How a science park in Kosovo is on its way to become the leading location for IT companies and innovators
An interview with Hans-Juergen Cassens, the Head of the Innovation and Training Park Prizren.
Wiktor Doktór, Pro Progressio: Innovation and Training Park – the name puts a new swing to the tech-park concept. Can you give us a short introduction and tell us what makes the Innovation and Training Park in Prizren such an interesting proposition for IT and business process service delivery centers?
Hans-Juergen Cassens, Innovation and Training Park Prizren: The Innovation and Training Park in Prizren – focuses on what makes tech innovation possible and creates different perspectives on entrepreneurship and in particular the environment for IT and business process services companies. We do that by aligning science and talent development in IT with private sector needs focusing on the so-called quadruple of innovation: government, industry, academia and civil society.
Our value preposition for our companies, investors and partners’ rests on 8 pillars:
- The digital transformation center – a digital ecosystem development initiative
- Co-Working space – providing workstations, infrastructure, Internet access, printers and more
- Offices space – with an impressive 44,000 sqm rentable space
- Business development – with strategic partnerships, training, investor consulting and more
- Start-up services – such as counseling, office space, incubators and more
- Dedicated incubation services – with at least 500 sqm as part of a package with facilities, marketing and other services7. Accommodation and recreational facilities – e.g. housing for students or participants of ITP events, the ITP sports center and more
- Networking events to foster cooperation and knowledge management among the different actors in ITP and key partners, like business associations.
The combination of those features, initiatives and services offers an immense potential for innovative and creative companies and those that seek to transform traditional business models. In addition, it is a unique value proposition for international IT companies and innovative organizations.
Moreover, ITP Prizren – has a strategic location in the Balkan region, being only 40 minutes away from the country’s airport in Pristina and additionally close to the airports in Kukes and Tirana, Albania and Skopje, North Macedonia. The park has an astonishing infrastructure, occupying an area of about 40 ha with more than 50 buildings and vacant plots for expansion and new facilities.
Can you please tell us a bit more about the activities and initiatives behind those pillars?
Behind those 8 pillars you can find for instance the largest private university in Kosovo residing at ITP with more than 2,000 students or a cooperation with Prizren’s public university “Ukshin Hoti” which has 4,500 students in 6 faculties, including computer sciences. There are also private VET and digital solution providers like Makerspace Prizren or the Center for Digital Excellence manager by Kosovo’s Ministry of Economy, including training and 3D modeling and printing facilities.
ITP Prizren has also been hosting the latest “DebConf22” Conference organized by The Debian Project and its local partner “Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova” (FLOSSK), as well as an International Summer School Prizren, hosting and interacting with students and professors from more than 40 countries worldwide.
With those activities and features we are especially addressing the need of IT and innovation companies that seek access to highly capable tech talent and want to extend their workforce and diversify their location strategy.
What is also special is that the Innovation and Training Park Prizren is a German- Kosovar Development Initiative. Can you give us a short introduction?
The ITP Prizren is an initiative under the umbrella of the Kosovar-German Development Cooperation. An ITP association with equal membership (per statute) of Kosovo and German representatives governs the park, while it is manager by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). This ensures a wide network of local and international partners ranging from government institutions through business associations (e.g. German-Kosovar Business Association) to institutions from the educational sector. It provides access to excellent inwestor support services and a local network that is essential to install operations effectively and in a timely manner.
Why is Poland an interesting location for ITP to connect to?
The short answer is: compatibility, conditions, talent pools and opportunities. But let me elaborate. Poland has managed to position itself as one of the leading locations for ICT services – not only for the neighboring Germany but for many economies in Europe and overseas. Today almost no other location for ICT services attracts so much attention from service delivery organizations, IT and business process services providers.
Now we want to connect the Innovation and Training Park Prizren with Polish ICT centers and service companies because we feel a great compatibility and we feel to be able to provide a very unique value, bridging the need for talent and answering to the evolving location strategies of growing ICT service companies and multi-national service delivery operations.
The value lies in the access to talent, in access to training, and most importantly in the access to an environment that fosters research and development, which provides a context for continuous innovation.
Also the conditions in Kosovo in terms of labor and operation cost, plus the favorable taxation with a 10% corporate tax rate and a pro-business stance make Kosovo today a very viable choice as IT services delivery location. The fact that ITP is managed by a German-Kosovar team of experts adds investment security and a long-term perspective to the development of the Innovation and Training Park Prizren.
We are convinced that the work we’ve put in over the last few years to transform ITP Prizren to one of the leading Tech and innovation parks in the Balkan region provides unparalleled opportunities for growing IT companies and for multinational service delivery organizations from Poland.
Thank you for the interview.
This article comes from magazine:
FOCUS ON Business #6 September-October (5/2022)
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