Partnership for Innovation Activity

Annual Progress Report for the Period September 2014 – September 2015

USAID/BiH Cooperative Agreement Award No. 168-A-00-11-00102-00

January 30, 2012

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Table of Contents

1 ................................ 2

Project Summary ....................................................................................................................... 1

I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1

II. SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..................................................................................... 2

III. IMPLEMENTATION AND PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES .................................................... 4

1. Implement Eight “Moja Praksa” Internship Programs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar ............................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Implement four “Work Ready Now!” Work Readiness Training Programs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar ......................................................................................................................... 4

3. Design and Implement Four ICT Bootcamps in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar ......... 5

4. Design and Implement Eight Advanced ICT Trainings for SMEs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar ........................................................................................................................................ 5

5. Conduct Four Workshops with SMEs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar .................... 5

6. Conduct Four Product development trainings .......................................................................... 6

7. Access to Markets Support and B2B ......................................................................................... 6

8. Organize and Implement 4 Trainings for EBY (Employable Bosnian Youth) in Sarajevo and Tuzla, Banja Luka, Mostar or Prijedor. .............................................................................................. 7

9. Design and Implement Business Angels Network (BAN) and Startup Accelerator Program for 27 Startups ........................................................................................................................................ 7

10. Support Other ICT Initiatives and Events .............................................................................. 7

11. Build Capacity of Partner Organizations to Execute Operating Plans ................................... 8

12. Conduct Activity Monitoring and Evaluation ........................................................................ 9

Progress on Achieving Activity Target Results............................................................................... 9

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Success Stories ............................................................................................................................ 10

REPORTING BY REGIONS ................................................................................................................ 13

Tuzla Region .................................................................................................................................... 13

Youth Internships ........................................................................................................................... 13

SME Support and Youth Trainings .................................................................................................. 14

Banja Luka region ....................................................................................................................... 15

Youth Internships ........................................................................................................................... 15

SME Support and Youth Trainings .................................................................................................. 17

Sarajevo Region .......................................................................................................................... 21

Mostar Region ............................................................................................................................ 24

Conferences and Events ................................................................................................................. 27

IV. CHALLENGES/ISSUES ENCOUNTERED ................................................................................. 28

V. ADMINISTRATION, REPORTING AND TRAVEL FOR THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 2014 – SEPTEMBER 2015 30

Travel .............................................................................................................................................. 30

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Acronyms

B2B Business to Business BDM Business Development Manager BIC Business Innovation Center BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina BAN Business Angels Network BIP Business Innovation Programs BIT Business Innovation and Technology Center in Tuzla CAD Computer-Aided Design CAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing COP Chief of Party DCOP Deputy Chief of Party EDC Education Development Center, Inc. EI Excellence in Innovation (Activity) EQUIP3 Educational Quality Improvement Program: Earning and Learning for Out-of-

School Youth EU European Union F2F Face to Face FDI Foreign Direct Investment FIRMA Fostering Interventions for Rapid Market Advancement GDP Gross Domestic Product ICBL Innovation Centre in Banja Luka ICT Information and Communication Technology ISO International Organization for Standardization MIC Microsoft Innovation Center NMFA Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe PI Partnership for Innovation PMP Performance Monitoring Plan RS Republic Srpska SME Small and Medium Enterprise STTA Short Term Technical Assistance TA Technical Assistance

USAID/BIH PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATION ACTIVITY ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 2014 – SEPTEMBER 2015

I. INTRODUCTION This document represents the Annual Progress Report for the Partnership for Innovation Activity (PI) funded by the USAID Educational Quality Improvement Program 3 (EQUIP3) for the period of September 2014 – September 2015. The Activity commenced on August 24, 2011, and is expected to continue through August 23, 2016.

Activity Summary The PI program goal is twofold: a) to enhance entrepreneurship and employment among young market entrants (also referred to as ‘youth’) in BiH, by building their information and communications technology (ICT) and in soft skills to enable youth to exploit new employment or entrepreneurship opportunities; and b) Strengthen small and medium enterprise (SME) competitiveness and productivity by increasing SMEs’ effective use of value-added ICT and their ability to offer new, high value-added ICT products and services that respond to market demand.

PI (also referred to as the ‘Activity’)Activity will achieve these objectives by supporting training, internship, mentorship, private sector engagement and SME competitiveness strengthening initiatives. The Activity approach is based upon two critical principles: (1) it is demand-driven, as all programs will be designed or modified based on market analysis and direct feedback from SMEs and educational partners; and (2) it creates valuable forums and processes that will ensure there are sufficient incentives for all stakeholders (youth, SMEs, training providers) to carry out these forums and processes long after the Activity has been completed.

Project Summary

Improve the

competitiveness of

small- and medium-

size enterprises

(SMEs), enabling them

to meet market

demand and preserve

and generate jobs,

and provide new

opportunities for

employment and self-

employment for

young people.

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The PI interventions target ICT sector SMEs and SMEs in other sectors that use ICT for their core operations. PI interventions will achieve nationwide impact by concentrating on four major geographic areas with flourishing business, secondary school and university activities - Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla and Mostar. All PI activities respond effectively to two target markets: SMEs and young market entrants, particularly university students, out-of-work university graduates, and out-of-school secondary school graduates.

The PI activity will primarily contribute to the US Foreign Assistance Framework Objective for Economic Growth in Program Area 4.6 “Private Sector Competitiveness” focusing primarily on the Program Element 4.6.2 “Private Sector Productivity.”

II. SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The following significant events occurred during the reporting period September 2014 through September 2015:

Youth Internships and Trainings

x PI partners executed a total of 8 cohort activities of the internship program “Moja Praksa” in all four target regions (Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla). 418 students successfully completed the program. The Internship Program “Moja praksa” is an ICT-based initiative designed to reinforce the bond between youth and the BIH ICT local business community. The program includes trainings and practical experience in technical and methodology/soft skills areas, working on real life Activities ubmitted by local ICT companies.

x 4 “Work Ready Now!“ programs were implemented between May and August 2015 in 4

target locations (Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar and Tuzla). 99 young people successfully completed this globally implemented work-readiness training program, passed the final tests and received certificates. Participants of the WRN! Training program developed their basic work skills that are needed to find employment and to be successful in the workplace.

x During the reporting period, PI executed 5 ICT training programs in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Prijedor and Tuzla. 57, skilled, unemployed youth completed ICT trainings in applying various advanced software solutions.

x PI provided support for the execution of a series of lectures and trainings in advanced computer programming for ICT gifted youth under the “BiH Informatics Olympiad” program. 46 students completed trainings during April – June 2015 period.

x PI supported the execution of a one week-long ICT training in Android based programming applications during the “Geek Fest 2015” in August 2015. 24 youth participants from various parts of B&H participated in this training for aspiring computer programmers.

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SME Support

x PI held 6 ICT training design workshops in 6 regional centers (Mostar, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Bihac and Tesanj) that were focused on identifying SME staff training needs and needs of women in senior management and technical lead positions. 46 managers and staff from 44 SMEs participated in workshop sessions during the reporting period.

x During the reporting period, PI prepared and executed:

¾ 10 advanced ICT training programs for SMEs in various topics in all four PI targeted regions (Banja Luka, Tuzla, Sarajevo and Mostar) for a total of 130 participants from 59 SMEs.

