Serbia
Digital
Serbia
Digital
The emergence of technologies that blend the physical, digital, and biological realms is propelling our world into an era of rapid transformation, often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This shift is altering every aspect of our daily lives and work, presenting both tremendous opportunities and significant challenges.
These technologies have the potential to connect billions of people, enhance productivity, improve education, and create better livelihoods. For example, research indicates that artificial intelligence could enable the achievement of 80% of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, these technologies also pose risks such as job displacement, undermining institutions and regulatory frameworks, environmental harm, and exacerbating existing inequalities.
The capacity of governance systems to effectively address these rapidly evolving challenges is crucial to successfully leveraging the power of emerging technologies.
Recent scientific breakthroughs have transformed biology into a computational discipline, propelled by artificial intelligence. Biotechnology now promises to eradicate numerous diseases, create new industries, foster innovation, and boost economic growth.
To harness this trend, the Government of Serbia supported a joint initiative by UNDP and the World Economic Forum (WEF) to accelerate policy development around emerging technologies. In March 2022, the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in Serbia was established as a result of this collaboration, aiming to serve as a platform for stakeholder engagement and collaborative work on policy and project development in biotechnology and artificial intelligence in healthcare.
In this engagement, UNDP leveraged its extensive experience from running the global Accelerator Labs Network and the local Accelerator Lab in Serbia, collaborating on development initiatives within a broader ecosystem through exploration, solution mapping, rapid experimentation, and scaling effective solutions. We provided daily support for C4IR in recruiting key personnel, convening stakeholders, organizing strategic planning, facilitating partner engagement for landscape mapping, identifying needs and gaps, and designing the center’s main interventions and flagship projects. Meanwhile, WEF connected the center to its global network of private sector partners, enhancing its reach and impact.
In the first two years, these collaborative efforts resulted in mapping Serbia’s genomic sequencing and biotech ecosystem, developing and adopting the legal framework for the ethical use of genomic and medical data for research, and creating a technical platform to facilitate access to genomic data for researchers and the private sector. Together with C4IR, the Serbian government, and WEF, we also organized two editions of the “Biotech Future Forum“, an annual high-level international conference that attracts over 500 participants and positions Serbia and its biotech ecosystem on the global stage.
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The enormous potential of artificial intelligence to transform many aspects of our daily lives and work is evident today. But long before ChatGPT sparked a global AI frenzy, the Serbian government adopted its first national AI strategy in 2019.
UNDP was there to assist the government in laying the groundwork for harnessing AI, both for internal use and to jumpstart the local AI ecosystem.
Notable initiatives included establishing the national AI Institute, operationalizing the AI supercomputer platform at the Government Data Center, forming an AI team within the Office for IT and e-Government, and overseeing AI pilot projects in the public sector.
In 2021, we supported the creation of the Serbian AI Institute, a national center of excellence in artificial intelligence. UNDP commissioned a comprehensive study on the institute’s setup, helped recruit key personnel, and facilitated its rapid growth into a team of over 50 researchers, many of whom returned to Serbia with valuable expertise from top universities and leading global AI companies.
A significant milestone in 2021 was the launch of the National AI Platform, a supercomputing cluster for AI model training at the Government Data Center in Kragujevac. UNDP assisted in finding the right talent to manage the platform, making it available to academics and startups developing innovative AI solutions.
National AI Platform won the 2023 World Government Award in Dubai
UNDP also helped the Office for IT and e-Government establish an in-house AI team. This team collaborates on AI legislation with the Prime Minister’s Office and line ministries, manages AI deployments across the public sector, and engages with the AI ecosystem in Serbia and abroad.
We provided ongoing support for managing various AI pilot projects in healthcare, transportation, and education. These projects focused on important issues such as railway traffic safety and improving diagnostics for breast cancer, lung cancer, and histopathology. Additionally, we assisted in creating the Ethical Framework for Responsible Development and Use of AI and amending sector-specific legislation to allow for advanced use of emerging technologies, such as testing self-driving cars.
As a result of these efforts, Serbia became a regional AI leader, leading to its admission to the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) alongside 29 other global AI leaders and its selection to chair the initiative in 2025.
In our engagement with the private sector, we encourage companies to develop solutions that benefit both society and their bottom line. We also bring to the table our community partnerships, internal synergies, and ability to apply the best available technologies to maximize impact.
A notable example of this approach was our 2021 collaboration with Ahold Delhaize, the owner of national retail chains Maxi, Mega Maxi, Tempo, and Shop&Go. Together, we created “Plate by Plate” (Tanjir po tanjir), a platform that tracks the expiration dates of perishable goods and expedites their distribution to those in need, reducing food waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
In this project, our SDG Integration Team leveraged its longstanding partnership with humanitarian organizations, while our Tech Cell developed an end-to-end software platform.
The platform notifies humanitarian organizations, such as the Belgrade Food Bank, when foods nearing their expiration dates are ready for dispatch. Using blockchain technology, the platform ensures data integrity and facilitates transparency and traceability.
Without requiring any in-store changes or increasing the capacity of participating humanitarian organizations, the platform significantly increased the amount of food delivered to those in need.
UNDP’s involvement in this project highlights the importance of private-sector partnerships and the potential of emerging technologies such as blockchain in achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), like Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), and Climate Action (SDG 13).
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