On November 30, the EDIH Adria project held its first annual conference and MeetUp in the inspiring space of Infobip Quantum in Vodnjan. This event brought together experts, researchers and business leaders in a very large number to jointly discuss key issues in the field of digital transformation and innovation.
Guided visit for conference participants: Campus Pangea, Infobip
The conference was opened by Monika Ivanović, Klara Čičin-Šain and Ozano Rokov with a guided visit for conference participants, allowing them an insight into the Campus Pangea space within Infobip.
Opening of the conference and welcoming words in Quantum
Aurora Volarević, Vice-President for Business Integrity at Infobip, welcomed the conference participants with the support of key representatives, including Sandra D’Elia from the European Commission and Valter Fleg from the European Parliament.
On behalf of the project coordinator, the University of Rijeka, prof. dr. sc. Saša Zelenika, Vice-Rector for Strategic Projects at the University of Rijeka, pointed out that smart solutions, smart cities and other advanced technologies do not exist without smart people. He emphasized that the strength of the EDIH Adria consortium is in the people, which is brought together to encourage and facilitate the digital transformation of Adriatic Croatia.
Welcome to the EDIH Adria project
Director of the EDIH Adria project, Damir Medved, pointed out the key elements of the EDIH Adria project in his keynote lecture. In addition to the basics of the project, which he briefly touched upon, he dedicated his keynote to the issue of how and how we can successfully implement the technologies available today in our environment.
Regional Value Chains and Industrial Transition
Vedran Kružić, Director of the Regional Development Agency of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County – PRIGODA, provided insight into regional value chains and industrial transition and opportunities for the operationalization of EDIH Adria TBI results in the Adria area. Mr. Kružić was also awarded the annual EDIH Adria Award on this occasion. PRIGODA Director, Mr. Vedran Kružić, has been actively cooperating with the University of Rijeka for many years on numerous initiatives to improve entrepreneurial infrastructure and stimulate the development of the entire County. The progress of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Adriatic Croatia will not be possible without strong breakthroughs and transformation of all stakeholders, and the opportunities provided by the EDIH Adria project and expert support from development agencies such as PRIGODA are an excellent example of much-needed synergies.
RIMAP 2.0: New matchmaking platform
Damir Medved and Benedikt Perak presented the functionalities of the new matchmaking platform, RIMAP 2.0, highlighting its significance for users. The challenges of its development and the functions that were to be developed were presented, such as automating the collection and updating of data on companies and entities registered on the platform using publicly available data, ranking of companies and automation of reporting.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Digital Transformation
Aleksandar Raić, Vice President of Infobip for AI Transformation, spoke about the key role of artificial intelligence in the process of digital transformation. Raić emphasized that in any process of digitalization of business or process, the most important step is to define the goal or what we want to achieve.
Raić pointed out the significant impact of artificial intelligence on the modern way of communication, emphasizing that this technology changes the dynamics and efficiency of our interactions. Through an inspiring lecture, Raić presented concrete examples of the application of artificial intelligence within Infobip and in their work with clients, pointing out that this innovative technology is integrated in different ways.
Panel: On the borders of the Digital Transformation
The panel discussed the boundaries of Digital Transformation with a focus on finance and knowledge, and the participants were prof. dr. sc. Darko Etinger, Aleksandar Raić, Vedran Kružić and Dean Verbanac, moderated by Damir Medved. It should be noted that the panel concluded that in this new technological era it will be crucial to adapt the knowledge and competences offered to children and young people from the lowest grades of primary school to higher education. These programs need to be aligned with the needs of employers and the labour market, and cooperation between the real and academic sectors is also highlighted as extremely important in this panel.
MeetUp and project presentation
After an interesting panel, the participants had the opportunity to participate in EDIH Adria MeetUp, where the offers, services and competencies of the EDIH Adria project were presented. World Café format enabled the exchange of ideas, and representatives of Ericsson Nikola Tesla, STEP RI, PRIGODA, Smart RI/PORIN, Faculty of Informatics and Digital Technologies of the University of Rijeka, Infobip, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula and EDIH Adria project team presented their topics and potentials of cooperation with interested entities.
This conference and MeetUp provided insights into the latest innovations and trends in the field of digital transformation, encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing among participants. EDIH Adria continues to be a key driver of digital transformation in the Adria area, encouraging the development of technological innovations and regional cooperation.
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