Greater Competitiveness of Small IT Companies with the Support of Norway

The "StepUp with Cortex" project contributed to improving and educating employees from 12 companies of small IT companies, through the upgrading of institutional, administrative, and organizational capacities and business skills.

The "StepUp with Cortex" project, which the ICT Cortex cluster implemented in cooperation with the Capital City of Podgorica, with the support of the Kingdom of Norway through the "Norway for you - Montenegro" project, in the period from March to November 2022, contributed to improving and educating employees from 12 companies of small IT companies, with the aim of improving competitiveness through the upgrading of institutional, administrative and organizational capacities and business skills of employees.

The companies Alicorn, Amplitudo, Archimede, Bild studio, Codepixel, Codeus, Data Design, DigitalBee, Fleka, Logate, Omnitech and Oykos Development participated in this project.

"Five training programs were implemented, with a total of ten trainers hired, who held training for around 100 employees from 12 companies. Employees from the ICT Cortex executive office also successfully completed training for agile project management, and recommendations were made to improve the business environment for IT companies at the level of the Capital City", stated ICT Cortex Project Director Ferida Mandić.

The Director of the Center for the Information System of the Capital City, Džemal Lekić, pointed out that the administration of Podgorica is committed to the improvement of the sector of micro, small and medium enterprises, which is one of the key factors for accelerated economic development.

"The ICT sector in the capital is recognized as one of the most important sectors for the future economic development of Podgorica, because it supports all other sectors of the economy. In recent years, the administration of the Capital City has recognized digitization as one of the priorities in the development of Montenegrin society in terms of processes that can affect the improvement of the quality and standard of life of citizens. The goal is for ICT to become a strong sector of the economy that could become Montenegro's leading export activity. Through the cooperation of actors in the ICT community, there will be an increase in the number of employees, primarily professional staff, so the development and application of ICT is of crucial importance for economic development", stressed Lekić.

The "Norway for you - Montenegro" Project Manager Armen Čekić pointed out that he was particularly glad that the ICT sector recognized the importance of human resources development.

"The development of human resources is the most important for the development of a company, and for the growth of the economy, which entails the development of technology. That is why it should be continuously developed. Also, I hope that the others will follow this approach to their further development", Čekić concluded.

 The participants were presented with certificates and certificates of successfully completed trainings, where they shared their impressions from the training. A lot of interaction, group work, exercises, as they said, facilitated the learning process and the acquisition of new skills and knowledge, and they recommend this type of education to people from different spheres, because it is of great benefit to everyone.

 "We befrended and worked together for three months, with the aim of connecting with each other, that we are not competing with each other, but supporting each other. ICT is a fast-changing, flexible industry that prioritizes efficiency, short deadlines and innovation. So we have to support people, work on their development, communication skills, negotiation, to overcome fears, nervousness and the like", described one of the trainers, Danka Ćetković.