Biotechnology, biomedicine, bioinformatics and biodiversity have gone from areas that were considered as lacking sufficient innovative capacity three years ago to be now considered disciplines that are expected to become drivers of Serbia’s future economic development. Dramatic global changes in healthcare have also contributed to this, with the mass introduction of a multidisciplinary approach and IT.
The speed at which new vaccines were developed, and the selfless cooperation that accompanied exchanges of experience between researchers in medicine, biotechnology and related fields on a global level, have prompted great optimism about innovations that improve health being reached more quickly and researchers working beyond the major global centres of knowledge being included in that research. What does this mean for the wellbeing of people in general; and for the inclusion of Serbia’s scientific development and innovation capacities in global flows?
Biomedicine, the Green Deal and bioeconomy are new topics that are propelling the scientific community forward and raising the question of where our place lies in the global growth of these sectors. Is there a place in that world of change for knowledge from Serbia? The short answer is “yes, but…” We spoke with our interlocutors about the kinds of capacities that we really have at our disposal and what we can do to accelerate our entry into this field of innovation.