Serbia Can Become a Center for Innovation

The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Čadež, announced today at the Web Summit in Lisbon, during the panel "Building a Balanced Economy," that Serbia is developing and will become one of the global centers for innovation.

"I see Serbia in the future as a much more developed European country, as one of the centers for innovation. We will host the specialized Expo 2027, which is a huge achievement for our country. It’s the first time an Expo will be held in our region. The main concept, with which we won the opportunity to host the exhibition, is ‘Play for Humanity,’” Čadež emphasized.

He made this statement on one of the main discussion stages at the panel dedicated to strategies, best practices, and challenges associated with creating and maintaining a technological ecosystem.

“We need to learn how to play again, and this is how our concept of ‘Play for Humanity’ evolves – for Expo 2027. We will have a lot to showcase at that time, not only us but the whole world,” added Čadež.

“We are preparing, and I hope that together with the Web Summit, we will host one of the largest global hackathons for technology companies, where we will find or attempt to find new solutions,” the President of the Chamber of Commerce added.

He noted that ten years ago, Serbia began heavily investing in the IT ecosystem, leading to several changes in the field, such as the introduction of programming in elementary schools.

“Today, children from the age of eight in our elementary schools are required to learn a programming language each year,” said Čadež, highlighting that Serbia has also established a data center, equipped with a supercomputer, invested in infrastructure, and undertaken numerous other initiatives.

He concluded by stating that the greatest challenge in today’s world is that we have yet to fully accept that innovation and technology are integral parts of our daily lives.