Empowering industry clusters and cooperation: Key insights from the online event “Digital Entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans”

European DIGITAL SME Alliance and 3B ICT Network jointly organized an event called “Digital Entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans”, on Wednesday, April 24, online.

Balkan, Black Sea and Baltic ICT Clusters Network (3B ICT Network) includes 10 business organizations working in the field of ICT coming from 8 countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia, Latvia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania. The main aim of the partnership is to increase the global visibility of the region as a technology-driven destination and to support the establishment of a common research and business framework for ICT sector development. Also, to enhance collaboration among cluster initiatives in the ICT sector across the Balkan, Black Sea, and Baltic (3B) regions, to boost the sector’s competitiveness in the global market through targeted actions and projects. The aim is to expand the network by welcoming new members from both existing and new countries.

3B ICT Network Members:

ICT Cluster Burgas, Bulgaria
ICT Cortex, Montenegro
Albanian ICT Association, Albania
BIT Alliance, Bosnia Herzegovina
Vojvodina ICT Cluster, Serbia
Cluj IT, Romania
ICT Chamber of Commerce – MASIT, North Macedonia
Green and Smart Technology Cluster, Latvia
MACES – Macedonian Cluster for Export of Software and IT Services, North Macedonia

The European Union and the Western Balkans have embarked on a journey towards a common future. Amidst the current geopolitical environment and with the strategic importance of digital technologies, this partnership has become of key significance.

Therefore, a series of opportunities have emerged for digital entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans. In this context, DIGITAL SME and 3B ICT Network hosted the online workshop on the European opportunities that digital entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans could seize. These opportunities include access to EU funding, access to potential clients from all over Europe, and access to political decision-making.

The workshop also included a discussion on the 2024 Work Program of the 3B ICT Network, exclusively for its members.

The session was focused on opportunities for:

Accessing EU funding for the Western Balkans
Accessing potential clients from all over Europe
Advocating for a new EU digital agenda for the Western Balkans

The hosts of the event were Antonio Grasso, Public Affairs Director; then Justina Bieliauskaite, Innovation Director; and Giulia Zampedri, Membership Services Manager of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, as well as Andrei Kelemen, director of the CLUJ IT cluster.

Participants were encouraged to propose various activities and collaborations that could provide added value to their digitalization journeys. Based on this input, European DIGITAL SME and the 3B ICT Network will publish a list of services for the following year that will become accessible to the DIGITAL SME and 3B ICT Network members. The overall purpose is to establish a close link between EU decision-makers and SMEs on the one side and Western Balkans digital entrepreneurs on the other.

Representatives of the Vojvodina ICT cluster actively participated in the discussion and shared their ideas for better strengthening of all industry clusters and digital skills in the Western Balkans.