¾ 4 SME “bootcamp” type trainings in all four PI targeted regions for a total of 62 participants from 33 SMEs.

¾ 2 Product Development trainings for a total of 17 participants from 16 SMEs ¾ 4 Access to Markets and Business to Business (B2B) events in Sarajevo, Tuzla

and Prijedor. More than 170 participants from more than 60 B&H and international firms took part in various presentations and business promotion sessions.

General

x H.E. Ambassador Cormack visited PI’s partners and beneficiaries from Mostar region on February 26, 2015. Ms. Cormack toured INTERA Technology Park Mostar and participated in the roundtable discussion on challenges and opportunities for the B&H ICT sector.

x PI successfully prepared and executed a major international ICT industry conference on May 21-22, 2015 in Sarajevo. The South-East European Information Technology (SEE IT) conference was co-hosted with the USAID Regional Economic Growth (REG) Activity and Germany’s GIZ Open Regional Fund for Foreign Trade Promotion. More than 140 representatives from IT firms, clusters and associations from dozen EU and Balkan countries including Albania, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Sweden took part in various thematic sessions, roundtables and B2B events.

x PI provided the “Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Capacity Building Training” for four partner organizations (ICBL, BIT, INTERA and IUS) following the previously completed assessment of their organizational capacity relative to the implementation of the youth internship and workforce development programs “Moja praksa” and “Work Ready Now!”. The training was held in March and early April 2015 and it included practical exercises as well as group and individual work and it covered theoretical background, application of M&E in reporting and planning processes during the implementation of activities and application of M&E in activity management cycle.

x PI provided continuing technical support to two active ICT associations in BiH through support for implementation of their core programs – conferences and advanced ICT trainings. Specifically, PI supported the “Bosnia Agile Day” conference for more than 150 developers and ICT managers from across BiH held in October 2014 in Sarajevo and the training for 30 mentors from 6 leading IT companies for the BIT Alliance’s program “BIT

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Camp” that prepares unemployed youth for software development jobs. One of the two associations (BIT Alliance) expressed readiness to receive a more comprehensive capacity building assistance and, as of end of reporting period, EDC is preparing the documentation for the potential subgrant agreement with BIT Alliance.

x PI supported the organization of a major, regional, “WordUp” conference in Banja Luka on April 24-25, 2015. More than 200 industry practitioners and lecturers attended the conference that was focused on application of WordPress platform tools in web development. WordPress is becoming a tool of choice for improving online performance and business promotion for many companies throughout the world and “WordUp” was the first such conference in Bosnia Herzegovina. The two day conference included a PI supported training for 40 young programmers.

x As of end of the quarter, 198 youth have obtained employment following participation in PI supported internships and ICT trainings. This result is slightly above the targeted level of 195.

III. IMPLEMENTATION AND PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES

The section below describes the actual vs. planned outputs for the reporting period (September 2014 – September 2015) per the activity listing in PI’s Annual Work Plan for Year 4 and the Life of Activity Implementation Plan:

1. Implement Eight “Moja Praksa” Internship Programs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

BIT Center Tuzla, ICBL Banja Luka, Intera TP Mostar and IUS Sarajevo

Estimated Time Frame:

August 2014 - August 2015

Planned Output: At least 8 Internship programs (“Moja praksa”) have been completed for over 400 youth.

Actual Output: 8 Internship programs (“Moja praksa”) have been completed for 418 youth.

2. Implement four “Work Ready Now!” Work Readiness Training Programs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

BIT Center Tuzla, ICBL Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Intera TP Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: June - August, 2015

Planned Output: At least 4 “Work Ready Now!” trainings have been completed for 100 youth.

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Actual Output: 4 “Work Ready Now!” trainings have been completed by late August 2015. A total of 99 youth completed the program and received certificates.

3. Design and Implement Four ICT Bootcamps in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: December 2014 - August 2015

Planned Output: At least 4 bootcamps have been completed for at least 60 participants from ICT/non-ICT SMEs.

Actual Output: 4 bootcamps have been completed for 62 participants from 33 SMEs

4. Design and Implement Eight Advanced ICT Trainings for SMEs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: October 2014 - August 2015

Planned Output: At least 8 trainings have been completed for at least 140 participants from ICT/non-ICT SMEs.

Actual Output: 10 trainings have been completed for 197 participants from 59 SMEs. PI completed two more ICT trainings than planned as replacement for the two product development trainings that were moved to Fall 2015. In fact, the number and type of trainings was set following the feedback from SMEs and reflecting PI’s “demand driven” approach.

5. Conduct Four Workshops with SMEs in Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: September 2014 - February 2015

Planned Output: At least 4 workshops have been completed for at least 40 participants from ICT/non-ICT SMEs.

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Actual Output: 6 workshops have been completed for 46 participants from 43 SMEs by the end of reporting period. The final number of workshops was set following the feedback from SMEs and reflecting PI’s “demand driven” approach.

6. Conduct Four Product development trainings

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: September 2014 - February 2015

Planned Output: The PI Activity will provide technical assistance and/or expert consultant support to ICT SMEs through focused product development training. At least 4 trainings have been completed.

Actual Output: 2 product development trainings were successfully prepared and executed for 17 participants from 16 SMEs from Tuzla and Sarajevo by the end of reporting period. Due to trainer/consultant availability the 2 remaining trainings (in Banja Luka and Mostar) had to be postponed to fall 2015. In general, implementation of product development trainings was moved to the late summer / early fall 2015 in response to the feedback from target SMEs. Most SMEs believed that those trainings should take place following lessons learned from discussions and meetings during PI’s international conference (SEEIT) that was held in May 2015. Nevertheless, PI completed 2 additional trainings in other demanded topics in order to match the overall total of planned trainings for the reporting period (please see #4 above).

7. Access to Markets Support and B2B

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: March 2015 – August 2015

Planned Output: PI Activitywill provide technical assistance and/or expert consultant support to ICT SMEs through business-to-business matchmaking events supporting SMEs in exploring new business opportunities. At least 4 events have been completed.

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Actual Output: 4 Access to Market and B2B events featuring international firms / potential clients have been completed for SMEs in Sarajevo, Tuzla and Prijedor.

8. Organize and Implement 4 Trainings for EBY (Employable Bosnian Youth) in Sarajevo and Tuzla, Banja Luka, Mostar or Prijedor.

Tuzla, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar

Estimated Time Frame: October 2014 – July 2015

Planned Output: At least 4 trainings have been completed for at least 60 youth.

Actual Output: 6 trainings have been completed for the total of 81 youth

9. Design and Implement Business Angels Network (BAN) and Startup Accelerator Program for 27 Startups

PI terminated the BAN component in November 2014. Detailed information and overall context is provided in the Challenges/Issues Encountered section on page 29.

10. Support Other ICT Initiatives and Events

At present there are only two relevant industry associations in BiH, namely “BIT Alljansa" and “Bosnia Agile”.

