With the Fourth Industrial, i.e. Digital Revolution, we have a chance to make up for lagging behind and catch up with more developed countries. This technological revolution will fundamentally change our lives, it is inevitable and unstoppable. Only winning societies choose to welcome changes, they do not averse from them. The Serbian Government believes that Serbia is ready to lead the entire region in changes that will follow and creation of new possibilities for all. The digitization process will enhance the standard and quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Serbian citizens. Efficiency will be increased, costs will be reduced and new value will be created in almost all areas of life and work. The digitization process is the most important catalyst of innovations, competitiveness and growth.
The programme for the development of the information society aims to train and raise awareness about the necessity of quick, proper and directed inclusion of citizens, the educational system and the economy in modern digital flows.
Under the slogan “Smart and Safe”, the program initiates and promotes projects in the areas of digital literacy, development and application of digital skills and digital security culture.
The projects are intended for all citizens of Serbia, and special attention is focused on the younger population, women, pensioners and people with disabilities.
With the aim of increasing digital security and the proper use of new technologies by our youngest fellow citizens, the National Contact Centre for Child Safety on the Internet was established as an advisory and information desk and at the same time a unique center for reports of all forms of online endangerment of children via the free phone number 19833. Digital literacy and the safety of young people is also the focus of regular campaigns for elementary school students, called the IT caravan. The capital project “Connected Schools” is also significant, the goal of which is to raise the information and communication infrastructure in all schools in Serbia, which will enable the complete digitalisation of the educational process.
The Strategy for the Development of Digital Skills in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-2024 will contribute to raising the quality of life of all citizens in a modern environment, as well as to greater employment, work efficiency and the overall economic growth of society. Strategic measures are aimed at improving digital competences in the education system, acquiring and developing basic and advanced digital skills for all citizens, raising digital skills in relation to the needs of the labor market and implementing programs intended for ICT experts to monitor development and progress in technology.
The programme for the empowerment of women in the field of information and communication technologies for the period from 2019 to 2020 has also been implemented, which included encouraging girls of primary school age to opt for work in the field of ICT in further education, and later professionally , enabling women educated and employed in other spheres to retrain themselves through informal education for work in the field of ICT, as well as raising digital competences among women of all ages, in order to combat the economic digital gap. Among the significant projects is the raising of digital competences of women in rural areas, which also contributes to the development of electronic commerce in the Republic of Serbia.
Electronic commerce brings numerous advantages such as saving time and money, comfort and greater choice when shopping, and it also opens up exceptional opportunities for the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises. The new Law on Trade and the Law on Amendments to the Law on e-Commerce, as well as programmatic and promotional activities in the field of electronic commerce development in the Republic of Serbia, aim to achieve maximum benefits for the Serbian economy, but also for Serbian society as a whole.
Implemented and planned projects contribute to the development of IT communities, the IT industry, the application of ICT in the economy and the development of IT personnel and employment in this sector.