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.

Solving the problem of lack of personnel in the ICT industry through cooperation

Montenegro lacks about 500 IT experts and it is necessary, with the cooperation of the state, the education system, and the economy, to develop that staff, because information and communication technologies are an exceptional development opportunity for the state and society. This was announced by the representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, the University of Montenegro, and ICT Cortex, who today signed the Agreement on Cooperation on the Implementation of Education Programs and Projects in the IT Sector. The Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, Tamara Srzentić, said that the lack of qualified staff in the ICT industry is one of the main threats to successful digitization in our country. “It is estimated that Montenegro lacks about 500 IT experts at the moment, while in Europe this number has reached one million, and therefore it must be addressed from the point of view of formal and informal education. With this project, we plan to establish educational modules following the needs of the market and the IT industry and enable their successful implementation. Our ultimate goal is to build a regional center of excellence for the improvement of digital skills, and we believe that this is only possible if the academic private and public sectors join forces,” said Srzentić. The Rector of the University of Montenegro, Vladimir Božović, said that the meaning of the signed Agreement is exceptional, primarily in terms of how the European Union sees the third dimension of the University in terms of innovation and development. “All the more, I am glad that ICT Cortex, as a leading cluster group in the domain of information and communication technologies, recognized the University as that base. To develop the entire sector, to develop information and communication technologies, we need to develop staff, and the University is called upon first when it comes to that. Through the concepts elaborated in this Agreement, we will certainly continue to do so for the benefit of not only the three entities, which at this moment have found a common interest but for the benefit of the entire society,” said Božović. He believes that the development of information and communication technologies is an exceptional development opportunity for the country, and the University, as he added, is a pillar of that development. The executive director of ICT Cortex, Tarik Zaimović, pointed out that the IT industry has had a systemic problem with personnel for a long time. “In the last few years, various representative offices of foreign companies have started to open here. We believe that this industry has the potential to employ several thousand people in the next three to four years. We believe that the IT industry should be one of the pillars of industries, such as tourism and agriculture,” said Zaimović. According to him, the IT sector currently accounts for about 3.5 percent of GDP, and in the total amount for this year, it will contribute about 20 percent. “But we cannot support this exponential growth without staff. We believe that the University of Montenegro is the right partner for the implementation of this project, and the support of the state is also very important. Problems should be solved systemically. This is one of how we can permanently and systematically solve the staffing problem, not completely because it is not possible, but our goal is to produce as many staff as possible and to keep that stuff in Montenegro, as well as to increase the quality of education. This is a real example of how the state, the education system, and the economy should cooperate, and we will do everything to support this project. We have a very ambitious vision which, we hope, will result in concrete results,” said Zaimović.

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.

Members of Cortex winners of numerous recognitions and awards

ICT Cortex was founded by innovative Montenegrin IT companies, which employ some of the most awarded and recognized experts in the field of entrepreneurship, management, and innovation. On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, the awards ceremony was held by the Association of Managers of Montenegro. Laureates for 2020 were selected. On this occasion, an award was presented to our President of the Management Board Sanja Gardašević, for the best manager of micro-enterprises in Montenegro for 2020 – Alicorn. “When we founded Alicorn, we were driven by the desire to create a company we would love to work in. A company that, if one of our dear people asked us, we could say – “this is the right team for you”. We have achieved great results and grown many times over the past three years, but as a manager, I am perhaps most proud of the fact that we have managed to preserve the culture of the company that we care about. ” – Sanja pointed out while talking about the importance of the recognition. In previous years, member companies have been recognized by the business community, through numerous awards from the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, the Union of Employers of Montenegro, as well as the Association of Managers of Montenegro. In 2020, the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro presented the award for innovation to our founding member Amplitudo, and this is also one of the most important awards in Montenegro. The Union of Employers of Montenegro presented the award for “Best Manager in the Economy” in 2018 to Ksenija Iković, creative director of the member company Bild Studio, while Studio Fleka, whose executive director is Miloš Milošević, won the award for contribution to entrepreneurship for Central and Southeast Europe – “Creators of the Century” for 2018. This recognition, for years now, highlights entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals who have contributed to the development of the community in which they create. In the category of small companies, Ivica Tatar, co-founder and Strategy Lead of our member company Logate, was elected manager of the year in 2017, while Tarik Zaimović, director of member company Bild Studio, was named manager of the year for the category of small companies in 2016. We are proud of the results of member companies so far and we believe that we will have many more recognitions as an association that acts synergistically on the entire economy in Montenegro. The strength is in our people who are dedicated to strengthening the IT industry, and we are happy when the community in which we operate recognizes this.