During the reporting period PI provided continuing technical support to the two associations through support for implementation of their core programs – conferences and advanced ICT trainings. Specifically, PI supported the “Bosnia Agile Day” conference for more than 150 developers and ICT managers from across BiH held in October 2014 in Sarajevo and the training for 30 mentors from 6 leading IT companies for the BIT Alliance’s program “BIT Camp” that prepares unemployed youth for software development jobs.

PI also conducted series of meetings and discussions with both associations during the reporting period in order to determine additional potential areas for capacity building assistance.

However, it is important to stress that the Bosnia Agile is not a standard industry association as it was not established by companies. Several individuals (programmers) decided to establish the Bosnia Agile association with the sole purpose to “evangelize” the Bosnia’s IT community to start using the new agile methodology in managing and leading IT

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activities. When they met with PI they expressed interest for PI’s technical and on-site support for preparations and delivery of various training programs and conferences for BiH SMEs and developers. In general, at this moment they didn’t express willingness to proceed with entering a full subgrant agreement with EDC that would involve a comprehensive set of milestones and deliverables. However, PI recognized the Bosnia Agile’s positive work in the IT sector and PI Activity will allocate some funds to partially support, technically and on-site, for preparation and delivery of various training programs and conferences for BiH SMEs and IT developers.

On the other hand, the BIT Alliance Association appears to have the capacity and willingness to make strong strides in the ICT sector. This alliance was founded by 6 leading ICT firms in early 2014 and they have an ambitious mission and a professional serving as executive secretary. Early discussions on specific milestones for an anticipated upcoming subgrant agreement were conducted with “BIT Alliance” in order to determine areas with biggest impact on supporting this association. Communication and outreach strategy and development of internal procedures and charters and the improvement of association’s governing and functioning were identified as key areas for the eventual assistance. EDC is currently finalizing the draft subgrant agreement that will include specific milestones relative to the above listed key areas. The draft subgrant agreement is expected to be submitted to USAID for approval in late October or early November 2015.

11. Build Capacity of Partner Organizations to Execute Operating Plans

Following the findings of the “Capacity Building Needs Assessment Report” completed in mid-October 2014, PI has identified several potential programs to be implemented based on report’s findings and recommendations.

The capacity building program for partner organizations was focused on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) processes and the training for three partner organizations (INTERA, IUS and BIT Center) was executed in late March 2015. The identical training for ICBL management and staff was delivered in early April 2015. This training was organized as the two-day training session, with combination of trainer’s presentation, examples from M&E practices and practical exercises/group and individual work. The training covered M&E theoretical background, application of M&E to reporting and planning in implementation of activities, USAID guidelines and application of M&E in Activity management cycle.

Additionally, all partner organizations (ICBL, IUS, BIT and INTERA) were invited to be active participants in the SEE IT Conference in May 2015, following recommendations from the “Capacity Building Needs Assessment Report”. IUS and ICBL used the opportunity to present the programs “Moja praksa” and “WRN!” at the conference to organizations and companies directly in charge of the recruitment of participants and give first hand feedback on the progress of youth participating in the programs.

As a general practice, all partner organization personnel are continuously encouraged to participate in various PI supported technical trainings for SMEs in their respective regions.

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12. Conduct Activity Monitoring and Evaluation PI staff continued its ongoing collection and analysis of relevant data including training participant surveys, business performance data for PI-assisted SMEs and tracking youth employment following participation in PI supported programs.

All data is continually uploaded into the Activity’s Monitoring & Evaluation Information System (MEIS) and updated key results are continually displayed on PI’s web page.

PI staff attended several M&E trainings that were organized by USAID’s MEASURE Activity during the reporting period. Following the July 2015 training, PI developed a comprehensive results matrix that is fully in line with USAID Mission’s indicator performance tracking table. This, in turn, shall allow for PI’s easy reporting of relevant data for USAID’s consolidated reporting in the future.

Progress on Achieving Activity Target Results

# PI Indicator Description End Year 4 Target

Completion Status at the end of the reporting period

Result % of completion

1 2.1.A Total number of direct jobs resulting from USAID assistance 195 198 101.5 %

1a Female youth employed or better

job position obtained 66 68 103 %

1b Male youth employed or better

job position obtained 129 130 101 %

2

2.1 d Proportion of female participants in USAID assisted programs designed to increase assess to productive economic resources

35% 43% 123 %

3

2.1.3.2.-1 Number of SMEs that reported improved profitability resulting from the use of value-added ICT

130 119 91.5 %

4 2.1.1.-1 Annual percent change in sales of USAID assisted private enterprises

2 % 24% 1200%*

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2.1.3.3.-1 Number of private enterprises improving management practices as a result of USADI assistance

195 202 103.5 %

6 2.1.3.3.-1 Number of youth participating in PI Activity supported programs

1360 1487 109 %

6a Female participants in PI Activity

supported programs 469 651 139 %

6b Male participants in PI Activity

supported programs 891 836 94 %

x This percentage is “unrealistic” because quite a few SMEs are in the early stage of development and they recorded an extremely high percentage of sales just because of their previous very low base for comparison.

Success Stories 1. Certification of B&H ICT firms for work in the German Market

As a part of the international SEE IT conference, PI executed an important market certification training for local SMEs. As a result, the two PI supported SMEs are currently pursuing critical BW Business Bridge (BWBB) Certification for entering Germany’s ICT services market

The BW Business Bridge is southern Germany based association that identifies, validates and certifies international IT companies for the German market. BWBB works with certification bound companies and develops individual market entry roadmaps for Germany.

BWBB presented its offerings to 11 BiH companies during the PI supported training event in late May 2015. The firms showed interest in the concept and the opportunity for the easy and structured entry into the expanding German market. Ultimately, within weeks, Infonet and Ping, the two prominent local software development firms, decided to pursue the BWBB certification for entering the German market. They began working with PI’s international consultant on developing their individual approach towards completing steps in satisfying numerous requirements for the certification process.

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Infonet from Tuzla is one of the few system integrators in BiH, which carefully selects products for integration by taking care of price, quality and capabilities of the equipment itself or the solutions. Infonet is present in the BiH market since 1998 and during this period Infonet has developed specific products that are directed primarily to meet the needs of customers and a safe, stable and efficient functioning operating environmnet. Infonet works with the world's largest companies offering to over 200 customers the best and most efficient products. Getting certified for the German market will hopefully help Infonet become known in Germany and it will showcase its ability to adapt to local market requirements.

The second company pursuing certification is Ping from Sarajevo, a computer and software engineering company founded in 1997 by a group of experts in computer and information sciences. Ping’s primary market orientation is large and complex economic or government systems (banks, trade companies, manufacturing companies, ministries, governmental and other agencies, university organizations etc.). Ping works on a range of platforms and is guided by its business principle “Comprehensive Service and Complete Solutions”. Entering the German market will ensure good positioning for Ping, especially in the areas of demand by German IT industry.

2. Creating a startup after the completion of USAID supported internship program Haris Hadžiahmetović, a student at the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) in Mostar, has known for a long time that in order to succeed in the fast progressing ICT industry, it is not enough just to earn a college degree in computer programming. ICT businesses from BiH follow the latest market trends and have demanding criteria for selecting future employees. The solution is real-life work-based, applied learning opportunities. PI recognized this issue and together with INTERA Technology Park Mostar implements the "Moja Praksa" internship program that aims to complement the knowledge of youth and to help them get prepared for the challenging work in the BiH ICT sector.

