ICT Business Development in Kosovo

Author: Diellza Agaj

Worldwide Technology today is considered one of the areas with the best prospects based on the global developments that are happening. Through many ways today we can study, obtain data and information on everything we care about, and thanks to the use of Technology in numerous ways that help us access any field we want. The role of ICT is very important in the process of social and economic development as it acts as a tool to improve productivity and bring added value. Among the characteristics of ICT is that it represents an important indicator for innovation and knowledge-based activities, which in turn, affect economic growth.

The Government and the people of Kosovo are aware that the ICT sector is a key component of a wide range of economic, national and vital activities for establishing international trade relations, as well as crucial in spreading knowledge to all layers of society.

The ICT sector is one of the best performing sectors in Kosovo which has been growing steadily over the years.

The European Commission, in a publication issued to support Kosovo’s competitiveness, indicates that the Government of Kosovo recognizes Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as one of the six priority sectors for Kosovo’s economic development. ICT is a critical component of a wide range of economic activities, vital to the creation and maintenance of international trade relations, and essential to social cohesion and the dissemination of knowledge throughout society.

Kosovo’s ICT market, although smaller than that of the regional countries, according to some statistics has recorded a steady increase, which is higher than that of the surrounding countries.

Data obtained from “The Future Workplace” platform show that in the past 10 years there has been an increase in ICT business registration by 187%.

ICT businesses in Kosovo continue to expect to grow further, in areas such as Internet service provision, software development or programming, maintenance and repairs, sellers sales, engineering services, training and certification, and services of information.

According to data obtained from The Future Workplace platform, all technology businesses in Kosovo are individual businesses and limited liability companies. The data in the platform show that the largest number of active ICT businesses is in the municipality of Prishtina with a number of 8540 businesses, followed by the municipality of Prizren with 794 businesses, Mitrovica 674 businesses, Ferizaj 521 businesses, Gjilan 495 businesses, Peja 485 businesses and Gjakova with 166 businesses. Other smaller municipalities have a significant number of active businesses. All of these businesses carry out primary and secondary activities. Some of the primary technology activities that these businesses carry out are business and other management consultancy activities, gents specialized in the sale of other particular products, retail sales of telecommunications equipment in specialized stores, engineering activities and related technical consultancy, ect. Kosovo’s ICT businesses are more than successful and are generating good revenue. As part of the activities that these businesses carry out, they also require some skills such as: PHP, Javascript, Html, Java, Swift, Css, and many more. Kosovo’s ICT businesses are more than successful and are generating good revenue. As part of the activities that these businesses carry out, they also require some skills such as: PHP, Javascript, Html, Java, Swift, Css, and many more. Data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry show that the majority of ICT companies in Kosovo are family owned with a share of 80%, 2% are Kosovo majority owned, 3% are owned equally by foreign owners, and 8% are companies with foreign capital. It is also noted that the ICT sector is well organized, with over half of ICT companies being members of an industry or professional association, while 80% of non-ICT companies are not.

The ICT industry is of strategic importance for Kosovo’s economic and social development as the development of the ICT sector would have a direct impact on economic growth by creating jobs and generating revenue. Information Technology companies in Kosovo are mainly engaged in export markets providing services and products in the IT and outsourcing sector (56%) and in the Technology sector (41%).

The positive effect of the ICT industry on job creation is reinforced by the fact that ICT is an industry of intensive workforce and industry of intensive skills. In terms of employment, the development of the ICT sector has two positive effects: a quantitative effect by increasing the number of jobs and a qualitative one by creating employment for more qualified people. So, the ICT sector in Kosovo can play an important role in reducing unemployment, especially among young people.

According to data published by the Association for Information and Communication Technology of Kosovo (STIKK) it is reported that monthly salaries for IT professionals have been steadily increasing for the last two years with an average increase of 4%. Also are published some data showing that the average annual income from 2017 to 2018 has more than doubled the average.

Cacttus Education based on some research has made a short summary showing the most sought after occupations that offer higher salaries and higher professional advancement. Looking at the technology developments in the world during 2010–2020 are looking for professions that have a profitable perspective, such as: Mobile App Developer, Data Administrator, Network Administrator, Web Developer, Software Engineer and IT security specialist. In the workplace, using ICT, being autonomous, gathering and evaluating information are the most important tasks of ICT professionals, so some of the skills they have are doing research, planning, design, writing , testing, advising, and improving information technology systems, computer hardware, software, and related concepts for specific applications. They also develop associated documentation and design, develop, control, maintain and support the database and other information systems to ensure optimum performance and data integrity and security.

This article was published as part of “The Future Workplace” Project.

The Future Workplace is part of the Dig Data Challenge powered by Millennium Foundation Kosovo (MFK) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as part of the The Dig Data Challenge on Labour Force Data. This project is implemented by Open Data Kosovo and The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce.