ICT trends and challenges for research in Serbia and possibilities for cooperation with other countries

Abstract

In Serbia, usage of ICT is in developing phase. Only 1.2% of the users have more than 10 years experience on the Internet, while 52% of the population that is not wired has no intention and no need to use the Internet. The trust in the e-services is an issue in Serbia, and businesses focus mainly on marketing on-line, while more sophisticated ICT solutions are not widely spread. A positive point is the focus on on-line content, and the availability of several projects for on-line libraries. An ICT cluster was also built in Serbia to support the ICT uptake. The main challenges for research include development of standards, security and protection. As far as e-learning is concerned, there is a high percentage of schools with their own Web sites, but the majority of teachers do not use PCs to support their lectures and exercises. Vocational education programs in ICT need to be developed as well.