In Serbia, IT is currently the fastest growing economic sector. The Serbian government continues to invest in the digital transformation of the economy and has allocated €30 million for the construction of a large National Data Centre, aimed at the systematic and rapid implementation of public electronic information systems.

The Serbian government established in 2017, the agency “Office for IT and eGovernment” which helps to accelerate the digital transformation of Serbia. Within the framework of the project for the improvement of e-government services (EDGE – Enabling Digital Governance) in November 2019, it is cooperating with the World Bank for comprehensive digitization of administrative services for individuals and businesses.

Serbia is taking another step forward with the creation of this platform. At the launch, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the new infrastructure will provide access to all data from medical centers in the country and said:

“All scanned documents will be accepted here and we will be able to process one million records per day.”

A 30 million euro investment for AI

More than 30 million euros have been allocated to the creation of the platform. According to Mr. Vucic, the Nvidia supercomputer, the central element of the platform, alone costs 2 million. Anthony Godfrey, US Ambassador to Serbia said:

“Today’s event is another important step on Serbia’s already successful path to becoming a regional technology hub. We are not surprised that Serbia has chosen Nvidia as a leading provider in the field of artificial intelligence.”

Serbia is strengthening its regional leadership in AI

Serbia has only about 7 million people but due to its physical geography, it occupies a crossroads position for the Balkan region where it is a pioneer in AI. Mr Jovanovic, head of the Serbian government’s IT department, said:

“There is no such data centre in the region.”

He added that Serbia is ready to cross “a new evolutionary step in the digitization process”.

The Serbian government aims to boost regional development in its country and encourage young people to engage in technological entrepreneurship. In particular, it plans to transfer models, know-how and experience from the Science Technology Park in Belgrade to Niš and Čačak, in order to help these cities develop their own infrastructure and promote innovation.

Translated from Lancement d’une plateforme dédiée à l’IA en Serbie