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As Haris observes, “In my opinion the concept of "Moja Praksa" is very well designed, keeping in mind that there is no similar program in Mostar region. By participating in the program, I had the opportunity to work with my colleagues, feel the atmosphere that awaits us tomorrow, and more importantly, to develop a project that meets the problem of the real world…I am particularly pleased that despite all the technical things I learned during the practice, I had the opportunity to work with a lot of new people. People I’ve worked with through all the key stages of the project, from the formation of the team, the process of the project, which includes solution to the problems that we have encountered, till the final product.“ The final goal for all program participants was to show their devotion and quality to the mentors and hopefully to receive a job offer. At the end Haris was in a group that successfully finished the program and was invited for a job interview. However, he did not accept the job offer but instead he was “guided by a large dose of self-confidence and optimism” and used his experience in “Moja praksa” to create his own ICT start-up. Haris and another student teamed up to start the incubation process at INTERA in early 2014, shortly after the completion of Moja praksa internship cycle. Their company, Meta Software Solutions LLC (www.mss.ba), is now beginning its second year of existence and their focus is on e-commerce, web development and software design.

Their firm has had startling success. Soon after its creation, MSS was able to offer a project for the group of interns that participated in the most recent “Moja praksa” cycle in Mostar area that was held during November and December 2014. As Haris says, “We were happy to be able to serve as mentors and pass on the practical knowledge and experience to other ICT skilled youth and help enhance their knowledge and job readiness. Haris strongly recommends to other students to apply for upcoming cycles of "Moja Praksa” internship program in Mostar. “This program was very helpful for me,” he says, “and I believe it will be for all future participants. One decision might improve one’s life; it’s up to each and every of us to make the first move!”

For other Activity success stories please refer to the PI website at www.innovation.ba

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REPORTING BY REGIONS Tuzla Region Youth Internships x BIT Center successfully completed two cohorts of the internship program “Moja praksa”

(3rd and 4th cohort) for total of 117 young people. The 3rd cohort was completed in December 2014 and 4th in June 2015. BIT received more than 180 student applications for participation in these two cohorts. Students went through three different theoretical courses as introduction into the practical part of the program: courses in Networking, Activity Management and Internet Marketing. Total of 12 ICT companies (SoftConsulting, Magic Factory, Net-Pro, BIT Centar, Innovation Technology Foundation, Revis, Studio Progres, Multicom, Leftor, CA Design, Akademika, Code Nest) provided projectactivities and mentors during these two cohorts.

Group photo following the certification award ceremony held in January 2015 for the participants

of the 3rd cohort of the “Moja praksa” internship program

x BIT Center started the second cycle of “Work Ready Now! (WRN) training in Tuzla for

youth earlier than planned, in order to accommodate student requests to conduct the program during the semester period, rather than during the summer break. BIT Center enrolled 33 students into the program by the beginning of April and started with classes. 30 students successfully completed the WRN! Training program in May 2015, ahead of the planned timeline from the FOG. The program is aimed at unemployed youth, with majority enrolled into one of the technical faculties. The training is designed so that young people are actively involved in the learning process, have the opportunity to practice and improve their soft skill, and gain self-confidence necessary to find and keep a job.

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Students were actively participating in group exercises during the WRN! Training program

x PI held several meetings with BIT Center staff during the fourth year of the Activity in order to discuss monitoring procedures and implementation of “Moja praksa” internship program, assessment tools, training staff and earlier execution of the “Work Ready Now!” training in 2015.

x PI held several meetings with companies participating in the “Moja praksa” program (Leftor, Studio Progres, Marvelsoft, CodeNest, Akademika, Infonet, Austrofon, Source Code, SoftConsulting, CPE) in order to discuss lessons learned from the 2nd and 3rd cohort of the “Moja praksa” internships. PI also discussed future plans of these companies for youth employment and general youth workplace behavior. PI also made efforts to recruit several new companies for the internship program.

SME Support and Youth Trainings x PI held a number of meetings with Tuzla based ICT firms during the fourth year of the

Activity discussing options for delivery of top-level trainings for SMEs. Meetings were held with Nova Genus, Infonet, Itineris, Elatec, Leftor, CPE, Tring, DCCS, Quality Cert, Codenest and Starnet. Areas of interest for training of SMEs’ current staff and were identified and they include Java programming language, ASP.NET, Swift, Angular JS and Node JS software frameworks, personnel management, activity management, digital media and video editing techniques.

x 15 trainees from 7 companies successfully completed the Swift programming language bootcamp type training in December 2014. Swift is Apple’s programming language of the latest generation that was introduced globally in 2014. This language is expected to start a new era in a development of software for mobile devices. 7 companies that took part

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in this training are: CodeNest, Akademika, NET Pro, Leftor, H&H Inc, Mia Vision and Source Code.

x 18 trainees from 8 companies (Starnet, Itineris, Codenest, Leftor, CA Design, Akademika, Authority partners and Novagenus) successfully completed ASP .NET MVC 4 web development bootcamp type training in February 2015. The focus was on coding activities that enhance the performance and scalability of the Web site application.

x PI completed a five-day bootcamp type training in ASP .NET MVC 4 web development for 15 unemployed young engineers in Tuzla in September 2015. This training was designed and executed in collaboration with the company Codenest from Tuzla which expressed immediate need for ASP .NET software developers and promised to hire at least 7 participants in this training.

x PI completed the two-day product development training in Tuzla in September 2015 for 5 companies (SoftConsulting, Quality Cert, Leftor, Imel, Tring). This training was designed and executed for both the newly established and mature companies, seeking to generate new growth from existing and/or new products/services in domestic or any targeted foreign market. Participants from 5 different SMEs learned how to test their existing products and create products that fit the market needs.

SME sales and marketing staff during the product development training in Tuzla

x PI started a two-month training program in SolidWorks software for 5 companies from Tesanj-Zepce-Teslic in early fall. This training was designed in collaboration with the Development Agency Tesanj, which identified the exact IT skills in deficiency within these companies. The training will last until the end of November 2015.

Banja Luka region

Youth Internships x In late December 2014, ICBL successfully completed the Fall 2014 cohort of “Moja praksa”

internship program for 51 youth from Banja Luka region. 12 local ICT companies (Projman doo Banja Luka, Lanaco doo Banja Luka, , IRBRS ad Banja Luka, , Inova doo Banja Luka, Info Ars Banja Luka, No Limits doo Banja Luka, DVC Solution Laktaši, Virtua doo Banja

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Luka, Alea Control doo Banja Luka, ComTrade doo Banja Luka, e-info doo Banja Luka, BitLab doo Banja Luka) have provided project activities and mentors.

x The Spring 2015 cycle of “Moja praksa” internships program for Banja Luka region was completed as planned in early June 2015. 52 young participants completed the theoretical education and practical team work tasks under mentorship from 11 local companies. At the end of the program, 11 teams and their mentors presented project activities that included drafting the desktop and web applications such as developing online courses for learning Web design, development of applications for the organization of the library, application for support for services of electronic equipment, etc.

