Nova Iskra one of the participants in the Swedish Institute Innovation Leaders (SIIL) program 2019

The aim of Swedish Instute Innovation Leaders program (SIIL)  is to contribute to the innovation ecosystem in the western Balkan region. The goal is to create a platform for knowledge exchange and problem solving between innovation field experts within private sector, public sector and academia, with the help of Swedish expertise and experience.

The countries that participate in the program SI Innovation Leaders during this first year are Bosnia Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia. By the end of the program the idea is to create strong network of innovation ecosystem experts for a strong and innovative future in the western Balkan region.

Each participant country is consisting of two groups, Country Advisory Team (CAP) and Country Innovation Projects Team (CIP).

Country Advisory Team is represented by: Nana Radenković (Nova Iskra), Nikola Andonov (FabBelgrade) and Lazar Lekić (Ministry of Education), while participants of the Country Innovation Projects team are: Marina Blagojević (Cluster manager/Project coordinator at ICT Network Serbia), Iva Cvjetičanin (Design Hub Coordinator at Tetra Pak), Nikola Komšić (Independent Advisor for Innovations at the Innovation Department at Chamber of Commerce), Petar Vrgović (Associate professor at Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad), Bojana Borković (Business Development Enthusiast at Strawberry energy) and Miloš Paunović (CSR Specialist at Nordeus).

The primary goal of these participants is to create a strong link between local expertise on innovation ecosystems and the program. Knowledge of ongoing projects, risks and opportunities, political agendas, needs and obstacles for adaptation to changes, unofficial networks and contacts between potentially participating organizations – all this is of extraordinary importance to the successful development of a program focusing on systemic change.

So far three modules of program were realized – Kick- off in Belgrade (April), First module in Sweden (June) and Second module in Sarajevo (October 2019.)