The ideal opportunity for the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of innovation, with relevant experts, emerged at the ‘Warm up’ event preceding the ‘Innovation Forum’ scheduled for December 5th and 6th. The event was organized by the Embassy of Italy in partnership with the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), the Lombardy Region, the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, We Make Future, and Impact Hub Belgrade.
The discovery of potential and mutual networking between Italy and Serbia marked this evening of inspiration and connection with leading experts in the field of innovation. The event was opened and addressed by H.E. Luca Gori, the Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Serbia, emphasizing Italy’s significant role as one of Serbia’s major economic partners. He also highlighted the continuous improvement and development of this partnership year by year. The confirmation of this lies in clearly defined steps for scientific and business cooperation, with the foundation set through gatherings aimed at connecting the Italian and Serbian scientific and business communities. Following the Ambassador, representatives of ministries and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia also addressed the attendees, discussing the government’s efforts to enhance infrastructure for high-quality innovative scientific research that is practical and applicable through collaboration with the business sector.
As part of the panel titled Showcase: Unleashing the Potential in the Italian-Serbian Collaboration Innovation, representatives of local and international companies providing modern business solutions shared their innovative approaches to collaboration. Alongside companies specializing in agricultural support, risk assessment, and IT assistance, the panel featured a presentation by Francesco Masci, Chairman of the Executive Board of DDOR osiguranje.
As DDOR osiguranje is a leading insurance company in Serbia with strong support from the Unipol Group, Chairman of the Executive Board of DDOR osiguranje, Francesco Masci, expressed great satisfaction in sharing his experience at such an event and presenting innovations within the DDOR.
On this occasion, Masci addressed the fact that DDOR is one of the leading insurers also in the specific agriculture sector, which became evident following a series of extreme weather events during the past summer. When it comes to damage prevention, DDOR osiguranje, in collaboration with the leading European BioSens Institute, developed the mobile application ‘DDOR TERRA,’ allowing farmers to quickly report damage after adverse events in their fields and orchards. This initiative highlights DDOR’s social responsibility as a leading insurance company in supporting the agro-sector.
“As insurers, we have always protected our customers from adverse weather events and natural catastrophes, but we’re currently learning that traditional analyses have become obsolete. Therefore, we need to develop new and more sophisticated predictive models which can define new probability scenarios, allowing us to anticipate certain risks and trends”, Mr. Masci emphasized, also pointing out the proven-track record of the dedicated solutions-factory of Unipol, namely Leithà..
Regarding innovative startups, Mr. Masci believes they can play a crucial role in promoting a narrative of transformation, where cutting-edge technological solutions act as catalysts within a broader partnership, and the appropriate and supportive legislative framework allows for the successful implementation of this partnership.
On the heels of the extreme weather events which ripped through Italy and wreaked havoc on several parts of the country, causing billion of euros in damages of which only a small portion backed, and following the successful experience in the Italian market, Mr. Masci also stressed the importance of a stronger public-private partnership, which could be integrated in Serbia and unlock the full potential embedded in joining forces and sharing the data, the knowledge and the experience.
The implementation of a broad mutual insurance model would clearly represent a game changer and pave the way for the achievement of important milestones for the benefit of the country,” Mr. Masci concluded.
Innovation is at the core of the fundamental processes of DDOR osiguranje and the Unipol Group, and by using agile methodologies, they are developing advanced applications that effectively leverage the abundance of data. This allows insurers to focus on optimizing pricing, efficient claims management, reliable risk assessment, digital channel accessibility, and precise weather monitoring.