Due to my belief that digitisation and an innovation-driven economy represent the greatest potentials for growth, I would highlight the panel organised by the Digital Serbia Initiative. This panel addressed many opportunities brought by the digital economy, three of which I will point out here
The first idea is related to the general approach to the topic of the fourth industrial revolution. We were not among the winners of the previous three revolutions, so our people do not believe that Serbia has a completely different starting point this time. The first step is for all parts of our society to change the mindset and understand that our move towards a digital society today will determine our future tomorrow. So, let’s give our best to change the mindset!
My second impression was about education for the 21st century. It is great that, in 2018, children in primary schools have computer coding as a mandatory subject and for the first time they have both – an adequate curriculum and appropriate digital tools. I see this as one of the greatest contributions of the Digital Serbia Initiative to the digital economy’s development.
In the end, I would underline the most important conclusions: digitisation is definitely not only about IT and coding. The fourth industrial revolution is an opportunity for all of us, so increasing digital capacities must be our common mission.
Throughout history, we’ve had to learn to read and write in order to do any profession, while today digital literacy is becoming a precondition of every successful professional, regardless of whether they are a doctor, a lawyer or a software engineer.
Furthermore, it was very interesting to hear during the panel discussion how digitisation is a key engine for the development of our agriculture, so it basically touches any sphere of our life and business.
I am confident that each of these ideas has a greater capacity than before to become a game-changer, because this was the first Kopaonik Business Forum at which the digital economy was in everyone’s focus, becoming a buzz word in Serbia.