“Moja praksa” teams presenting their ICT Activitys on the final ceremony in June 2015 in Banja Luka

x PI held number of meetings with ICT firms, faculty and prospective students during the reporting period as part of the Activity’s support to ICBL in improving the recruitment and overall implementation of the “Moja praksa” internship program.

x The second cycle of the “Work Ready Now” program was successfully completed at the Innovation Center Banja Luka (ICBL) in July 2015. The total of 25 students completed this workforce development program for students and young unemployed people.

Certification ceremony for the “Work Ready Now!” program in Banja Luka in July 2015

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EDC’s global Work Ready Now! program was adapted for BiH context to include 44 hours of training within six distinct modules: Personal Development, Communication skills, behavior in the workplace, job search skills, Leadership and Introduction to Entrepreneurship.

SME Support and Youth Trainings

x The 8 week long training program focused on application of “Adobe InDesign & Illustrator” software solutions was completed in Banja Luka on February 9, 2015. 13 participants from 6 local firms received important education in applying advanced technological solutions in graphic design processes

x PI completed a two-day long, “Scrum Master” course in Banja Luka on February 18-19, 2015 for the mixed group of 22 participants that included unemployed youth and developers from 11 local firms. Through the cooperation with Bosnia Agile association, PI managed to engage Mr. Ola Sunden, an experienced software developer from “Softhouse" in Malmo, Sweden to deliver this highly important training for local SMEs and youth. “Scrum” is the framework for managing software development activities and “Scrum Master” certifications are quickly becoming a global ICT industry standard and a necessity for all BiH SMEs that compete for software development contracts from international clients.

x PI supported the cross entity collaboration between Prijedor’s and Una Sana Canton’s development agencies in successful organization of the regional “Business to Business Conference” held in Prijedor on March 12, 2015. The conference’s main goal was to facilitate business linkages and promote the use of information and communication technology (ICT) based solutions for business processes in traditional industry sectors. 9 BiH firms presented leading edge ICT solutions for production, inventory and distribution processes to more than 30 potential client firms from Northwest Bosnia Herzegovina.

x PI successfully completed a one week long training boot camp focused on advanced iOS/SWIFT application development in mid-April 2015.

Lecturer and trainees at IOS/SWIFT training in April 2015 in Banja Luka

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For the first time in Banja Luka, 9 professionals from 9 local SMEs (DG labs, Logica Technology, ComTrade, Banjaluka College, Cubus, Technetis, Optimal soft solutions, Volvoxide, BitLab) and 8 young unemployed programmers had an opportunity to learn about the latest programming language SWIFT for Apple devices such as iPhone and iPad. Through theoretical and practical work participants received comprehensive training and insight into the whole process, from the request for the application, via design and all the way toward the finished product.

x The training design workshop for companies that use ICT in multimedia and audio video productions was completed in March 2015. Five SMEs discussed latest industry trends and have identified several priority areas in terms of developing practical skills on specific advanced software solutions. In line with its “demand driven” approach, PI will consider these topics for its upcoming SME training programs in Banja Luka.

x The eight week long training in programming language C ++ in Prijedor was completed in late April 2015. 12 young developers received 60 hours of theoretical education and practical exercises delivered by Professor Dragan Matic from Banja Luka. The program included basic and advanced elements of object oriented programming using programming language C++. Participants also worked on teamwork projects completing real life programming tasks. Partnership for Innovation conducted this training in cooperation with Prijedor’s Economic Development Agency (PREDA) and addressing the surveyed HR needs of Prijedor based ICT companies.

C++ certification ceremony at PREDA Prijedor in May 2015

PREDA-PD” committed to secure internships for 4 trainees at Prijedor area ICT companies during the upcoming period.

x Training for the System Administrator profile was successfully completed in mid-June 2015 in Prijedor. The training lasted 90 hours during the nine week period and included practical exercises and simulations of realistic tasks and events. As part of the course, students also conducted an on-site visit to the server room at the City of Prijedor’s Administrative Services. Fourteen students have learned basic techniques of maintenance, repairing and installation of computer networks, software and hardware and got prepared for the work in the complex and technically demanding ICT work environments. All participants have expressed great satisfaction with the adopted

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practical knowledge, while the company ELPIN from Prijedor promptly offered employment to one participant. PI conducted this training in cooperation with Prijedor’s Economic Development Agency (PREDA) and in an effort to address the surveyed needs of Prijedor based ICT companies.

System Administrator C++ certification ceremony at PREDA Prijedor in June 2015

x In early June, PI held a workshop in Bihac, in cooperation with Una Sana Canton’s Development Agency and Bihac’s Faculty of Technical Sciences. The aim was to identify human resource needs of local ICT SMEs and type of programs that could help youth gain technical skills that are essential for obtaining jobs or starting their own business. Five local ICT companies (Infosys doo, Unimatrix doo, ND Media, IDK studio, Mistral doo) and 12 students also took part in the workshop that provided the first ever platform for connecting this region’s academia and ICT sector firms, discussing development needs and identifying priority training needs.

x PI supported the organization of the two-day “WordUp” conference and training in Banja Luka on April 24-25, 2015. “WordUp” was focused on application of WordPress platform tools in web development. The two day training was completed by 40 young programmers while the conference sessions were attended by more than 200 industry practitioners and lecturers. WordPress platform is becoming a tool of choice for improving online performance and business promotion for many companies throughout the world and “WordUp” was the first such conference in Bosnia Herzegovina.

x PI completed the two week long training in advanced Android programming in Banja Luka in mid-July, 2015. This training was focused on use of the Android operating system for mobile devices and was provided to unemployed youth and staff from small and medium size IT firms from the wider Banja Luka region.

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Android prgramming training in Banja Luka in July 2015

Fourteen trainees completed the program that was focused on mastering advanced levels of Android programming in order to get prepared to take the professional exam for obtaining the “OESF for Android App Development Certificate”. At the end of the training, participants have acquired the sufficient skills to create and publish their own applications. To demonstrate their skills, at the end of the program applicants created an application for scrolling, downloading and displaying news from network services and they published this application at the Google Play market.

x The three-day long, hands-on training titled „SWITCH 2MAC“ was successfully completed today at the Apple computer lab at “Banja Luka College”. 12 young participants completed the technical training that was divided into three parts: system setup, software use and integration into the network. Participants were trained in practical use of the iMac OSX Yomite operating system, as well as in utilization of various Apple business applications such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote. The standard, Apple Training Center, methodology was applied during the training and participants were awarded with internationally recognized certificates.

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Certification ceremony at the end of Switch 3 MAC training in Banja Luka in September 2015

Sarajevo Region

Youth Internships

x PI provided limited support for the execution of “Career and Entrepreneurship Opportunities (CEO)” conferences held Sarajevo in early December 2014. Two days conference included various presentations and workshops focused on promotion and boosting of employment and youth entrepreneurship in BiH and was used as an additional platform for promoting PI supported youth internship and training programs. More than 600 youth participants attended this important conference.

x During the JobFAIR in November 2014, PI Activity, together with the International University in Sarajevo, IUS, successfully promoted “Moja Praksa” internships and “Work Ready Now” trainings to all interested students. JobFAIR ’14 is an event that brings together ambitious students and graduates of technical and technology faculty in the process of job search.

