KICKOFF CONFERENCE | BUDVA
80 participants from six countries of the Western Balkans and the UK attended a one-day kick-off conference in Budva on 19 January 2018, marking the star of the Digital Cities pilot project. The participants included a diverse range of digital industry professionals, representatives of WB City Administrations, HUBs and enterprises. Western Balkans cities presented and discussed their priorities and initiatives to develop their Digital Policies and Strategies, while the digital industry professionals presented their portfolios, engaged in presentations and matching activities and took part in initial capacity-building sessions with some of the UK leaders in this field, such as John Newbigin, Chair of Creative England, Charles Armstrong, Founder of the Trampery and Lazar Džamić, Digital Marketing expert.
UK–WB POLICY DIALOGUE | LONDON
At the Digital Cities policy symposium hosted in London from 29–30 January 2018, a delegation of 17 Western Balkans senior city representatives met with the representatives of 11 UK cities in order to connect and share their experience in Digital Industry policy developments.
Participants had the opportunity to visit some of the leading public-private partnership initiatives in London, including the British Library and its Business and IP Centre and YouTube Space London. As part of the programme, they got to see and experience some of the leading digital innovation in Creative Industries, including Augmented and Virtual Reality, at the event hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Creative England – opened by Rt Hon Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.