MIPRO 2019

On May 22 in Opatija, Darko Horvat, Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, inaugurated the largest international non-commercial scientific and expert convention on ICT, electronics and microelectronics in this part of Europe – the 42nd MIPRO. The convention is held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Ericsson Nikola Tesla actively participates in a comprehensive program which highlights networking and strategy aimed at modern technological determinants and development directions of the EU, focusing on artificial intelligence and smart environments.

The central event of the traditional five-day convention attended by businessmen, experts, representatives of government institutions as well as scientists and educators was a plenary panel on the “Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Smart Environments in Croatia”. It was initiated by the Minister Horvat, with the participation of eight representatives of Triple Helix model which highlights the interdependence of the state, business sector and science. Among the participants, a prominent part was given to Gordana Kovačević, president of Ericsson Nikola Tesla, who spoke about the Company’s activities in the field of developing artificial intelligence of smart solutions to tackle the challenges of the modern age. This is the best evidence that there are positive examples of this very interesting area in Croatia. Moreover, Ms Kovačević supported the initiative launched by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts to prioritize the cooperation of all stakeholders in the important process of creating and defining strategic documents in this area. She also expressed her willingness to actively participate in the appropriate implementation processes, in which the economy and experts should be in charge. 

The slogan of this year’s convention is “MIPRO 2019 – Innovative promotional partnership”. The convention gathers more than a thousand participants from 34 countries. In total 350 accepted papers and 11 invited lectures will be presented at the 14 conferences. MIPRO 2019 program plan is based primarily on its effort to make the economy in the ICT domain modern and adaptable to the requirements of the global market and national interests during challenging digitalization transformations. Experts from our Company significantly contribute to these activities and content through their research papers and participation in conferences, particularly in the conferences on “Intelligent systems” and “Software and Systems Engineering”. Andrea Budin and Darko Huljenić are co-hosting these events and are also engaged in a series of other programs and events. 
Special attention was given to the round-table discussion on “The Benefits of Introducing 5G in the Republic of Croatia”, which was co-organized by HAKOM (Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries) and MIPRO Association. Some of the expected 5G applications in various industries were pointed out, such as tourism, medicine and taking care of the elderly, education, manufacturing, traffic and transport. Special guest from the European Commission presented some of the possibilities for financing 5G projects through the CEF2 program. Using concrete examples to show the significance of 5G use in introducing new services and increasing traffic safety, our Company’s expert for traffic solutions Krešimir Vidović pointed out the market potential of big data which will be generated in that way. A joint conclusion reached by the participants confirms the expectations that the introduction of 5G networks will bring new opportunities for improving the quality of life, development of the economy and a large potential for cooperation between different industries in creating new products and services.

The program continues with a plenary keynote lecture on the “Strategic Planning in Higher Education and Science” which will be held by the Minister of Science and Education Blaženka Divjak. This will be part of the presentation of the project results achieved by Croatian Science Foundation for the development of a methodological frame for strategic decision-making in higher education with an example of implementing open learning and distance learning – HigherDecision.
Additional information is available on MIPRO website.

Communications Ericsson Nikola Tesla