The Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of the Republic of Srpska opened today applications for the Competition for the Best Technological Innovation, whose goal is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

The prize fund of this year's competition amounts to 35,000 BAM, and the prizes range between 10,000 BAM for the first place and 2,000 BAM for the sixth place.

Zoran Bjelajac, Assistant Minister, said that the application for the competition are opet until May 5, and the condition for applying is to form a team of at least three members that has an innovation that has been implemented or is about to be implemented.

- We will continue to support innovators and innovations in Srpska, and our goal is to help innovators learn how to commercialize their ideas. During the competition, the technical and market aspects of the innovation are evaluated - said Bjelajac.

He emphasized the importance of this competition, which has been going on for 17 years, during which the Government of Srpska and the relevant ministry allocated more than 600,000 KM for its implementation.

The Director of the Innovation Centre Banjaluka, Drago Gverić, emphasized the importance of supporting and nurturing innovation and new ideas, which, as he stated, should become commercial solutions, because this is a great support for the development of the economy.

- This competition is not just a race to win the first or second prize, but all competitors go through a series of serious steps to reach the finals, where they receive the best education and acquire new knowledge - said Gverić.

He explained that this entails educating the contestants on how to prepare marketing, how to market their innovation, how to communicate with the public, and how to present it to an investor.

Marko Glišić, last year's winner of the competition, said that the training he underwent as part of the competition helped him a lot in perfecting his innovation, but also in presenting it to investors and the public in the best possible way.

- My innovation is a remotely controlled vehicle for firefighting and special purposes, which is made in the form of a robot with the ability to approach inaccessible and dangerous places and to scout the terrain - said Glišić.