Comtrade Sarajevo is now a member of the Bit Alliance

We are happy to announce that Comtrade Sarajevo is now a member of Bit Alliance!

 

Bit Alliance and Comtrade are aware of the potential for further development of software industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina and now, together with all members will take efforts to deal with challenges of this industry.

 

Comtrade Sarajevo is part of a dynamic group of technology companies, which has been active in the development of advanced software solutions for clients around the world for 25 years. Established as a firm for software engineering and ancillary services, Comtrade has grown into a company that develops software products, provides services and integrates computer systems.

 

With world-class infrastructure and development campuses in 10 countries, Comtrade operates as a holding company for dynamic businesses such as Comtrade Software and Comtrade Digital Services, and at the same time as the incubator of new and advanced technologies that are at the very top of world innovation.

 

With over 2000 customers around the world, Comtrade relies on its extensive experience in providing its services to provide top quality service and quality to every customer in all business units. Comtrade products and services have far-reaching impacts – helping thousands of companies accelerate innovation and grow their businesses.

 

It is really a pleasure to have such a company as a member of Bit Alliance and we look forward working with its amazing team.

LANACO and BIT Alliance together in software industry development in BiH

Nebojša Ninić, the general manager of LANACO and Armin Talić, general manager of BIT Alliance, have signed an association agreement between LANACO company and the BIT Alliance.

 

To create a positive business environment for software industry’s continued growth in B&H, BIT Alliance will maintain working on solving the two biggest problems with which software companies confront every day – lack of highly skilled personnel and weakly developed software industry infrastructure, accompanied by a lack of development incentives.

 

LANACO company is the largest software company in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been operating for the 27 years on the bh. and region market. The company employs more than 280 people, with headquarters in Banja Luka and offices in Sarajevo and Belgrade. Constant investment in education and training of its employees, a team of experts from the company owns over 1000 internationally recognised certificates. The company’s business quality is additionally confirmed by the implements ISO standards: ISO 9001, ISO 27001, : ISO 20000-1 i ISO 22301. LANACO is one of the leading companies in BiH with global partners, such Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, SAP, HP, Fujitsu, Fortinet, EMC, Intel, VMware, Kaspersky, Kyocera.

 

Since April 2016, LANACO has become a member of the ELITE London Stock Exchange Program, which enables to get in touch with the business world and the company’s development capacity. The Same year in December, LANACO has officially opened its Technology Center with a capacity of 10,000 square meters, at business zone Incel in Banja Luka.

 

In 2014, BIT Alliance company founders (Green River Media, Atlant BH, Zira, Authority Partners, Ping and Symphony) have joined forces with one goal – to face numerous obstacles which hinder software industry’s growth and create new market opportunities.

 

For this, they need the help of all the companies that are thinking the same, to work on educating quality personnel and creating an environment where software industry’s potential must be recognised.

 

A long road is ahead, but with enthusiasm, hard work and experience of BIT Alliance members, results certainly will not be missing.

NSoft – Welcome to the BIT Alliance

The President of the BIT Alliance Association, Haris Memić and NSoft CEO, Stjepko Čordaš, have signed an association agreement between NSoft company and the BIT Alliance, at a meeting held after “First Conference on the Software Industry Potential”.

 

Within the panel “Rise and development trends of the software industry in BiH, presentation of successful stories”), which was held at the conference, NSoft’s CEO said the company evolved in the past 10 years from a modest garage with two employees, to a company with over 180 young employees.

 

Company NSoft provides top quality software solutions for gaming and betting industry, including platform, virtual games, sportsbook and lotteries. NSoft is the only company ever from Bosnia and Herzegovina to enter Deloitte’s Fast 50 competition. With a four-year growth rate of 1,760%, it claimed number five spot.

 

In 2014, BIT Alliance company founders (Green River Media, Atlant BH, Zira, Authority Partners, Ping and Symphony) have joined forces with one goal – to face numerous obstacles which hinder software industry’s growth and create new market opportunities.

 

To create a positive business environment for software industry’s continued growth in B&H, BIT Alliance will maintain working on solving the two biggest problems with which software companies confront every day – lack of highly skilled personnel and weakly developed software industry infrastructure, accompanied by a lack of development incentives.

 

For this, they need the help of all the companies that are thinking the same, to work on educating quality personnel and creating an environment where software industry’s potential must be recognised.

 

A long road is ahead, but with enthusiasm, hard work and experience of BIT Alliance members, results certainly will not be missing.

The Software Industry – an Opportunity That Bosnia and Herzegovina Must Take Advantage of Irrefutable Arguments on Supporting the Development of the Software Industry in B&H

The software industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina grows day by day, but the true potential of this field was presented at “The First Conference on the Development of the Software Industry in B&H”. According to the preliminary data of the BIT Alliance Association, a software engineer’s annual revenue is between 80,000 and 120,000 BAM.

 

“All of B&H employs about 3,000 engineers and annually educates 100 to 150 software engineers. However, compared to its needs and potential, this is very low. With 25,000 software engineers, the B&H software industry would earn more than 2 billion BAM of revenue, which is 10 percent of GDP growth.” – said Haris Memic, the President of BIT Alliance.

