Serbia Innovates Progress Report

The activity recognizes Serbia's most promising domains of innovation and enables the formation of the first Serbian supercluster, a top-level innovation ecosystem and globally proven model. The supercluster model represents an effective platform for promoting and enforcing innovation development, building innovation-friendly environments, and providing adequate institutional support and sufficient financing. The activity partners with financial institutions, the Serbian education system, business associations, and various service providers to create a support system for innovative business initiatives. The project addresses five growth obstacles directly affecting the knowledge economy: low connectivity density and collaboration among innovation and economy's key stakeholders, short innovation value chains, lack of cooperation between innovative and traditional companies, lack of cooperation between innovative companies and financial institutions, and lack of financing options for innovative companies in the early stage of development. To increase the chances of success, the project aims to utilize all capacities to overcome institutional, financial, and organizational gaps that currently prevent optimal innovation development in the traditional economy. The establishment of a supercluster will be reached by detecting four most prominent domains, testing their potential in a real environment through separate supercluster pilots, selecting the most prominent domain, and scaling it up by engaging additional stakeholders. Simultaneously, financing activities will be created, including a specialized venture capital fund and direct financing to support specific projects produced by the pilot and scaled-up supercluster. The project's progress report covers all activities performed in the first year of implementation, from January 27th, 2021, to January 31st, 2022. The report reflects on the Y1 Annual Working Plan, which organized essential technical and operational tasks per section. The preparation activities, activity stream 1, activity stream 2, activity stream 3, outreach and communication, and management and administrative issues are all ongoing or completed. The Serbia Innovates Activity has made significant progress in identifying the most promising domains of innovation in Serbia. Initial desk research identified eight most promising domains: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, high-tech agricultural production, gaming industry, smart environment solutions, eco-smart energy sources, advanced materials and advanced production processes, and biotechnology. The project has also organized several events, including the Serbia Innovates Launch Event, the Serbia Innovates Presentation at Belgrade Venture Forum, and the Serbia Innovates Presentation at Webiz Conference. The project has established cooperation with Telekom Srbija, which has founded Asset Management Company "TS Ventures." A Memorandum of Understanding was signed to support the establishment of the first VC Fund in Serbia. The initial list of ten most promising domains in the Serbian economy was defined and presented by the end of the third quarter. This list reflects desk research and a survey of 1000 selected actors that make up the core of the innovation ecosystem in Serbia. The ten most promising domains include new age tech solutions in personalized medicine, value-added food, high-tech agriculture, clean and green tech for sustainability, and others. The project has also identified several key stakeholders, including SMEs, startups, academia, investors, government, and non-government sectors. The project aims to create a support system for innovative business initiatives and to overcome institutional, financial, and organizational gaps that currently prevent optimal innovation development in the traditional economy. The establishment of a supercluster will be a key milestone in achieving the project's objectives.