August 25, 2022 - From September 2nd to September 4th, the largest regional IT conference will be held, organised by the team from MS Community, the Osijek Software City association, the PMI Croatia association, the Business Incubator BIOS, and partners: City of Osijek, J. J. Strossmayer University and the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek.

„In addition to the previous sponsors, this year we gained reinforcement from some new ones, with whom we are preparing 3 days of first-class knowledge, fun, and unforgettable socialising in Slavonia and Baranja. Each year we strengthen the program, which would not be possible without the tireless individuals who do their best to raise the bar for the quality of the conference“, said Conference Director Bernardin Katić.

During the 3 days of the conference, there will be an interesting program for all fans of the IT industry, as well as for the young ones. The topics range from advanced programming, database, IT Pro, web technology, design, project management, and game development, to an open part, where the lectures are formed at the event.

A major refreshment to the conference this year is brought by a new sponsor - EPAM USA, which will cover the KulenDayzKidz program.

The organization of the conference would also not have been possible without the support of the teams from King ICT, Tria, Undabot, Optiva, Joberty, Infobip, Nephos, and Evolutio.

Conference program:

FRIDAY – 2^nd September 2022

The program starts with pre-conference training in seven different areas. The locations of the training are the Kopački Rit Nature Park and the Kopačevo Ethno Village.

SATURDAY – 3^rd September 2022

On the main day of the conference, over 50 lectures will be held at the Academy of Arts and Culture and the Stara Pekara centre. The courtyard will be the place to socialise through the well-known In Da Sofa concept, stalls, and exhibitors who will make sure that there is no shortage of food and drinks. At the end of the day, a legendary party and gathering await!

SUNDAY – 4^th September 2022

A day of relaxation in Tikveš for a team-building event with a tour of the newly opened museum.

IT conference for the young ones

In addition to the main program on 3^rd September, an IT conference for children will take place: KulenDayz Kidz - a workshop intended for children aged 7-15 to strengthen their skills with computers, communication, and teamwork. This year's the theme is Scratch and HTML where the little ones will learn to create websites and a simple game.

Kulen, rakija, chillis, and first-class knowledge - it smells like a good invitation to apply!

Registration is open until August 30, and the number of places is limited to 500. The organisers invite you to secure your place in time.

More about the conference at www.kulendayz.com.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

August 24, 2022 - Nathan arrived in Osijek from Arizona via Colorado and Prague. Not only did he find a job there, but also what he calls the ideal place for family life. The Osijek Software City movement is slowly, but surely coming to life.

As RTL writes, Osijek is a city where IT companies produce good software. Where do you acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for that? Where are the educated and motivated workers employed in quality and promising companies? This is how the objectives of the Osijek Software City project were presented, were they achieved?

Ten years from the first vision of Osijek as a regional IT center, and seven years until the first company in the IT park. The story of Osijek Software City unfolded slowly.

“It went slowly and it was difficult, but now it's going faster and faster”, Denis, one of the initiators of this story, told RTL. Better cooperation with universities will create the necessary IT specialists and scholarship programs with the City and the County that will attract young people.

“For us, this current pool of young people is no longer enough to turn Osijek into a true center of the IT industry, and we will really need to attract and import a lot of foreign students”, says Denis Sušac, director of the IT company.

Nathan arrived in Osijek from Arizona via Colorado and Prague. Not only did he find a job there, but also what he calls the ideal place for family life.

“Osijek could be one of the best cities on the planet for family life”, said Nathan Chappell, a developer.

The family spirit is present in the workplace, and his family is also helping him learn the Croatian language.

Ivana, on the other hand, studied languages, but after finishing her studies, she felt that it was not her life's calling.

“And then, little by little, I started poking around in IT to see what was there and what I was really interested in and I came across this testing”, said Ivana Belak, software tester.

She didn't want to leave Croatia and rather wanted to find the job she desired here, and that, she says, came true.

“We think that today young people can live very well working in Osijek, without leaving, and this trend of going to Ireland, Sweden, Germany is slowly coming to a halt”, claims Sušac.

The number of IT people in Osijek is growing. The goal of recognising Osijek as a city where IT experts live and work is becoming closer, and without their skills life is almost unimaginable today.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 15 Feb 2022 - The European Year of Youth, which is being marked in 2022 under the title "Young people - the drivers of modern industries", is an opportunity to popularise modern technologies in Croatia, as well as the contribution of young people as drivers of development, it was said at a conference in Novska.

Video game production is currently the fastest growing industry in the world, and the conference, organised by the Central State Office for Demography and Youth, was held at the PISMO Business Incubator in Novska, Croatia's leading gaming industry institution.

Presenting their work, young innovators and gamers also spoke of the problems they are faced with when trying to realise their ideas, such as the lack of funds for the creation of prototypes of their inventions and then financing the production.

The conference also discussed secondary school programmes for video game technicians, which are being implemented at the Technical School Sisak and the Secondary School Novska. The four-year programme enables students to work as designers of graphic elements or as programmers, but they can also pursue higher education.

The State Secretary at the Central State Office for Demography and Youth, Željka Josić, said that Novska was the first to turn to new technology and new industry and thus attracted many young people, adding that Novska was a positive example of what young people can do.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Education, Tomislav Paljak, said that with the new experimental programme for video game technicians, the Ministry gave support to the modern industry.

Novska Mayor Marin Piletić said that the conference should additionally highlight the role of young people in the digital transformation of the Croatian economy. That way, Novska has started an interesting story for the development of the city, the county and Croatia, he said.