 

Armin Talić, General Director of BIT Alliance, said that the key issue facing the software industry is the lack of qualified personnel.

 

“When we talk about professional staff it is necessary for educational institutions to increase enrollment quotas, adapt curricula that correspond to the market’s true needs, so newly educated personnel would be adequately prepared for jobs that already exist,” Talić added.

 

Furthermore, institutional support is needed for the development of the software industry in B&H. The aim of the conference is for Bosnian authorities to hear arguments that describe the potential, but also the problems, faced by the software industry in B&H, so that everyone can contribute to the improvement of the business environment in the country.

 

“When I, as a minister, elaborate on something, I do it with the power of argument. There are many arguments here and I would like to see a person who will not support them,” said the Minister of Communications and Transport in B&H, Ismir Jusko. He added that the Ministry of Communications and Transport in B&H has submitted the Information Society Development Policy, which is an integral part of the software industry’s development, to the Council of Ministers for adoption. The next step would be strategy development.

 

A positive example came from Sarajevo Canton. In its Development Strategy (for 2017-2020 period) there are elements that support the development of the software industry.  It has been adopted in September of 2016. Elmedin Konaković, Sarajevo Canton’s Prime Minister, added that only the blind do not see the opportunity that this industry represents for our country.

 

“Things like this wake up sleeping political subjects and point to a realistic opportunity for the faster development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is one fast train on which there is still room and where we can find our ticket for the global market. For that, we have all of the resources and potentials, and it seems to me that there’s a lack of institutional support on governmental levels” stated Konaković.

 

The first conference on the development of the software industry in B&H was held in the Parliament of B&H, organised by the Ministry of Communications and Transport of B&H and BIT Alliance. Approximately 450 participants attended the conference, among which were representatives of ministries and governmental institutions from all levels in B&H, software industry representatives, educational institutions, the NGO sector and the media.

THE FIRST CONFERENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN B&H

The BiH Ministry of Communications and Transport in cooperation with Bit Alliance organises the First Software Development Conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to be held on 25 April in the B&H Parliament assembly. The aim is to present and promote the potential of the domestic software industry.

 

AGENDA

 

10:30 – 11:00 Participants registration

 

11:00 – 11:05 Moderator Adnan Rondić: Conference opening

 

11:05 – 11:30 Introductory appeal

Ismir Jusko, Minister of Communications and Transport of BiH;
Elmedin Konaković, Prime Minister of the Canton Sarajevo
Haris Memic, President of BIT Alliance and Symphony Company Director;

 

11:30 – 12:00 Armin Talić, General Manager of BIT Alliance

Presentation on software development potential in BiH

 

12:00 – 12:15 Promotion of Young Software Engineers from Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

12:15 – 12:45 Coffee break and Media statements time

 

12:45 – 13:30 Panel 1 (Founders of software companies in BiH)

(Rise and of development trends of software industry in BiH, presentation of successful stories”)

Milad Čerkić, Managing Director of Atlantbh
Stjepko Čordaš, CEO of Nsoft
Amina Karić, Vice President of the Authority Partners
Nebojša Ninić, Managing Director of Lanaco
Muamer Bezdrob, General Manager of PING
Moderator: Adnan Rondić

 

13:30 – 14:15 Panel 2 (representatives of institutions),

“Good practices of institutional support to the development of the software industry in BiH”

Dr. Samim Konjicija, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Sarajevo
Dr. Sc. Željko Stojkić, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Computing at the University of Mostar
Shadi Matar, Information Adviser, Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH
Amer Kapetanović, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH for Bilateral Relations;
Nedžad Ajnadžić, Mayor of municipality Center, Sarajevo
Moderator: Adnan Rondić

 

14:15 – 14:30 Brainstorming session on the development strategy of the software industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

14:30 – 14:45 Conclusions and Closure of the Conference

 

14:45 – 15:30 Lunch at the restaurant of the Parliamentary assembly

By Exporting Bosnian Intellect, They Reinforce B&H’s Economy

The Software Industry – Support to the Country’s Economic Development

 

The software industry is a true oasis of well-paid jobs in the the desert that Bosnia and Herzegovina often seems like. In the recent years, this industry has experienced steady growth (72% from 2010 to today) and represents a driving force of economic development and the potential for solving one of the biggest problems that we encounter every day – unemployment. In July 2016, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina alone, the software industry employed 13% more people than in January 2015. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that 60–70% of employees in this sector includ young people – that is those under 35 years of age (The Agency of Statistics FBiH).

 

The software industry is viable and is worthy of investing in, as is confirmed by the fact that, in the past 10 years, the profession of software engineer has been amongst the top three most wanted professions on Forbes’ list.

 

The Extraordinary Collaboration Amogst Software Companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

The software industry in our country is growing day by day, especially thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of the local software companies. They are building the road to success, with their biggest advantage being the fact that they foster the spirt of unity. In 2014, the ten leading companies (Atlantbh, Authority Partners, codeNest, Green River Media, Klika, Ministry of Programming, Mistral Technologies, PING, Symphony i ZIRA), with their many years of software development experience, have joined forces with the BIT Alliance project. The project was established in order to continuously work on resolving a number of obstacles that hinder the growth of this industry in our country. Today, these companies employ about 700 young professionals, who develop software and distribute it to the world’s largest companies.