Job Fair presentation of “Moja praksa” in Sarajevo in November 2014

x International University of Sarajevo (IUS) completed the second cohort of the “Moja praksa” internship program for Sarajevo region in January 2015, with 58 youth completing activity assignments under mentorship from 14 local ICT firms.

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x PI held several meetings with project coordinator from IUS during first quarter 2015 in order to discuss implementation progress of the internship program “Moja Praksa”.

x International University of Sarajevo (IUS) completed the third cohort of the “Moja praksa” internship program for Sarajevo region in July 2015, with 53 youth completing activity assignments under mentorship from 15 local ICT firms.

x International University of Sarajevo (IUS) completed the second cycle of “Work Ready Now! (WRN) training in Sarajevo in mid-August. The program is aimed for young unemployed highly educated persons, with an emphasis on technical and economic interest. The training is designed so that young people are actively involved in the learning process, have the opportunity to practice and improve new skills, gain self-confidence necessary to find and keep a job.

SME Support and Youth Trainings

x PI executed a two week long, Bootcamp type training, focused on iOS software application development in Sarajevo from December 1 to 12, 2014. Fourteen students and unemployed youth gained new skills and insight into the basic software development for applications for Apple devices.

x PI supported a one-day conference titled “Bosnia Agile Day 2014” that was organized by Bosnia Agile Association. The conference which took place on October 27, 2014 in Sarajevo and attended by nearly 150 developers and managers from across the country that have come to hear interesting speakers and join different workshops. By exploring numerous talks and interactive workshops, organized in several parallel tracks, the conference attendees have widen the range of their actionable knowledge about Agile approaches and techniques used for product and team management in ICT industry processes and gain experience about their practical application.

“Bosnia Agile Day 2014” session in Sarajevo in October 2014

x In mid-November, PI successfully completed training in Sarajevo for 30 mentors from six leading IT companies in BiH. Atlantbh, Authority Partners, DevLogic, Green River Media, PING and Zira are the founders of the association “BIT Alliance” which is actively working to strengthen the IT industry in BiH, as well as its connections with the broader community. This important training will enable standardization of the mentoring process

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and ensure that mentors understand their role and responsibilities in the mentoring relationship. Mentors also learned how to use the tools that will enable uniform approach and work with practitioners and future employees of IT companies as well as with the participants of PI supported educational program Moja Praksa.

x In early December 2014, PI successfully supported organization and execution of a bootcamp focused on SWIFT, the advanced iOS application development. For the first time in BiH 15 professionals from 13 different ICT companies completed an eight-day advanced applications development course in the programming language SWIFT for Apple devices such as iPhone and iPad. Through theoretical and practical work participants received comprehensive training and insight to the whole process, from the request for the application, via design through to the finished product. During the training, participants had the opportunity to make several applications in various fields, such as weather, gaming, navigation systems application, etc.

SWIFT training session in Sarajevo in December 2014

x The PI training design workshop was held in Sarajevo mid-January 2015. 6 ICT companies from Sarajevo area participated and discussed upcoming training priorities. The education in Oracle software development/solutions, GIT, Object oriented programing as well as product development, project management and product promotion and marketing was identified as priorities.

x The ASP.NET training for SMEs was successfully completed in mid-March in Sarajevo. This training lasted 40 hours and was attended by 14 participants from seven local IT companies. During the training, participants learned how to develop advanced ASP .NET MVC applications using the tools and technology of the .NET Framework. The focus was on activities that improve coding performance and scalability of web applications.

x The series of PI supported youth educations and trainings in computer programming for 38 ICT talented youth under the “BiH Informatics Olympiad” program was executed during the April – July 2015 period.

x 15 students successfully finished a 3 day long hackathon in April 2015, designed to be educational with competitive drive to establish both individual problem solving skills and team work. Lecturer from Microsoft Bosnia and Herzegovina and Authority Partners explained Visual Studio IDE and basic concepts of Object-Oriented Programming in C# language and .NET framework as well as various components of Windows Phone

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development and how to create interaction between user interfaces and back-end code, leveraging previously explained programming concepts.

x In May and August 2015 PI successfully supported two Access to Market workshops in Sarajevo. The goal with these workshops was to identify key issues and market opportunities in the German ICT industry for BiH ICT SMEs and lay out specific requirements that BiH SMEs need to fulfill before they could enter the German market. In particular, the desired outcome was to increase the number of BiH SMEs that are qualified to enter the German ICT market, expand their client base and increase sales results. Representatives from 16 local ICT companies took part at these workshops.

x PI organized an Access to Market Training one day prior the SEE IT Conference, in order to identify key issues and market opportunities in the German ICT industry for BiH SMEs and lay out specific requirements that BiH SMEs need to fulfill before they could enter the German market. In particular, the outcome of this training was to increase the number of BiH SMEs that are qualified to enter the German ICT market, expand their client base and increase sales results.

x PI completed two day Product Development training in Sarajevo in September 2015. This training was aimed at newly established and mature companies who intend to generate new growth from existing and/or new products/services and get them to either domestic or any targeted foreign market. Participants from 10 different SMEs learned how to test their existing products and create product that fits market needs. They gained more knowledge about different processes and stages, competitors and market research, the importance of an innovative mind set and business and people skills.

x PI supported the one week long training in Android during the “Geek Fest 2015” for young computer programmers that was held at the International University in Sarajevo during the last week of August, 2015. 23 participants from various parts of B&H participated in this training.

Mostar Region

Youth Internships

x INTERA successfully completed the third cohort of the “Moja praksa” internship program for Mostar region in January 2015, with 55 youth completing Activity assignments under mentorship from 8 local ICT firms. The Award ceremony for students and mentors was held on January 23, 2015.

x INTERA completed the fourth cohort of the “Moja praksa” internship program for Mostar region in July 2015, with 51 youth completing Activity assignments under mentorship from 7 local ICT firms.

x INTERA completed the second cycle of “Work Ready Now! (WRN) training in Mostar in August 2015. 25 participants finished the program that is aimed for young unemployed highly educated persons, with an emphasis on technical and economic interest. The training is designed so that young people are actively involved in the learning process, have the opportunity to practice and improve new skills, gain self-confidence necessary to find and keep a job.

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Certification ceremony for the “Work Ready Now!” program in Mostar in August 2015

SME Support

x The PI training design workshop was held in Mostar mid-December 2014. 8 ICT companies from Mostar area participated and discussed upcoming training priorities. The education in iOS programming was identified as one the top priorities at this stage and was nominated for the next PI training or bootcamp for SMEs from Mostar region.

x PI supported a SCRUM Master training for 16 trainees from 5 companies from Mostar region as well as for unemployed youth. This training in advanced software development project management was successfully completed in mid-December. Training was conducted in a highly interactive and collaborative format with elements of lectures, group discussions, exercises, games and simulations in the classroom.

x On February 26, 2015, H.E. Ambassador Cormack visited INTERA Technology Park Mostar. INTERA’s management provided a guided tour of the facility including the “business storefront”, a permanent exhibition for Herzegovina based producers from various industries, the training facility for advanced metal processing operations and the business incubation area for information & communication technology (ICT) focused startups. Ambassador Cormack also participated in the roundtable discussion with successful young trainees, academia and managers from local ICT SMEs focusing on challenges related to youth workforce and business development in Bosnia Herzegovina’s ICT sector.

