Not long ago, it would have been far-fetched to tout Serbia as a location for research into virtual reality, eHealth or artificial intelligence. This summer, however, three new laboratories opened at the Innovation Center of the University of Belgrade’s School of Electrical Engineering, where young, talented Serbian researchers can push the boundaries of these most advanced scientific fields in their own country.
We asked young people who are originally from Serbia and have forged notable careers in the U.S. what Serbia should do if it wants to take a major leap forward in terms of innovation. According to the answers that we received, the secret of success is “both there and here”. In other words, we should rely on the knowledge and talent that we have but don’t sufficiently use, while we should copy some of the recipes that have already proven extremely successful.