First CISCO Institute of Entrepreneurship opened in Novi Sad

The first Institute of Entrepreneurship in Serbia has been opened today (March 25, 2009) at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad. The first two groups of 20 students each will start attending the course, which represents a combination of e-learning and tutorial classes, at the beginning of April. The Institute is founded thanks to the cooperation between the University in Novi Sad, company “Cisco” and USAID. Cisco Institute of Entrepreneurship will be focused on entrepreneurial skills and promotion of small and mid-sized enterprises with the help of information and communication technologies (ICT).

- We’ve realized that there is a shortage of courses for practical business management and entrepreneurial courses that enable comprehension of the ways in which ICT can contribute to company’s success, and we hope that Cisco Institute of Entrepreneurship will help us change that – said Goran Obradović, the Director General of "Cisco Srbija".

Professor Ilija Ćosić, the Dean of the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, said that the Faculty was proud of the fact that global leader and innovator "Cisco" had chosen FTS to be its partner in the opening of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and training center.

Cisco Institute of Entrepreneurship is based on the experience of Educational Programme of Business Principles and iExecutive (iExec), which was started in Serbia in 2006 as a part of the international pilot project, in association with the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the University in Novi Sad.

Company Cisco has provided the Institute with the system for management of online courses and three possible levels of business programs – Starting Business, Developing Business and iExecutive educational program (iExec). Company "Cisco" has developed the contents of the courses in association with the business experts from the University of Stanford and the University of Cornell, as well as from company "My Own Business".

Cisco Institute of Entrepreneurship will try to expand its activities to other educational institutions in Serbia, including the Belgrade Business Incubator at the Belgrade University and the Business Innovation Center in Kragujevac. According to the plan, the network of 10 training centers should be developed in Serbia prior to the end of year 2010, which means that it will be available to entrepreneurs in all parts of the country.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Telecommunications, Jasna Matić, and the US Ambassador to Serbia, Kameron Manter.