Business opportunities for 5 software companies from BiH at the leading developers’ conference in Europe

June 5, 2018

WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2018 (© Tamás Künsztler)

As part of the Diaspora for Development (D4D) project of the Government of Switzerland and the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, in partnership with UNDP BiH and IOM BiH, support has been provided to five software companies from BiH to attend WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2018, the leading developers’ conference in Europe, held in mid-May 2018 in Vienna, Austria.

WeAreDevelopers 2018 conference featured a full range of current issues in software industry such as development of mobile applications, virtual reality, robotics and artificial intelligence, with presentations by representatives of the world's leading companies such as Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and an engineer and developer. The conference brought together over 8,000 participants from all over the world and representatives of leading companies in this industry, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung and IBM. Delegation from BiH consisted of young companies with up to 15 employees with growth potential and a strategy for further development in place.

·       Rubicon Software Development - software company RUBICON and furniture brand Gazzda have joined forces and developed an Augmented Reality application, AR Interior Design Gazzda. The application allows in in just a few steps to see if a piece of furniture fits your living or working space.

·       Ant Colony - developed a mobile application Goody helping users win valuable prizes.

·       Amplius electronics  - created a smart pendant called Rubico, with dual function of both mobile phone charger and USB memory, specifically NFC tag with multiple usage functions. The product also carries a mobile application, allowing users to transfer data from their mobile device to this smart pendant, monitor the available free memory, and also a video recording and photo feature with direct storage on Rubico.

·       Bookvar – created an open online learning platform.

·       DASH- developed the Jobtunity site project to seek/recruit talents.

What is really important for the country's sustainable future is for diaspora to pass on its professional skills and knowledge, and this is how we help see this through”, said Merima Avdagić, UNDP’s D4D Project Manager.

In workshops in Sarajevo, preceding the World Congress, Sead Ahmetović, a representative of BiH diaspora in Vienna and one of the co-founders of WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2018, provided information to prepare companies and facilitate communication directly with companies already operating on the EU market.

This support to attend the Congress meant a lot to me in terms of further cooperation with international companies and access to new market. Additionally, we had the chance to learn so much, and the opportunities for networking were enormous. As a new startup, we discussed business with global giants such as Pluralsight, Codility, Google ... we even got them interested in ideas! This is truly priceless, as we could not even dream of meetings with such companies before”, said Belma Alagić, Bookvar Ltd.