of an innovative ecosystem”, said the director of the ICT Cortex project office, Ferida Mandić. “This project is a confirmation that by working together with the ICT cluster, we can improve the business environment for IT companies in the territory of Podgorica, where the conditions are created for them to develop innovative products from our city and place them on the international market,” added the director of CIS in the capital, Džemal Lekić. The project “Norway for you – Montenegro” will support entities that provide support for the development of small businesses in cooperation with municipalities, which will improve the operations of at least 70 small businesses, through the improvement of marketing and negotiation skills, the introduction of innovative approaches in the technological process, the improvement of business communication, project management, finance and leadership, the introduction of digitization, as well as the promotion of best practices for quality, safety and trust in the production of small businesses through the implementation of relevant ISO standards.