On September 28, 2021, the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro organized the final conference of the project “Trilateral Readiness for Change” InTERact 4.0, entitled “Industry 4.0: Opportunities, Challenges and Perspectives”. The project is funded by the European Union through the cross-border cooperation program Interreg Italy-Albania-Montenegro.
During the event, the final results of the project were presented, the current situation when it comes to Industry 4.0 in Montenegro, future challenges and development opportunities were discussed.
Director of the Sector for Projects of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro Tanja Radusinović said that the Chamber of Commerce is currently implementing 22 projects financed from various European Union funds.
– We hope that the new EU financial perspective for the period 2021-2027, as determined, will bring more funds, and enable capacity building and improvement of cross-border cooperation, but also work in new areas and on a much larger scale, including digitalization, one of the foundations of Industry 4.0 – said Radusinović.
She explained that the inTERact 4.0 project, which formally ends on September 30, addressed issues of digitalisation, Industry 4.0 and modernizing the work of small and medium enterprises. Partners in its realization were the Chambers of Commerce of Montenegro, Albania and Bari, the Center for the Promotion of Economy and Entrepreneurship from Durres, the Faculty of Innovative Engineering at the University of Salento, Pula and at one time the Faculty of Information Technology of the Mediterranean University.
The project activities are aimed at creating a business environment that is in the service of digital innovation, strengthening the education system, providing support to entrepreneurial companies in the initial and growth phase, strengthening industries with growth potential and initiating public dialogue on the benefits of digital transformation.
The importance of this process is clearly recognized by the EU, which with the Digital Europe Agenda 2021-2027 has planned a fund of over 100 billion euros for research, innovation, education and training in the field of digital transformation.
– The main product of the inTERact 4.0 project is the development of Guidelines for the development of companies that need growth based on faster and more efficient organization of resources and the creation of new values and business models that meet the needs of consumers – she said.
Also, the project envisages the development of the Consolidation Guidelines for companies that must strengthen their market position before using fourth-generation technologies to gain a competitive advantage.
Prof. Dr. Ivana Ognjanović, UDG, spoke about the current situation in Industry 4.0, the activities of companies in creating responsible services for its implementation, the need for synergy between them and the academic community that creates knowledge and necessary competencies.
– Although many identify Industry 4.0 with a kind of revolution, we cannot perceive it as one event, but it is a complete process that includes activities with short-term and long-term effects. Industry – said Ognjanovic.
It explains that Industry 4.0 represents the digital transformation of manufacturing / related industries and related industries and value creation processes. It is used interchangeably with the fourth industrial revolution and represents a new stage in the organization and control of the industrial value chain. Cyber-physical systems form the basis of Industry 4.0 (eg “smart machines”). They use modern management systems, have built-in software systems and have an Internet address for connecting and accessing the Internet of Things.
Speaking about Montenegro in the context of Industry 4.0, Ognjanovic reminded that the European Union in 2018 launched the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans with an emphasis on strengthening the digital economy and society, and encouraging research and innovation as key in these efforts. process. Shortly afterwards, Montenegro adopted the Smart Specialization Strategy as the only country to do so without being a member of the EU.
The InTERact 4.0 project opened the possibility of three more projects – Digital Entrepreneurial Nest of Industry 4.0 in Montenegro DigNest, Empowerment of Industry 4.0 through semantically enhanced cyber security and the Alliance of Small and Medium Ports for Sustainable Development, presented at the closing conference by Luka Laković and prof. Dr. Ramo Šendelj and Bojana Tošić.
During the discussion, the resources needed for the development of Industry 4.0 were discussed – human resources, finance, awareness raising and readiness for transformation, and support for innovation.
Prof. Dr. Radovan Stojanović, ETF, believes that Montenegro lacks development IT that would contribute to the implementation of high technology. He called for the formation of a community of institutions that will support the processes of digital transformation through synergistic action.
Prof. Dr. Ramo Šendelj, UDG, believes that in Montenegro, only at the individual level, ie by individual institutions, recognized trends within Industry 4.0.
– I expect the Chamber of Commerce, which significantly contributes to this process, to work even harder on the integration of Montenegrin capacities – he said.
Secretary of the ICT Chamber of Commerce Nada Rakočević spoke more about the InTERact project and the platform that is being developed within it.
The platform, according to the principle of one stop shop, will enable legal entities and individuals in one place to use the tools that will be available on the platform, through a series of questions and tasks, as a result of evaluation to obtain an assessment of the degree of digital transformation. company, or the level of digital competencies, if the individual uses the tool. Along with the assessment of the current position, and depending on the achieved results at a higher level, a set of advice, training, trainings, meaning textual and multimedia literature will be offered – she said.
