Speech by RCC Secretary General at Balkathon 5.0 Award Ceremony

03 October 2024 | SPEECH

RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu opened the Award Ceremony of the fifth edition of RCC's flagship initiative Balkathon, held in Tirana on 3 October 2024.

"Five years ago, during a global uncertainty of the Covid pandemic, when the world was adjusting to a new reality, we asked ourselves: What can we create? What problems can we solve using technology? What ideas can disrupt the usual “cog in the wheel” roles and dive the region into problem-solving with freedom and creativity? How to ensure cooperation will not be abandoned? And we came with the idea of a hackathon called Balkathon-more than just a space for innovation, because to us it is a platform of cooperation. Bringing people with different skills and perspectives to the same place, encouraging collaboration that goes beyond boundaries.
In five years what began as a response to a crisis has since evolved into a platform for transformation. Nearly 400 applicants have participated in 23 diverse topic, supported by 72 mentors and evaluated by almost 60 experts in digitalisation and ICT. To date, we have awarded 22 ground-breaking solutions through Balkathon," said Bregu among other things.

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