IEC Tehnopolis and ICT Cortex held a joint press conference today. The reason for that is the presentation of the support provided by IEC Tehnopolis within the project 2CODE – Cooperation for Development of Cross Border Business Environment Enhanced to the largest IT cluster in Montenegro, as well as the signing of the application form which became an honorary member of the Cluster.
ICT Cortex is a cluster for information technology, innovation, education, design, and technological development of Montenegro. Having in mind the importance of such an IT cluster in Montenegro, as well as the fact that one of the priority areas of S3 strategy is smart specialization information and communication technology, IEC Tehnopolis in accordance with its mission and vision supported the development of the Cluster through several activities.
According to Aleksandar Janicic, coordinator of the Center for Entrepreneurship Development and Project Management, through activities within the 2CODE Tehnopolis project, he supported the establishment of the Cluster and participated in the development of the ICT Cortex Development Strategy, which is a key document in their development over the next 10 years.
In order for the activities to be implemented according to the planned dynamics, the process of hiring cluster managers has been completed, who will implement the stated strategy and provide support to the rest of the management team in the process of cluster development according to defined guidelines.
In order to achieve better visibility of the process and connect the Cluster with the program area and the European IT community, a memorandum of cooperation will be signed between three IT clusters – in Mostar, Tuzla, and Montenegro. Janicic points out that in that way, preconditions will be created for the improvement of cooperation between the IT sectors of the program area. In addition, Tehnopolis will ensure the presence of ICT Cortex representatives in November at a key event in the ICT sector in Europe – the Web Summit, which will be held in Lisbon, all with the aim of promoting the cluster and its members in the international market.
In the end, Janicic expressed satisfaction that the support of Tehnopolis was recognized by ICT Cortex and that it is a great honor to be their honorary member.
The Executive Director of ICT Cortex, Tarik Zaimovic, stated that the mentioned support is the reason why the Board of ICT Cortex made the Decision for IEC Tehnopolis to become an honorary member of the Cluster and that he is sure that in the coming period it will intensify cooperation with Tehnopolis and jointly implement numerous activities.
Zaimovic expressed satisfaction that IEC Tehnopolis recognized the importance of the existence of ICT clusters in Montenegro and through the support program enabled the functioning of a good part of the implemented activities of the association.
As Zaimovic said, the plan is to create an IT Manifesto document within which ICT Cortex, together with Tehnopolis and other strategic partners from the IT community, will define priority projects and key points of development of the IT sector in Montenegro.
The application form for honorary membership in ICT Cortex was signed by Tarik Zaimovic on behalf of the Cluster and Aleksandar Janicic on behalf of Tehnopolis, after which the participants visited the infrastructure facilities of IEC Tehnopolis – Biotechnology Laboratory BioLab, TechLab, and Data Center.
The 2CODE project, co-financed by the ERDF and IPA II funds of the European Union, aims to contribute to strengthening the infrastructure and capacity of organizations to improve services to support the development of the business environment in the cross-border area (Croatia – Bosnia, and Herzegovina – Montenegro).
The press conference was organized as part of the program to mark 5 years of IEC Tehnopolis.
