The Twenty-sixth Festival of Information Achievements – INFOFEST 2019 was held at the Avala Resort & Villas Hotel in Budva from September 29th to October 05th. According to tradition, the co-organizers of the Festival were the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro and the consulting company Biznis Link.

The slogan of INFOFEST 2019 was “More Important than Ever”, and to the editor of the Catalog, the organizer explained this message:

“It is not easy, you will agree, to define criteria by which stages can be classified and to identify key milestones and leaps in the history of ICT development. But it is certain that, in such a classification, IBM’s announcement of mainframe computers will take place, then the emergence of personal-computing and the concept of “computer on every desk”, undoubtedly – the Internet, then a smart phone, well…

In recent years, the technology master bubble has grown rapidly. Cloud computing, or the ever-present “cloud”, ruled out all the alibis of those who constantly justified their failure by lack of resources. New Internet Protocol addressing systems have made the Internet of Things virtually limitless. Artificial intelligence got a new physiognomy, left laboratories and institutes, and penetrated deeply into solving everyday problems that, until recently, we thought were (computer) unsolvable. Machine learning, as a slightly frightening derivative of artificial intelligence, has opened a new page. Computers will no longer only do what they are assigned by a program, but will also correct and improve themselves, “learning” in the course of their daily work. And the “book” for learning cannot miss them. There is much already on digital media, in huge databases, in a big-data environment. Returning to the Cloud, we will understand that the “rooms” for such “books” are no longer a problem.

So there is hardly anything that can go wrong, at least technologically. Here is a new environment for ERP, for CRM, for Virtual Reality… There is a story about digital transformation somewhere, just a few details are missing. Namely, technology alone is not enough. There is no digital transformation without a radical change in understanding of the business and the processes that accompany it. This is not (only) a transformation at the technological level, but also a transformation of our consciousness, to the level that we understand change around us as the only constant. The willingness to experience such changes almost as “calm water” and to accept them without frustration is actually the key to digital transformation.

So, I will repeat – it is not just about transformation at the technological level. Such a purely technological transformation would, at a certain cost and for a certain amount of time, occur and be rounded off. Here we are talking about a much more complex understanding of digital transformation, that is, our (in) willingness to live with constant transformation – both ourselves, technology and the environment. It’s about changing our lifestyle (or, to mitigate – at least business), not a technical process where, at some point, we will conclude that we have “completed the digital transformation”. Not! It is not a start-and-finish investment project. Digital transformation is a new permanent format for our interaction with the environment in which we live, work, enjoy …

How much will this Infofest help to bring a mutually different understanding of so much consumed notion of digital transformation? I hope and want the answer to be – many. Look carefully at the program. You will notice a conceptual thread that leads to the unification of different starting points in understanding the process mentioned. If we hear those who have something to say about transformational topics, if clearly and unambiguously but tolerably and without a “closed door”, we will also express our views – at least a small shift will not be missed.

Without initial understanding, synergy is not possible. But it can do without synergy, someone will say. I agree, it can, but so it dissipates its own capacity. And, do we have it for waste?

It’s important not to miss opportunities. Moreover – “Never more important”.

INFOFEST 2019 began with a grand opening ceremony on the terrace of the Avale Hotel. In addition to the exceptional artistic program, Branko Kovijanić, President of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services and Prof. Jelica Protić, President of the Program Board of Infofest, addressed the audience. Then, the Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro, Suzana Pribilovic, officially opened the 26th Festival of IT Achievements.

The INFOFESTA 2019 Registration Service recorded 989 formal individual participants from 21 countries. The participants represented almost all key economic and economic structures (ICT sector, state and public administration, financial institutions, telecommunications and energy sector, industry, education, large economic systems, healthcare…). The average length of their stay at the Festival was 2.2 days.