Course good, path uncertain - What IT experts say about support program announced by government?

The successful need support too! This is an unanimous conclusion from a poll on the government assistance to the IT sector, which was conducted among over 200 experts from the leading programming companies in Serbia during January 2013.

Let us remind that the Finance Ministry has recently announced tax reliefs, subventions for beginners and the adaptation of the education system to the needs of the IT industry, as well as support to exporters. Judging by what the interviewed IT experts say, this hits the spot.

- The poll has confirmed to a great extent the draft of the government program, which confirms that its creators are on the right path – IT analyst Milovan Matijevic from Mineco Computers, which was a partner in the distribution and processing of questionnaires, says to eKapija.

Poll results have fully disputed the statement we were able to read in the media until recently: that the situation in the IT sector is appropriate and does not require a program of government support - the medium grade for this statement (on a scale from 1 to 5) is only 1.7. This conclusion is additionally strengthened by the following claim: "Considering the potential for further development, a special program of government support to the IT sector is necessary," for which the medium grade is very high - 4.5.

The poll has also shown that the level of trust in the announced government plan is low, which points to a gap between the stands of experts and politicians. Finding a solution to this challenge is crucial for efficient implementation of government's future plans, say people at Mineco.

When it comes to the situation on the market, Serbia's IT sector believes that main barriers include politicians' insufficient knowledge of the existing capacities of this sector (4.5), poor communication with policy creators, low participation of small organizations in large IT projects, and brain drain. There is also excessive bureaucracy, which has so far discouraged companies from applying for support programs, as well as high taxes. Large costs of operations rank last on this list of limiting factors.

What else did IT experts say?

The state has always been an important factor for the IT development in the country, but the representatives of this sector have never seen the government as their partner. Although the state owns 35 higher-education ICT institutions that enroll about 5,500 freshmen every year, with 80 percent of them studying at state expense, it wasn't until now that the IT sector has recognized the government's role in staffing.

As far as quantity is concerned, the poll shows that the number of students attending IT faculties should be increased, which is something the state should intensively work on - by earmarking additional funds in the budget, providing additional space, etc. There is room for improvement in the process of enhancing the quality of graduate ICT experts. For start, it is enough to create a positive feedback between faculties and the IT sector.

There are also some interesting answers to the question: "What should be done on a national level to increase the success rate of Serbian IT organizations? Suggest actions." It can be concluded from the answers given by the interviewed IT experts that they have common opinions on the following issues: education and staff, tax reliefs, reduction of levies, and the introduction of subventions, which matches the current plans of the government to a large extent.

Who should find this important?

In short - everybody, but primarily the state, as this can prove that the government is on a good path and that it supports right things.

- A number of countries, both large and small, most developed and emerging ones, have adopted a program of support to the IT sector. The Serbian government has a chance to apply the best experiences, but also need to maximally adapt the program to the specificities of the domestic IT sector – Milovan Matijevic explains to eKapija.

This can also encourage and give a stimulus to the IT sector to pursue further development.

The announced government program is also supported by people at M&I Systems, Co. Group, who stress that the state should persist in its intentions.

- The initiative is very good and I am sure that the proposed measures would be of great help to IT companies and enabled them to hire new workers, develop advanced technologies, improve their competitiveness and boost the export potential - Dragoljub Prijic from M&I Systems, Co. Group says to eKapija.

- The IT industry is very specific, so many things must be harmonized before these measures are applied. Therefore, I hope that the state will persevere in its intention, as that would ver useful not only for the IT sector, but also for the economy of the entire country - Prijic explains.

Associates

A big role in the initiation of this program was played by the Vojvodina ICT Cluster as well as clusters Ni-CAT and ICT-NET, IT Association of Serbia, SIEPA, Serbian Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Mineco Computers company.

Milica Stevuljevic