BITNET Network (Business, Innovation and Technology Network-BITNET) as a single network of excellence, will build on the results of the BITIN and BITNET Network, offering integrated services in support to business and innovation. The BITNET partners agreed again to work together within the Enterprise Europe Network, covering whole territory of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter FB&H). BITNET consortium will provide a variety of the Network services and continued support to their clients in internationalisation, innovation and Single Market. BITNET consortium will implement fundamental principles of the Network (client-centric approach, network effect and quality management) and combine a continued “no-wrong door” concept with the Network principles. The network of competent and proficient partners will implement the project. Consortium partners are: The Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTC), located in Sarajevo-coordinator, Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency (SERDA) located in Sarajevo-partner, University of Sarajevo (UNSA) located in Sarajevo-partner, INTERA Technology Park (INTERA) located in Mostar-partner, Zenica Economic Development Agency (ZEDA) located in Zenica-partner, BIT Centre (BIT) located in Tuzla-partner and Development Agency of the Una-Sana Canton (DAUSC) located in Bihać-partner. All the partners are strategically chosen because of their experience and position in FB&H, namely the cities are the main centers of economic activities in FB&H and most of SMEs are concentrated around these cities. The Consortium partners will be delivering Kay Account management (KAM) services and services to enhance the innovation management capacity of SMEs, within project, will be UNSA, INTERA and BIT. All these activities will support SMEs on their way of becoming more competitive internationally.

Despite ICT being one of the fastest growing sectors in the European economy, Universities in the Western Balkan (WB) region have experienced a sizeable decrease in the number of students enrolled in telecommunication engineering programs over the last years. According to partners’ experience and preliminary analysis, the major reason is that the deep and fast changes experienced by the telecom industry created a mismatch between the skills provided by university programs and the ones needed by industry. The telecom engineer currently needed by telecom firms needs to be trained in the broad ICT domain and should have both technical and market-oriented skills to actually contribute to the techno-economic society challenges. The overall objective of the BENEFIT project was to reduce the previously described mismatch by working on three main pillars: A) The cooperation between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the private sector (i.e. telecom industry) to modernize the study program in telecommunication engineering. This was mostly part of WP1 and WP2. B) The adoption of modern teaching methodologies and tools, the upgrade of the infrastructure, and the creation of six joint university-industry labs in the WB universities; this was part of the WP3 activities.C) The implementation of training of both teachers and students. This was part of WP4.To increase the level of cooperation, visibility and exploitation opportunities, the project developed an integrated e-platform and repository. In this way, BENEFIT ensured accessibility of e-learning tools, communication about training/internships opportunities in WB, contacts of relevant universities and companies, employment opportunities, events of both technical nature and accessible to the general public. Teaching material is available via e-platform through books, lecture presentations, description of laboratory sessions and video materials. All in all, the body of knowledge developed in the field of telecommunications found an appropriate repository and is currently accessible also in the perspective of a further development and modernization of study programs in the field of telecommunications.Continuous monitoring of project activities and outcomes was implemented as part of the quality management process (WP5) through the aid of collected surveys and questionnaires used to poll the target audience (students, teachers, practitioners). A number of dissemination activities (WP6) was successfully realized through open events, webinars, special sessions and presentations in conferences organized in the region. A yearly newsletter was prepared and at project completion a booklet with an extensive description of project activities and tangible outcomes was also published and distributed. Management and coordination activities (WP7) were carried out efficiently through a well-defined management structure, regular monthly conference calls and a number of project meetings which strengthened the cooperation. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic challenged the project in its last year. Nonetheless, BENEFIT has proved to be extremely resilient and all the main last year-results were achieved despite the circumstances. Thanks to the development of a contingency plan, the remaining events were mostly implemented virtually, activities were re-planned and completed with an extension period of only four months, which also allowed the delivery of the modernized study programs to a larger number of beneficiaries.Therefore, BENEFIT has contributed to shape a modern profile of graduates in telecom/ICT engineering bridging the gap with the job market needs, which is a concrete action in response to the recently announced programmatic goals by WB countries.

A single network of excellence will be created covering territory of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter FB&H) implementing “no-wrong door” concept. This Network (Business, Innovation and Technology Network-BITNET) will build on the results of the Business Information and Technology Innovation Network-BITIN that has been successfully operating since 2009 offering integrated services in support to business and innovation. The partners agreed to work together within the Enterprise Europe Network 2017-2020 offering to their clients a variety of the Network services. This Network will be a member of the Enterprise Europe Network giving its contribution to increased competitiveness of FB&H (B&H) and EU companies. The network of competent and proficient partners will implement the project. Consortium partners are: The Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTC), located in Sarajevo (FTC)- coordinator; Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency (SERDA) located in Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo (UNSA) located in Sarajevo, INTERA Technology Park (INTERA) located in Mostar, Zenica Economic Development Agency (ZEDA) located in Zenica, BIT Centre (BIT) located in Tuzla and Development Agency of the Una-Sana Canton (DAUSC) located in Bihać. All the partners are strategically chosen and positioned in FB&H, namely the cities are the main centres of economic activities in FB&H and most of SMEs are concentrated around these cities. The Consortium partners that will be delivering Key Account Management (KAM) services and services to enhance the innovation management capacity of SMEs, within the project, will be UNSA, INTERA and BIT. All these activities will support SMEs on their way of becoming more competitive internationally.

BITNET Consortium (Business, Innovation and Technology Network-BITNET) as a single network of excellence, will build on the results of the BITIN and BITNET Network, offering integrated services in support to business, digitalisation and innovation. The BITNET partners agreed to work together within the Enterprise Europe Network, covering whole territory of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter FB&H). BITNET consortium will provide a variety of the Network services and continue to provide support to their clients in internationalisation, digitalisation, innovation and Single Market. BITNET Consortium will implement fundamental principles of the Network (client-centric approach, network effect and quality management) and combine a continued “no-wrong door” concept with the Network principles. The network of competent and proficient partners will implement the project. Consortium partners are: The Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTC), Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency (SERDA), University of Sarajevo (UNSA), INTERA Technology Park (INTERA), Zenica Economic Development Agency (ZEDA), BIT Centre (BIT) and Development Agency of the Una-Sana Canton (DAUSC). The Consortium partners UNSA, INTERA and BIT will be acting as a special Consortium within the Project (BITNET INNOSUPP) that will be delivering Key Account Management (KAM) services and services to enhance the innovation management capacity of SMEs. All these activities will support SMEs on their way of becoming more competitive internationally.