 

“Despite the bad state of the economy in the country, companies that are members of the Association manage to continuously acquire and successfully implement projects for the world’s leading companies. The two generations of BIT Camp, which is dedicated to educating and training young people for work in the industry, has had a total of 1,400 registered students – which speaks volumes of their interest for training in this field. However, the deficit of quality cadre that is graduating from universities is a problem we face every day. We need to approach this systematically, as well as to work on raising awareness for the retraining and training for these occupations – for which we certainly need the government’s help,” stated the President of Bit Alliance, Haris Memić.

 

Labor Market Paradox

 

The contradiction that we encounter when analyzing our labor market is the fact that in this potent field lacks qualified personnel. The education system, burdened with an outdated learning system, deprives young people of a practical portion in their curriculum and produces workers without the appropriate skill set that is necessary for successful task completion. In this regard, it is clear that renewal of the system is necessary.

 

 

The Development Strategy at the State Level

 

On the other hand, a review of the state’s strategy for the development of the software industry, which should be a systemic solution for the mentioned problems and the first step in its planned development, opens up new questions.

 

“It is concerning that the State Strategy for Information Society Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2014, which included software industry development, has for the most part not been implemented, particularly the part related to software industry. (Unofficial estimates suggest that only 9% of this strategy has been implemented.) Additionally, current initiatives do not recognize the software industry as an area that has particular potential in the industry as a whole, which makes development of the business environment harder. We will fight for improvements in this segment in the future,” stated Haris Memić, President of the BIT Alliance Board of Directors.

 

The Future, Full of Potential

 

Growth, development, a cooperative spirit and participation in quality projects belonging to the Association’s members, reflect the potential of the entire software industry, which will undoubtedly bring a bright future for young people in our country. A long road is ahead, but with the enthusiasm, hard work and experience of BIT Alliance members, results certainly will not be lacking.

Quick State Reaction Needed for Software Industry to Achieve Full Potential in B&H

The software industry, along with telecommunications, makes up the information – communication technologies sector, which is among the most successful and most profitable industries. We have the continuous development of this sector in B&H to thank for the opportunity for a small country like ours to emerge on the world map next to the greatest economically developed countries. However, a lack of support from the state in adopting development measures needed for this potent branch to continue to grow, has resulted in its progress being set back.

 

Unregulated legislation, an unfit education system, a lack of education of the youth on the potential of the software industry – these are only some of the problems that prevent our country from standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest global economic giants.

 

The first set of strategic documents on behalf of the state on the topic of ICT sector development and promotion, including the software industry in B&H, were adopted in 2004. Most of the activities planned in these documents – including the Information Society Development Policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Strategy for Information Society Development (which was supposed to be the basis for the implementation of incentive measures), and the Action Plan for the Information Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina – have been lacking and, for the most part, have not been implemented. In the following decade, there was not any progress regarding drafting and adoption of measures that would contribute to support for the software industry in B&H. Only in 2014 was a new draft of the Information Society Development Policy created.

 

The positive news is that the Ministry of Transport and Communications heard out the proposals of B&H’s software industry, so this Policy included specific measures to support the software industry’s  development, although it is still not clear when the Council of Ministers will adopt the policy. Despite the lack of implementation of the previous strategy and policy, the enthusiasm of BIT Alliance’s experts, who have the same goal, provides the software industry with a driving force status in the economic development of B&H. However, they have pointed out that the software industry’s further progress depends on whether or not the state will support the adoption and implementation of key development strategies regarding this sector.

 

“Together, we are working on creating an environment in which the potential of the software industry will be recognized, as well as on the education of valuable personnel. However, it is necessary to advocate for the adoption of the strategy for the development of the software industry at the state level. The strategy would include precise measures and visible involvement of relevant institutions; it would provide an incentive for all levels of government to develop strategies within their jurisdiction for the promotion of the software industry. In this way, the business operations of companies would be eased, the education system improved, and youth employment in this sector encouraged,” – stated Bit Alliance President, Haris Memić.

 

A positive example is Sarajevo Canton’s move – it has included elements regarding support to the software industry in its development strategy (for 2017-2020), which was adopted in September 2016. If all government levels took a step towards the implementation of relevant measures, together we would break down the wall that is slowing down the promotion and development of the software industry in B&H.

 

The First Conference on the Topic of the Potential of the Software Industry in B&H

 

With the aim of presenting and promoting the potential of the domestic software industry, the Ministry of Communications and Transport, in cooperation with BIT Alliance, is organizing the first conference on the topic of the potential of the software industry in B&H. The conference will be held on April 25^th, 2017 in the Parliament of B&H’s building. Conference participants and guests will include representatives from the B&H software industry, all levels of state in B&H, international institutions and organizations in B&H, as well as educational institutions and members of the non-governmental sectors.