Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis achieves excellent results, and this is confirmed by the evaluation of European Commission. In the latest report on the progress of our country, Tehnopolis was defined as “fully operational”! Director of IEC Tehnopolis, Ratko Batakovic, said that this year they managed to realize more activities than planned. Batakovic told to Dnevne novine that much has been done, but the most important thing is that Tehnopolis is recognized as an institution that can help all those who want to start and develop a business.
“We currently have 24 tenants, five of them in pre-incubation, six in incubation, 11 in virtual incubation, as well as two clients who use commercial conditions. They all cover different sectors such as the IT sector, creative industries, renewable energy sources, marketing, architectural visualization, online platforms for education and human resources management. There are also clusters: tourism, agritourism and handicrafts”, Batakovic said.
Sector for project management and entrepreneurship development has achieved significant results. “We are currently implementing six international projects. Through these projects, we generated about 800,000 EUR of our own budget. In addition to ongoing projects, three new project proposals in total about 3 million EUR were submitted this year”, Batakovic emphasized. Tehnopolis also helps the tenants of the business incubator in the part of project management, and preparations for the next call cycle are in progress.
FULLY OPERATIONAL
The results of Tehnopolis are not only noticed in Montenegro. In the latest European Commission report on the progress of our country in European integration, the work of Tehnopolis is also evaluated. “In the part referring to innovative activities, it is stated that the European Commission is very satisfied and IEC Tehnopolis is evaluated as “fully operational “. This is the first time that the work of an institution is highlighted in this way. It gives us the right to believe that we are on the right path. We have a clear vision of the development of Tehnopolis in accordance with the strategic plan of the Government of Montenegro for the development of innovative activities, and we have, in fact, been leading this vision into what we are now and what the European Commission has recognized. This is an incentive for further work”, Batakovic emphasizes. According to Batakovic, good results achieved by Tehnopolis are due to a professional and dedicated team of workers. Batakovic emphasizes the contribution of cooperation with the Municipality of Niksic and the Ministry of Science.
NUMEROUS ACTIVITIES
In the past seven months, Tehnopolis has been working intensively on numerous activities. Batakovic singles out the Camp for Young Entrepreneurs, which was recently completed in Vucje. “In this way we promote Tehnopolis among young people, we gather young people and, most importantly, promote entrepreneurship,” Batakovic said. Tehnopolis also signed contracts for cooperation with European-Cert Ltd. and Kliker IT Center for Children from Belgrade. “From October, in Tehnopolis we will start with the IT Center Kliker for children from six years onwards, who will have the opportunity to learn programming and 3D modeling. In the past seven months, we organized or supported the organization of around 470 events attended by around 7,650 participants. Free trainings were realized in the 3D Max program and the course of 3D printing, programming, digital marketing, as well as creating business plans”, said Batakovic. In early September, he says, a training plan for the autumn season will also be known.
HOME OF REVOLUTION
According to Batakovic, Tehnopolis is interested in expanding its capacities in the “Home of Revolution”, whose reconstruction is under way. “We were visited by several foreign delegations, including representatives of Hungary, Japan, UNOPS and China. We expect to find among them the right donor for the realization of a great project. We are negotiating with the Municipality of Niksic to enable us to use a part of the Home of Revolution to utilize capacity expansion, because our capacities, especially for the business incubator, have already been filled. In the Home of Revolution, an international multimedia center with a visitor center would be established, in which there would be a digitized display of all the potentials of Niksic”, says Batakovic.
In order to respond to the needs of entrepreneurs in the field of information about business events, Tehnopolis has also launched media site Privredni Portal, which will be a link between all stakeholders that are important for the development of the economic community. “The business community is quite informal about the support measures and despite all efforts of the Government to promote them. Privredni portal is designed to speed up the communication of all parties. It has already recorded an increase in the number of visitors, and officially will be promoted as of September”, said Batakovic.
MOTIVATE YOUTH TO TURN TO BUSINESS
In the coming months in Tehnopolis, as their Executive Director says, they will continue to work intensively to realize the planned activities. “Our constant challenge is to motivate young people to turn to business. We are very important in the field of innovation and we strive to help the creation of this innovative community in the best possible way, to attract as many young people as possible to recognize that Tehnopolis has partners that will enable them to support their business”, he concluded.
Source: Dnevne novine
