The Office for IT and eGovernment continues the IT Sector Prequalification Program for Employed Candidates

The IT Sector Prequalification Program is a continuation of a successful program aimed at alleviating the shortage of staff in the fast growing IT sector in Serbia. So far, 800 candidates have been trained under this Program in the first two rounds organized by the Office for IT and eGovernment, while the training of 700 candidates from the third round is currently underway. This training is intended for unemployed candidates and is conducted by the National Employment Service. The Program was launched on the proposal of the Ministerial Council for Innovative Entrepreneurship and Information Technologies, chaired by the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić.

In November 2018, the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) published a call under the third round of the IT Sector Prequalification Program for candidates who are employed; who are not in IT positions or have not completed some of the IT majors during their studies.

 “3,850 candidates applied for this round of IT Sector Prequalification Program for employed individuals. Top 2,000 candidates who have passed the first round of testing are expecting the second round in one of the ten schools with which we have signed training contracts today for the implementation of this Program”, said Mihailo Jovanović (Associate Professor, PhD), Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

He added that, in the selection of schools, the quality of training and work innovation were what was most valued.

In Belgrade, trainings will be conducted by the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which will be attended by 60 participants each; while in Novi Sad, 40 participants will attend the trainings in the Vojvodina ICT cluster and 40 will attend JISA program (Smart Ltd.). In Niš, 40 participants will attend trainings at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, while the Mathematical Institute of the SASA will provide training for 34 participants. The Technical College of Applied Studies in Kragujevac will admit 17 participants, the Business Incubator in Valjevo 20, and the Faculty of Technical Sciences from Čačak 40 participants.

Training providers introduced major innovations in their programs, so at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, lecturers will also be from the field of industry and career counselling will be available to the trainees, while at the Faculty of Mathematics the participants will have more demanding final papers. At the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, students will receive training on using Linux; in Vojvodina's ICT Cluster, through the introduction of a “class leader”, cooperation with companies will be strengthened; while JISA (Smart Ltd.) will involve teachers in practice monitoring. The Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Niš will cover the field of inclusion of agile methods, the Mathematical Institute of the SASA will provide trainings in Python, and the participants of this course will cooperate with lecturers from the American University – UC San Diego Extension through online programs and certifications. The Technical College of Applied Studies in Kragujevac will train participants on how to introduce and manage projects; Business incubator in Valjevo will introduce students to IoT technologies, while the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Čačak will provide additional workshops at the Startup Centre, as well as an additional mentoring program.