Today we spoke about support programs for young people, teams with innovative ideas and startups at early stages of development, on the occasion of the World Creativity and Innovation Day (April 21) “Unleashing the potential of young people and new ways of thinking”, organized by the Western Balkan Youth Lab Project of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).

Jelena Petrovic, Assistant Director for Business Development of STP Belgrade, highlighted Serbia’s potential in young educated people, citing as an example the teams that are developing under the Business and Technology Incubator of Technical Faculties Belgrade (BITF) and Science Technology Park Belgrade in Zvezdara. She especially emphasized the experience with the ParkUP! intensive five-day program for students interested in stepping into the startup world, which is organized by STP Belgrade twice a year during the summer and winter semesters. She emphasized the great commitment and desire of students to master and acquire skills in developing innovations and technological entrepreneurship, citing great ideas that students develop within this initiative. She also drew attention to Raising Starts, a support program for startups in the earliest stages of development of innovative products and services, which STP Belgrade implements with the support of the Swiss Government, and within which startups at this stage of development have the opportunity for the first time to receive both professional and financial support on the way from an innovative idea to readiness for investment and entry onto the global market.

The online ZOOM discussion aimed to promote an exchange of knowledge and to raise awareness of recent and current youth initiatives and actions in the field of creativity and innovation in each of the six economies of the Western Balkans, as well as to encourage further youth engagement in the economies where they already exist, and to launch youth initiatives in the economies where they do not yet exist.