“Austrian-Kosovo Smart Infrastructure Day” Conference Held at UBT

01/02/2016

As part of cooperation between the UBT and the Austrian-Kosovo Society, a conference “Austrian -Kosovo Smart Infrastructure Day 2016” was held on Monday, 1 February, at the Pristina UBT campus.  The event attracted huge attention among specialists of the field of infrastructure and architecture.

Opening the conference, UBT Rector Prof. Dr. Edmond Hajrizi reminded that this was the first event of this kind to be organized by the Austrian-Kosovo Society and the UBT in 2016.  According to Rector Hajrizi, the road infrastructure is one the key development aspects of the country’s overall development, namely economic and social development.  “As a new state, Kosovo has developed a forum to discuss infrastructure, developments, as well as the impacts of technology to such development, including the development of infrastructure,” Dr. Hajrizi said.

He went on to say that when it comes to the information technology, the UBT is the only higher education institution in Kosovo that launched education in the field of infrastructure. “We are focused on working in this respect as well.  With regard to recommendations on how we can do things better in this field, we have to embrace the smart concept.  The UBT is contributing in that direction by offering to its students opportunities to raise awareness, among others,  about the benefits from the infrastructure,” Hajrizi said.

A number of participants contributed to the conference with valuable presentations.  The panelists included Ramadan Ilazi, Deputy Minister of European Integrations, and Franz Fischler, President of the Alpbach European Forum. 

Addressing the conference, Mr. Fischler said, “Kosovo is a country with the youngest population in the world.  Initiatives that this college has been presenting are very positive, and in so doing UBT has been making a valuable contribution in this respect.”

Christoph Demuth, an Austrian expert on traffic issues, said reorganization of transport or the modal transportation, a term that is being widely used in dealing with the field has seen impressive development lately. 

Agim Zuzaku, a representative of Gjilan Municipality, focused on the economic development of the region, while Jeton Rexhepi, head of the Kosovo Police Directorate, presented useful information on the topic discussed at the conference; including  presentation of data on the road safety. 

 

UBT’s Civil Engineering Dean Muhamet Ahmeti spoke at length about the impact of logistical aspects to transport.  According to him, infrastructure is crucial to the economic and social development of the countries in transition.