📋 Tender Overview
Contract partner: ARGE OCG/CS nine GmbH/SHPIK/Smart Bits
Country: Kosovo Contract type: Economic partnership Project start: 01.07.2025 Funding amount: € 524.013,00 End: 30.06.2028
SHORT DESCRIPTION:
Overall goal
The project aims to address critical gaps in Kosovo’s ICT sector by establishing a local ISO 27001 certification body and improving vocational training through enhanced workflow management. Specifically, the project will integrate the EduTrack platform to streamline Individual Practical Assignments (IPAs) within Kosovo’s vocational education system for ICT profiles, enhancing collaboration between students, schools, and ICT companies. In parallel, the project will enable SHPIK to become Kosovo’s first accredited ISO 27001 certification authority in partnership with the Austrian Computer Society (OCG). These measures are intended to boost Kosovo’s competitiveness, improve ICT education alignment with industry needs, and establish a sustainable local certification ecosystem.
Expected results
By the project’s end, the following concrete outcomes are anticipated:
-ISO Certification Expansion: SHPIK will complete 100 ISO 27001 and NIS2 certifications for ICT companies in Kosovo, reducing dependency on foreign certification bodies and making certification processes 30% more affordable.
-Improved Vocational Education: EduTrack will be fully implemented across 15 ICT Vocational Education and Training (VET) schools, directly benefiting over 2,000 students by 2030. This platform will enhance the management of IPAs, ensuring a structured collaboration between students, teachers, and businesses.
-Financial Sustainability: The project is designed to transition from ADA-funded operations to self-sustaining services within three years. Revenue generated from certification fees and EduTrack assignments will ensure SHPIK’s ongoing support of educational and certification initiatives, reaching a projected annual income of up to €15,000 by 2030.
Target group / Beneficiaries
The project primarily targets Kosovo’s ICT sector, with specific beneficiaries including 15 VET schools offering ICT profiles and approximately 2,000 ICT students, who will receive enhanced practical training aligned with industry standards. Key partners include SHPIK, tasked with implementing the DUAL VET Model and overseeing certification processes; Smart Bits, a local partner focused on software development; and the Austrian Computer Society (OCG), which will provide ISO accreditation. The project will be implemented nationwide in Kosovo, with potential for future expansion to neighboring regions.
Activities
The project will be carried out through three main interventions: (1) SHPIK’s ISO 27001 Certification Initiative, involving accreditation from OCG and extensive training to establish SHPIK as a certification body, (2) the development and deployment of ISOCertFlow, an AI-powered system for ISO certification management, which will streamline the certificat
