Programme -

Digital education has come as a result of adapting to the rapid changes in technological environment and the way our children and students learn today. Preparing for effective use of digital education, requires significant investments in legal and technological infrastructure, system reforms, as well as a shift of pedagogical practices to optimize learning through digital modalities. Therefore, this panel shall address the importance of digital learning, equity in access to technology, and showcase examples that embrace digital education and facilitate these efforts.

Event: Digital and Inclusive Made Compatible

13.00

Introductory remarks 

Regional Cooperation Council introduces the panel and presents participants

13.05

Keynote speech

Mr. Georgi Dimitrov, DG EAC, European Commission (TBC)

13.15

Discussion

Very often, mainstreaming agendas, including the digital agenda, are not defined in a way to be all-inclusive. Knowing the challenges, the involvement of the various social groups in promoting, shaping and implementing these agendas will assist the relevant authorities to tailor policies that will include all and be beneficial for all, including Roma, women and youth. The panel will focus on how to address the specific needs of the different social groups in the field of entrepreneurship, digital skills, digital education, etc., while it also aims to present success stories from the region on the benefits of digitalization.

• Digital Education, Redzep Ali Cupi, Roma Education Fund
• Digital Entrepreneurship, Petrica Dulgheru, Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative
• Impact of digitalisation of public administration for vulnerable groups, Leontina Sandu, DG DIGIT, European Commission (TBC)
• Digital skills for Women Entrepreneurs, Valentina Taseva, Semos Education, one of the WB Women Entrepreneurs of the Year (TBC)
• Enabling use of digital skills on Media campaign on Youth Guarantee, Nikola Ristic, DP Media

Facilitated by Marius Jitea

14.20-14.30

Conclusions and next steps by Regional Cooperation Council

Host: AHK

Speaker: Ramsés Gallego, International Chief Technology Officer, CyberRes at Micro Focus

Topic: Cyber – war and the critical condition the world is going through.

Speaker: Blerta Shabani Kreuter, Cybersecurity Specialist, Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria)

Topic: Cybersecurity in Financial Sector/Banking

Speaker: Teuta Hyseni, Senior Security Engineer at Microsoft

Topic: An ambitious young Enthusiast to a Role Model Security Engineer at Microsoft

The panel shall address the regulatory environment and funding opportunities that are needed to help accelerating deployment of cutting-edge technologies such as fiber, Open RAN and 5G. Looking at the regulatory environment the focus should be on the need of (de-) regulation and the potential of speeding up and digitally transforming administration / approval procedures.

The latest developments, challenges, circumstances and doing business environment is rapidly evolving. The format of Investment s and business appraisals methodology is switching to a more healthy, more digital, more global, environment-friendly, and always covering cross-sectorial result-oriented indicators. It is due to worldwide assumptions, impacted by a very local risk, with a fully manageable mitigation programming system. The Financial investment interests and the potential sources are tremendously concerned to multi-dimensional sectors, manufacturing, transport, services, e-business, software engineering, infrastructure, security, and know-how transfer.  The proposed cases to be discussed bring some reflections from several experiences.

The development of innovative services and solutions is vital for the economic growth and prosperity of the Western Balkans. The foundation for this development are modern/state-of-the-art infrastructures, e.g., FTTH, 5G, and Edge clouds. Experts from Industry and Governments will share experiences and best practices in this panel on how to push innovation and infrastructure and discuss how innovative approaches can impact the WB6-economies and which necessary preconditions need to be fulfilled.

Digitalization, e-governance, e-business and e-commerce are making the difference of living, education, working, investment, prosperity and globalization. The traditional businesses are more than ever linked to the ICT and Digital sector, while it is the same, the ICT and Digital sector is becoming closer and closer to traditional businesses too. This is heavily contributing to the consolidation of the new societal mindset of going to an e-life. The cashless society is heavily related to e-governance, e-banking, e-business and then, making the citizens think and behave e-commerce wise.

Data tells important stories about our country. We should treat it with more respect. Data increasingly powers innovation, and it needs to be used for the public good, while individual privacy is protected. Data’s increasing value as an economic resource requires a new way of thinking. Strict privacy protections are needed to make socially valuable data available for the public good. 

Cyber Resilience is continuous access to personal and business data, even in an era of unprecedented cyber threats. 

There are over 200 million creators globally, who use their influence, creativity, or skills to monetize their audience. Only in 2021, the global influencer market was valued at a record $13.8 billion. In an increasingly digital economy, marketers are turning to influencers and digital content creators to solve their two greatest challenges: creating content that keeps pace with the rapid changes in culture and personalizing content and communication with their customers. The creator economy is profoundly changing the interaction between customer and brand, as customers continue to depend each time more on influencer recommendations to make purchases.

Keep an eye on these cyber trends. Supply chain attacks, AI-based spear phishing, and hybrid work – the cyber threat landscape remains tense. 

Participants:

Mariyan Marinov, Sofia Tech Park

Mehlike Kocabas, Kocaeli Techpark

Stephen Taylor, Area Science Park

Tanja Kožuh, Primorski Tehnoloski Technology Park CEO

Vera Scuderi, PoliHub Milano

Muhamed Rexhepi, Advisor at Innovation and Training Park (ITP) Prizren

Event: Smart cities and digital transformation of the Local Governments

Host and Moderator: NALAS

Donjeta Sahatciu – Deputy Mayor of the host city of Prishtina,

Erol Özgüner – Head of IT Department of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and B40 Network Smart Cities and Digital Transformation Working Group,

Zorica Bilic –Country Coordinator from GIZ Open Regional Funds for South East Europe – Modernisation of Municipal Services and Information Technology Department from the city of Rijeka, Croatia.

Event: Towards a regional eCommerce market – achievements and the way forward

Host: CEFTA Secretariat & GIZ
Moderation: Zdravko Ilic, CEFTA Secretariat

Moderator: Jan Dröge, Team Leader BCO Network

Panelists:

Agim Kukaj, Head of ICT Department and Project Director of KODE Project– Ministry of Economy – Kosovo

Borjan Simic, Communications Advisor at Ministry of Communications and Transport, Bosnia and Herzegovina (TBC)

Dimitar Bukovalov, Head of Communication Department, Ministry of Information Society and Administration North Macedonia (TBC)

Henri Haxhiraj, Head of Strategic Business Development at atene KOM

Irena Malolli, Director of Telecommunications and Post Strategy Development, Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy Albania (TBC)

Milan Dobrijevic, State Secretary at Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Serbia (TBC)

Viktor Berishaj, head of CIRT team of Montenegro (TBC)

Event: Create and register an “Digital Innovation Hub” into the European Market
Host: GIZ 

Why are Digital Innovation Hubs so high on the EU’s list of priorities and how the Western Balkans can benefit from this trend? 

A brief introduction to the ITP Prizren’s Digital transformation Center and its registration as Digital Innovation Hub – with an emphasis on niche services designed to support the local business community – is followed by a discussion on how such consortia can help businesses boost their competitive edge and profitability.