The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis marked a decade of existence and work last night in Nikšić with a formal celebration attended by representatives of the Government of Montenegro and the Municipality of Nikšić, the scientific, research, innovation and academic communities, international and non-governmental organizations, as well as numerous partners from Montenegro and the region, friends and associates. The central event, held on the date when Tehnopolis was officially opened in 2016, reflected on a decade during which Tehnopolis grew from an institution starting from scratch into an important part of Montenegro’s innovation ecosystem.
Tehnopolis marks its tenth anniversary with results that demonstrate the scale of its development and impact on Montenegro’s overall system. Since 2016, more than 200 innovative ideas have been supported, more than 800 events have been organized, and over 32,000 people have participated in Tehnopolis programs and activities. Nearly 100 training sessions have been organized, while through more than 50 completed and ongoing projects, Tehnopolis has managed to attract almost six million euros from European Union funds for activities in Nikšić and Montenegro. A particularly important place among its successful, high-impact projects belongs to the national pre-acceleration program BoostMeUp, which has provided support to more than 100 startup teams across its first five generations. Today, Tehnopolis also has expanded infrastructure capacities.
The importance of Tehnopolis in developing a system based on knowledge and innovation was also highlighted by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Prof. Dr. Anđela Jakšić Stojanović, who stated that the establishment of the institution ten years ago represented an important step toward a different development path for Montenegro.
Ten years ago, with the establishment of an institution such as this one, the foundations were laid for the development of a different Montenegro – a country that bases its development on knowledge and innovation. And the vision of such a Montenegro was brought to life precisely by all those people who believed in it and whose work made it a reality, said Jakšić Stojanović, acknowledging the entire Tehnopolis team, as well as the organizations, institutions and individuals who contributed to its work throughout different stages of its development.
Speaking about the path the institution has taken, Executive Director of Tehnopolis Đorđije Brkuljan emphasized that the significance of its first decade cannot be measured by numbers alone.
Tehnopolis did not emerge as a fully developed system. It was built step by step, through people who believed in something that practically did not exist in Montenegro at the time, through the first support programs, the first startup teams, laboratories, international projects, partnerships and many attempts to respond to needs that were changing faster than the systems around us. Today, the picture is completely different. We have a much more developed ecosystem. Perhaps our most significant achievement is the creation of a functional, regionally and globally connected innovation ecosystem. This is a major shared success. That is why I believe that the next phase of development is less about who will individually do more and much more about how well we will work together and what results we will produce together, said Brkuljan.
A particularly important part of the evening’s program was the premiere of a documentary film, which told the story of the first decade from a different, primarily human and emotional perspective. Rather than presenting ten years of development solely through numbers and statistics, the film portrayed it through the people who gave Tehnopolis life and a voice, their ideas, first attempts, mistakes, successes and shared moments that shaped the institution into what it is today. Following the journey of an idea from the first “What if?” to the opportunity to grow beyond local boundaries and reach far beyond the place where it originated, the film also conveys one of the key messages of the anniversary: “It doesn’t matter where an idea begins. What matters is how far it can go.”
The anniversary celebration was also an opportunity to present the direction of the next phase of development. Speaking about this, Brkuljan emphasized that the results achieved during the first decade represent a strong foundation, but also an obligation for Tehnopolis to direct its support even more closely toward concrete and measurable results in the years ahead.
By 2031, we want Tehnopolis to be even more focused, better organized and more capable of turning its energy into measurable results. We will measure success less by how many activities we have implemented and more by what those activities have produced – new companies, products, jobs, investments, exports and people who have fulfilled their potential. We want to put the experience, knowledge, trust and network we have built during the first decade at the service of even greater shared results – enabling more good ideas to have the opportunity to grow into something that creates value for Montenegro, stated Brkuljan.
A particularly important role in the coming period is envisioned for the House of Digital Revolution, with the ambition of developing it into a center for Montenegro’s creative industries and a regionally recognized meeting place for creativity, technology, culture and entrepreneurship – a space where creatives will be able to develop ideas, acquire knowledge, find mentors, create products and enter regional and international markets.
Following its first decade, Tehnopolis enters its next phase with experience, a developed network of partners and a support system that is not limited solely to Nikšić. The vision for the years ahead is the further development of the institution as a platform connecting innovation, technology, science, entrepreneurship and creativity – originating in Nikšić, but creating value for all of Montenegro.
