Overview: IT industry in Serbia
Growth of IT industry in Serbia (excluding telecommunications) continues to outpace the general economy and is the fastest growing sector.
- In the first 8 months of 2019, exports passed the 913 million euros.
- Serbia is investing 30 million euro in the construction of the State Data Center, an infrastructural project of national importance, to secure a systemic and quicker establishment of electronic government information systems.
- Foreign markets are the main focus of software development companies.
- 8 out of 10 leading software development companies are foreign-owned.
- IT startup ecosystem in Serbia is growing.
Office for IT and eGovernment
Established in 2017 by the Government of Serbia, this office continued to be one of the main drivers of Serbia’s digital transformation in 2019. With the launch of the eGovernment Services Enhancement Project (EDGE - Enabling Digital Governance) in November 2019, the Office for IT and eGovernment is working together with the World Bank on a comprehensive digitalization of public administration services for citizens and businesses.
The Swiss Government Supports Improving eGovernment
In 2019, SwissPRO Program continued the support for Serbia’s eGovernment development. In July, a public call was published to support local self-government units (LSGs) to improve eGovernment and provide eServices with an aim to increase accountability, transparency and efficiency in providing better access to services and citizens’ rights. The Government of Switzerland through Swiss PRO will support 40 LSGs with 350,000 euros to contribute making eGovernment a service for the citizens and the economy at local level. In October, the Program dedicated further 260,000 euros for the enhancement of eGovernment in 35 local self-governments in Serbia.
Find more information on public tenders and public calls on the website of SwissPRO
The Swiss Government supports the expansion of the network of science and technology parks in Serbia
The Swiss government will donate 3.75 million Swiss Francs to support innovation and help expand the network of science and technology parks in Serbia over the next four years.
A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed in December 2019 by the Serbian Education, Science and Technological Development Minister Mladen Sarcevic and Swiss Ambassador Philippe Guex. The project includes the transfer of models, know how and experience from the Science Technology Park Belgrade to Nis and Cacak to help those cities develop their own facilities and develop innovation.
According to Ambassador Guex, the new project will contribute to regional development in Serbia and encourage young people to get into technological entrepreneurship. “A pre-seed financing scheme will be set up for start-up companies in the earliest stage of development,” he said adding that the project will provide the necessary know-how and skills to speed up the development of their innovations and help get them out on the global market,” he said.
