00:00At the moment, we have a significant growth in the number of startups in Serbia.
00:06We are not a large country compared to China, so we now have around 800 startups, but these
00:14numbers are growing on an annual level around 25-30%.
00:21And overall value of this ecosystem is around 1 billion euros.
00:27So our goal is now to build up and add value to this ecosystem.
00:35And we know artificial intelligence is a prominent focus at the Web Summit every year.
00:40And what is Serbia's approach to adopting AI responsibly?
00:47Actually in 2019, we adopted the first strategy for the development of AI.
00:53So the government and we recognized that the upcoming new technology, although it's
00:59been with us for past 20 years, well actually, for instance, we introduced in 2017 coding
01:06and Python in our elementary schools.
01:09So back at that time, we already recognized that we have to prepare new generations, how
01:15to use it wisely for the good cause, how to educate young generations to be prepared
01:24for this technology, which will be the basic tool for them in the future.
01:29So we also introduced AI in the secondary education and then later on in higher education.
01:39Serbia has invested heavily in artificial intelligence and now is trying to get into
01:44the European Union.
01:46And the EU, we know, has rolled out the EU AI Act already to reign in or to regulate
01:52this industry, since we have invested so much in boosting and developing AI.
01:59But if Serbia joins the European Union, do you think that would probably force you to
02:06fine-tune your policy in the future?
02:09Well, as an accession country, we are fine-tuning our policies.
02:13Most of our policies with EU, and that's a process.
02:17So once we join EU, we will have to, you know, align with the existing policies.
02:23Nevertheless, policies are like living things.
02:27They can be changed, you know, according to the reaction of the startup community, of
02:33the private sector, also in Europe.
02:35Europe is facing a huge challenge to stay competitive with new technologies, particularly
02:41when we have two big players like United States and China that are becoming really
02:46technological giants and the drivers of the innovation in the world.
02:52So Europe has to position itself.
02:57I mean, new technologies have to be regulated, but to keep the balance, not to over-regulate
03:03it, so to, you know, keep the further development, it is not an easy task.
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