The importance of education in enhancing the innovation capacity in serbia

Abstract

Innovation is seen as a critical driver of economic performance and essential instrument for business performance improvement of companies especially for emerging economies and economies in transition. Serbia is a country with innovation performance well below the EU27 average, and now it is challenged to keep the growth. To enhance innovation potential is not only about financial resources, it is also about appropriate skills and knowledge. Education can be one of the main pillars to help enhance innovation capacity since knowledge is a fundamental factor in the innovation and assimilation of new technologies. The role of Serbian higher educational institutions, in this process, is very important. On the one side, universities have to ensure appropriate education, but on the other side, companies should recognize the importance of educated professionals in the field of innovation. The aim of this paper was assessing the company’s needs for professionals in the field of innovation and how companies perceive the importance of education in this field. Based on the results, we proposed a set of competences that should be covered by the study program.