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H.E. Ambassador Cormack touring INTERA Mostar in February 2015

During the round table session, several recent internship graduates used the opportunity to share their positive experiences about the USAID supported “Moja praksa” internship program and stressed that they have acquired practical skills and hands on experience that helped them land jobs or start their own software development ICT firms.

x In early April 2015, PI executed an ICT bootcamp in iOS software application

development. 15 professionals from 7 different ICT companies completed a six-day advanced applications development course in the programming language SWIFT for Apple devices such as iPhone and iPad. Through theoretical and practical work participants received comprehensive training and insight to the whole process, from the request for the application, via design through to the finished product. During the training, participants had the opportunity to make several applications in various fields, such as weather, gaming, navigation systems application, etc.

iOS training session in Mostar in April 2015

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Conferences and Events x Partnership for Innovation supported the cross entity collaboration between Prijedor’s

and Una Sana Canton’s development agencies in successful organization of the regional “Business to Business Conference” held in Prijedor on March 12, 2015. The conference’s main goal was to facilitate business linkages and promote the use of information and communication technology (ICT) based solutions for business processes in traditional industry sectors. 9 BiH firms presented leading edge ICT solutions for production, inventory and distribution processes to more than 30 potential client firms from Northwest Bosnia Herzegovina.

“Business to Business Conference”in Prijedor, March 2015

x PI, together with USAID Regional Economic Growth (REG) Activity and GIZ Open Regional

Fund for Foreign Trade Promotion successfully organized a South-East European Information Technology (SEE IT) conference that was held in Sarajevo, BiH, on May 21-22, 2015.

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“ South-East European Information Technology - SEE IT” Conference in Sarajevo, May 2015

The conference gathered representatives from IT firms, clusters and associations from dozen EU and Balkan countries including Albania, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Sweden. The conference served as a platform for national and international ICT industry leaders, academics, researchers and policy makers to interact and discuss various issues related to the ICT education in BiH, discuss opportunities for BH ICT SMEs to develop product portfolios as well as effectively present their products and services in the international markets. The Conference gathered managers from PI targeted ICT sector SMEs, guests from South-East Europe’s (SEE) ICT Clusters and representatives from developed EU markets such as Germany, Austria and Sweden.

IV. CHALLENGES/ISSUES ENCOUNTERED

Termination of the BAN component

Upon subgrant signature in July 2013, the non-profit organization YES embarked on an activity to establish a Business Angel Network (BAN) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and run an accompanying Business Startup Accelerator. The creation of a vibrant and effective BAN in BiH and delivering investments into startups through this channel was considered at the time as innovative and nascent program. YES worked for 15 months in an attempt to achieve goals set in the FOG agreement, but unfortunately, even after the extended deadline for 5 investments into startups, was not able to achieve results for 2 critical indicators and EDC decided to terminate its subgrant with YES in November 2014.

During these 15 months YES delivered the startup accelerator program to a total of 27 early stage startups in 3 cycles (15 graduates) and signed up 13 entrepreneurs / investors for its Business Angels Network. YES delivered 600 hours of training to around 50 startup (co)founders with the help from 14 mentors. 4 investments were offered to BIZOO graduate startups and 1 investment was finalized by the time EDC terminated YES’s subgrant in November 2014.

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As noted in previous reports, the first cycle of the Business Startup Accelerator (October – December 2013) was relatively weak in terms of number of applications (only 29 applications) but also in quality of startups. After the first cycle was completed PI helped YES create and execute an Outreach Plan in order to reach larger number of startups in future cycles. PI’s outreach support resulted in YES receiving more than 150 applications for the second and third acceleration cycles.

In parallel, YES started the process of creation of an Angel Network in BiH, but quickly concluded that the process requires additional time, education and much wider pool of committed potential investors for it to yield the desired % of investments. As part of the effort to attract investors PI engaged an investor expert Susan Preston (in November 2013) in order to help YES in establishing the BAN. As a result of this consultancy, a total of 30 local influential investors, business persons and corporate executives were approached by YES, 13 of which signed the agreement to join the Business Angel Network.

The second cycle of the Business Startup Accelerator (March – May 2014) was fairly successful as two of the program’s graduates, LightDocs and YuTransfer competed and finished in top-3 at the international ICT entrepreneurship event #SarajevoFTW, which was held in Sarajevo in May 2014, and subsequently winning exhibitor packages to TechCrunch Disrupt London for October 2014. At the same time, YES was not achieving the planned number of 5 investments into startups by June 30, 2014 and requested a deadline for Milestone #6 to be extended until October 31, 2014.

In order to assist YES in reaching the planned number of investments, PI developed a series of measures to improve its strategy, tactics, and marketing capabilities. The first measure was the Action Plan for the July – October 2014 period, which identified several areas where additional support was required, such as expansion of BAN’s public outreach, creation of framework for BAN operations, additional training for both startups and investors, and geographically improved outreach to youth. PI also drew upon the expertise of two international consultants with extensive experience supporting startups and Angel Networks in the region to remedy the situation. Kingsley Aikins taught YES staff on how to effectively draw on the Bosnian diaspora. His report provided helpful strategies for how to best leverage diaspora networks for investment. Max Gurvits provided a comprehensive assessment of the BIZOO / BAN and a clear roadmap for YES to follow in order to create a viable Business Angel Network. These reports have been provided to USAID.

In the meantime YES completed the third cycle of Business Startup Accelerator (July – September 2014) support for 9 more early stage startups. However, YES still couldn’t succeed in finalizing investments into startups by the extended deadline of October 31, 2014, regardless of the fact that some interest by investors was demonstrated and support from YES was provided in facilitating discussions and negotiations between investors and startup youth.

As a result of the above, EDC terminated its subgrant agreement with YES in November 2014 following YES’s failure to facilitate investments into 5 startups by the extended deadline of October 31, 2014.

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V. ADMINISTRATION, REPORTING AND TRAVEL FOR THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 2014 – SEPTEMBER 2015

Administration

x EDC prepared the realigned budget and the revised Program Description during the spring 2015 to reflect the discontinuation of the support for the BAN and Startup Acceleration program. The modification to the Cooperative Agreement was signed in July 2015. The Modification included changes to the Program Description and adjustment of activity indicators so they could be fully in line with Mission level results indicators.

x EDC revised the PI’s M&E Plan to reflect changes made in the latest agreement modification and submitted for USAID’s approval in early September 2015.

Travel

The following table provides the completed travels for PI staff and international consultants for the period September 2014 – September 2015.

