📅 Date: January 21, 2025
📍 Location: UN House Brussels, Boulevard du Régent 37-40, Brussels

Background

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain are two of the most transformative technologies of our time, with the power to redefine economies and societies. These technologies have become critical accelerators for development, especially in the Western Balkans, a region poised for growth yet challenged by disparities in investment, skills, and policy alignment.

The Western Balkans Growth Plan (2024–2027), the Reform Agendas of individual economies, and the new Common Regional Market Action Plan 2025–2028 (CRM 2.0) collectively provide a roadmap to enhance competitiveness, integrate the region into the EU’s Single Market, and align it with global value chains. These initiatives focus on fair, green, and digital transitions, with a potential to double the region’s economies in the next decade.

However, the human capital gap remains a critical challenge. The OECD’s Economic Convergence Scoreboard (2023) highlights significant disparities in digital skills compared to the EU average. CRM 2.0 identifies human capital development as essential for transforming the region into an attractive investment hub, prioritizing investments in upskilling and fostering closer collaboration between academia and industry. Addressing these challenges is crucial to unlocking the full potential of emerging technologies and enabling structural economic transformation.

Objectives

This strategic dialogue aims to:

• Highlight opportunities for collaboration in the tech landscape to drive innovation and human capital development.
• Explore how emerging technologies like AI and blockchain can reshape labor markets, traditional industries, and IT sectors.
• Develop strategies to accelerate learning, collaboration, and investment to amplify regional competitiveness.

Participants will engage in discussions to identify actionable models for advancing emerging technologies and addressing systemic challenges in the Western Balkans.

Dražen Kapusta: Presenting the HAI5 Project

Dražen Kapusta, Principal of COTRUGLI Business School, will present the groundbreaking HAI5 Project, a pioneering initiative that combines AI, blockchain, and Industry 5.0 principles to foster sustainable and human-centric innovation.

The HAI5 Project is designed to:

• Enhance the integration of emerging technologies in traditional industries.
• Develop scalable frameworks for upskilling and reskilling in line with Industry 5.0.
• Align regional innovation efforts with the EU’s digital and green transitions, leveraging AI and blockchain for sustainable impact.

This presentation will showcase how HAI5 serves as a model for bridging the skills gap and fostering impactful entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans.

Key Discussion Topics

1. Human Capital Development: Addressing deficiencies in digital skills and fostering regional collaboration to position the Western Balkans as an innovation hub.
2. Technology Ecosystem Growth: Building sustainable ecosystems through partnerships between startups, social entrepreneurs, academia, and industry leaders.
3. Emerging Technologies in Action: Exploring AI, blockchain, and the metaverse as tools for economic transformation and regional competitiveness.
4. Framework for Collaboration: Designing a collaborative platform to prioritize areas, define roles, and establish effective models for partnership and innovation.

Agenda

• 09:00–09:15: Registration and Welcome Coffee
• 09:15–09:45: Opening Remarks and Agenda Overview
  Speakers: Georges van Montfort (UNDP Brussels) and Irena Cerovic (UNDP IRH Innovation Team)
• 09:45–10:15: Framing Presentation
  Tadej Slapnik, CEO, World Metaverse Council
• 10:15–11:30: Panel Discussion: Enhancing Human Capital for Regional Competitiveness
  Moderator: Vesna Dzuteska Bisheva (UNDP IRH)
  Panelists: Gordana Danilovic Grkovic (Science Technology Park Belgrade), Dražen Kapusta (COTRUGLI Business School), EC Representatives (TBC)
• 11:45–13:00: Panel Discussion: Unlocking the Potential of AI, Blockchain, and the Metaverse
  Moderator: Eduard Peris Deprez (ImpactPlus.io)
  Panelists: Industry leaders from Solana Labs, Algorand Foundation, and Cardano Foundation
• 14:00–14:30: Summary of Key Points
  Speaker: Irena Cerovic (UNDP IRH Innovation Team)
• 14:30–16:00: Designing a Collaborative Platform for Regional Transformation
  Moderator: Robert Pasicko (UNDP AltFinLab Lead)
• 16:00–16:30: Closing Remarks and Next Steps

Confirmed Participants

Representatives from leading organizations, including:

•  

Erik Brinde, Head of Avantgarde DAO Governance, Celo
Glenn Tan, Lead Blockchain for Good Alliance, Web3 Lead Moledao
Doro Unger-Lee, Head of Education, Algorand Foundation

Joana Lacerda, Head of Ecosystem Funding & Growth Programs, Algorand Foundation 

Tal Tchwella, Head of Product, Solana Labs
Anna Whitson-Diaz, Senior Partnerships Manager, Stellar Development Foundation 

Drazen Kapusta, Principal Cotrugli Business School

Alexandre Maaza, Sustainability Lead, Cardano Foundation; Board Member of INATBA – International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications
Eduard Peris Deprez, Founder & Managing Director, ImpactPlus.io
Tadej Slapnik, CEO of World Metaverse Council

Joan de Ramon Brunet, Growth and Research, Celo
Mariana de la Roche Wills, Board Member of INATBA – International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications
Sara Amaral, Next Billion and Ecosystem Support, Ethereum foundation
Matthew Gunn, Head of Business Development, Metis
Gordana Danilovic Grkovic, Director, Science Technology Park Belgrade

UNDP

Georges van Montfort, Deputy Director of UNDP’s Representation Office in Brussels 

Vesna Dzuteska Bisheva, UNDP IRH Inclusive growth team, Team lead
Irena Cerovic, UNDP IRH Innovation Team, Team lead
Robert Pasicko, UNDP AltFinLab, Lead and Innovation Specialist

Ievgen Kylymnyk, UNDP IRH Innovation Team, Regional Project Manager 

Teodor Petricevic, UNDP AltFinLab, Digital Partnerships and Accelerator 

Lead Burcu Mavis, UNDP AltFinLab, Blockchain Academy and Accelerator Lead 

Andreas Pawelke, UNDP IRH Innovation Team, Systems Thinking Specialist

EU institutions

DG NEAR, Anja Nagel, Team Leader for private sector development
DG NEAR (TBC)
D4D Hub, Gian Luca Portacolone, Coordinator of Operations
DG CONNECT, Anne Bajart, Deputy Head of Unit for Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education

DG CONNECT (TBC)
DG EMPL (TBC)
DG RTD’s Industry 5.0 Unit (TBC)