Despite being a very young industry, the information technology sector is growing rapidly. What was a supercomputer thirty years ago that would fit into one university basement, today is the size of a smartphone. Led by the idea of the rapid digitalisation of society, and the requirements of the European Union to improve the digitalisation of the Western Balkan countries, the EU Info Centre, in cooperation with Bit Alliance, organised four conferences “Youth in the Digital Age” in Banja Luka, Mostar, Tuzla and Sarajevo, to showcase the potential and opportunities of the sector to high school students and BiH youth.
With over a thousand students from 17 cities across the country taking part, the events aimed to encourage young people to consider a career in the IT sector. “The European Union is about breaking down borders and barriers. One of the best ways of communicating globally is through digitalisation – nowadays, it takes only seconds to send a message across the globe; you can even travel virtually across the world,”remarked Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative to and audience of over 250 students during the final conference in Sarajevo.
Ambassador Wigemark encouraged the youth to take advantage of all of the possibilities contained in the IT sector and to be inspired by the successful young entrepreneurs, developers and programmers who presented to them their career paths: “It is up to you to choose whether you wish to be a part of this or just be observers. Not everyone can become a programmer, as I for one was not meant for that career, but there are numerous other possibilities – so don’t be discouraged, keep working and studying – hard work pays off!“
While the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina are following all of the international standards applicable to the IT sector, some still consider a career in IT too unapproachable and scientific. Accordingly, the aim of the conferences was to show the numerous possibilities open to them, presented not by company CEOs and HR managers but by young entrepreneurs, developers and programmers who themselves had similar doubts when beginning their careers but who are now working tirelessly to enable a quality business life for all young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