PI Staff/Consultant Schedule Description

Elena Vinogradova

- November 2014 Worked with PI staff on improving M&E processes and drafting specific M&E solutions for the post BAN redesign of PI’s M&E

Till Hahndorf

- May 2015 Consultant delivered a one-day certification training oriented for the German market for SMEs and deliver a keynote speech at the PI organized regional ICT Conference in Sarajevo

Ivica Penic - September 2015

Consultant conducted 2, two-day long Product Development Trainings for SMEs in Tuzla and Sarajevo. This training was aimed at newly established and mature companies who intend to generate new growth from existing and/or new products/services and get them to either domestic or any targeted foreign market

PI staff also attended several local conferences where the staff met industry leaders and potential beneficiaries and consultants for the PI Activity.

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x Tanja Madzarevic and Igor Kapetanovic attended Bosnia Agile Day event organized by the Bosnia Agile association held in Sarajevo, on October 27, 2014.

x Tanja Madzarevic attended Microsoft Network 4 conference, held in Neum in April 2015.

x Jusuf Tanovic, Tanja Madzarevic and Igor Kapetanovic attended the South-East European Information Technology (SEE IT) conference that was held in Sarajevo, BiH, on May 21-22, 2015.

x Jusuf Tanovic attended the regional “Business to Business Conference” held in Prijedor on March 12, 2015.

It is important to note that consultant expertise will be utilized in response to the needs of the partners and market response. As Activity implementation progress, PI will identify the most effective timing for utilizing particular expertise.

The following table provides the planned travel for PI staff and international consultants for the period September 2015 – August 2016

PI Staff/Consultant Schedule Description

Anders Sixtensson Oct 14 – 18, 2015 Consultant will deliver a two day training in Lean and Agile methodologies for Sarajevo based ICT SMEs

Dirk Weil Oct 25 – 31, 2015 Consultant will deliver intensive five day training in JEE 7 for Tuzla based ICT SMEs.

Michael Tetelman June - July 2016 Support for the completion of activities related to Activity closure

Appendix 1 – Indicator Performance Tracking Table (IPTT) for Partnership for Innovation Activity

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OVERALL ACTIVITY BASELINE

FY 15 (PI Activity Year 4 )

FY 16 ( PI Activity Year 5 )

LIFE OF ACTIVITY

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icab

le

Targ

et

(p

er y

ear )

Actu

al (q

uart

er

and

an

nual

)

Annu

al b

asel

ine

(if a

pplic

able

)

Targ

et (a

nnua

l)

Actu

al (q

uart

er a

nd

annu

al)

End

of A

ctiv

ity

% T

arge

t Ach

ieve

d

2.1 a Total number of direct jobs resulting

from USAID assistance

Number of youth that obtained

employment or better job

positioning their company

following participation in

TOTA

L

30-S

ep-1

4

90 n/a 105

Q1: 106

195 105

Q1

300 101.54% Achieved Q2: 135 Q2 Q3: 151 Q3 Q4/Y4: 198 Q4/Y5

FEM

ALE 30

-Se

p-14

30 n/a 36 Q1

66 37 Q1

103 103.03% Achieved Q2 Q2

2

USA

ID/B

IH P

ARTN

ERSH

IP F

OR

INN

OVA

TIO

N A

CTIV

ITY

PI supported program

Q3 Q3 Q4/Y4: 68 Q4/Y5

MAL

E

30-S

ep-1

4

60 n/a 69

Q1

129 68

Q1

197 100.78% Achieved Q2 Q2 Q3 Q3 Q4/Y4: 130 Q4/Y5

2.1 d Proportion of

female participants

in USAID assisted

programs designed to

increase assess to

productive economic resources

Number of female youth participants

attending in PI Activity

supported programs

(internships, work readines, advanced ICT

trainings) desing to

increase access to productive

econonic resources or to

increase ICT knowledge.

TOTA

L

30-S

ep-1

4 33% n/a 34%

Q1

35% 36%

Q1

36% 122.86% Achieved Q2 Q2

Q3 Q3 Q4/Y4: 43% Q4/Y5

DIS-

AGRE

GATI

ON

CA

TEGO

RY 1

30-S

ep-1

4

n/a n/a n/a

Q1

n/a n/a

Q1

n/a n/a n/a Q2 Q2

Q3 Q3

Q4/Y4 Q4/Y5

DIS-

AGRE

GATI

ON

CA

TEGO

RY 2

30-S

ep-1

4

n/a n/a n/a

Q1

n/a n/a

Q1

n/a n/a n/a Q2 Q2

Q3 Q3

Q4/FY4 Q4/Y5 2.1.3.2-1

Number of SMEs that reported

Total number of SMEs that

reported improved in

TOTA

L

30 S

ep.

2014

60 n/a 70

Q1: 41

130 70 Q1

200 91.54% Not achieved Q2:

51 Q2

3 U

SAID

/BIH

PAR

TNER

SHIP

FO

R IN

NO

VATI

ON

AC

TIV

ITY

improved profitability

resulting from the use

of value-added ICT

profitability will be

defined as the total number of SMEs that

have demonstrated

increase in profits

between baseline and

end-line assessments.

Q3: 84 Q3 Q4/Y4: 119

Q4/Y5

2.1.1.-1 Annual percent

change in sales of USAID

assisted private

enterprises

Increase in sales will be defined as

demonstrated increase in

sales between baseline and

end-line assessments.

TOTA

L

30 S

ep. 2

014

2% n/a 2%

Q1: n/a

2% 2%

Q1

2% 1200%

Achieved. This

percentage is

“unrealistic” because

quite a few SMEs are in

the early stage of

development and they

recorded an extremely

high percentage of sales just because of

their previous very low base for

comparison

Q2: 7% Q2

Q3: 16% Q3

Q4/Y4: 24% Q4/Y5

4

USA

ID/B

IH P

ARTN

ERSH

IP F

OR

INN

OVA

TIO

N A

CTIV

ITY

2.1.3.3.-1 Number of

private enterprises improving

management practices as a

result of USAID

assistance

Number of SMEs for

which at least one

representative attends 80% of training days/hours

during any PI supported

training program.

TOTA

L

30 S

ep. 2

014

90 n/a 105

Q1: 128

195 105

Q1

300 103.59% Achieved

Q2: 162 Q2 Q3: 188 Q3 Q4/Y4: 202

Q4/Y5

2.1.3.3.-1 Number of

youth participating in PI Activity supported programs

Youth is defined as any one between the ages of 15

and 35. Participations is defined as as least 60%

attendance at training couses

(interships, work

readiness, ICT trainings)

TOTA

L

30 S

ep. 2

014

700 n/a 660

Q1: 898

1360 640

Q1

2000 109.34% Achieved

Q2: 1046 Q2 Q3: 1245 Q3 Q4/Y4: 1487 Q4/Y5

FEM

ALE

30 S

ep. 2

014

238 34% 231

Q1: n/a

469 36%

Q1

699 138.81% Achieved Q2: n/a Q2 Q3: 507 Q3 Q4/Y4: 651 Q4/Y5

MAL

E

30 S

ep. 2

014

462 66% 429

Q1: n/a

891 65%

Q1

1301 93.83% Achieved Q2: n/a Q2 Q3: 738 Q3

5 U

SAID

/BIH

PAR

TNER

SHIP

FO

R IN

NO

VATI

ON

AC

TIV

ITY

Q4/Y4: 836 Q4/Y5