Continuing Education Keeps Businesses on Cutting Edge
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| Launch of Serbia’s first CISCO Entrepreneur Training Institute, at the Novi Sad University.
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Thanks to a private-public partnership among USAID, CISCO, and the University of Novi Sad, the Faculty of Technical Sciences of the Novi Sad University now houses the first CISCO Training Institute in Serbia. CISCO provided the curricula and supporting IT infrastructure; the University of Novi Sad provided and renovated a space to house the Center and provided training instructors; while USAID provided funds for furnishing and equipping the Center’s premises and for developing a business plan that will guarantee its sustainability.
The Training Center will help entrepreneurs from small- and medium-sized businesses improve their business skills and learn to use information technology. It will help Serbian companies to better compete in the information age by offering specific business knowledge to help entrepreneurs remain connected to new technologies that can be used to develop e-business and e-solutions. Keeping abreast of new developments is crucial for growing and sustaining businesses and responding to the needs of a changing, competitive marketplace.
Vojvodina Executive Council President Bojan Pajtic noted that the Council set aside over five million dinars for employment programs in the province. “However, financial means are not sufficient for starting new businesses or for developing small- and medium-sized enterprises. What is needed is knowledge, this is what makes this institute incredibly important, as it will arm individuals with ideas and energy with the skills they need to develop their business in these times of economic crisis,” he said.
The Center’s iExec program includes a specialized training component to improve skills of government employees who will implement e-government and e-commerce platforms. This has the potential to benefit all of Serbia’s citizens by providing greater efficiency in public services, including e-services. “While modernizing private industry is the most pressing challenge, a true economic transformation also requires changes in the way government operates”, said University of Novi Sad Professor Bojan Lalic.
The CISCO Institute's training workshops use world-class teaching resources and are based on the experiences of business leaders and leading companies. The courses are delivered through a combination of e-learning, in-person workshop attendance and audiovisual materials for a rich learning experience. “Experience from around the world has proven that continuing education is an essential condition for growth, competitiveness, and sustainability”, said U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter during the Center’s opening ceremony.
The Institute and the University of Novi Sad plan to collaborate on developing new materials tailored specifically to the needs of the Serbian clientele and to expand the education program throughout Serbia by establishing 10 new Training Centers in the next two years, and expanding the curricula to other service providers in Serbia, such as the Business Incubator at the Belgrade University or the Business Innovation Centre in Kragujevac.
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