site.btaButterfly Innovation Awards' Second Edition Takes Place in Sofia

Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel opened the second edition of the Butterfly Innovation Awards, held in Sofia on Tuesday on her initiative. “There is a lot of potential that can be unlocked, with innovation we can show how rich it is,” she said in her welcoming speech.

The event was also attended by Regional Cooperation Council Secretary General Majlinda Bregu and Innovation Minister Milena Stoycheva.

“The Western Balkans are in Europe, they are part of the European family and we should support each other,” Gabriel noted. She pointed out that through innovation “we can build an ecosystem where talents, regions industry, young people and women can work together”.

“We need to show that all these south-eastern parts of Europe, the Western Balkans, are perhaps among the most remarkable ecosystems that we can have. It is up to us to unlock the potential, to establish close contacts, to get to know each other. Identify the strengths of your country and your region, because with our strengths we can show that there is room for European champions in this region, there is room for European leaders who show that we can turn challenges into opportunities,” Gabriel added.

“I believe that Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans have the capacity through these technologies to show that we can be an active participant in Europe's competitiveness,” the Innovation minister stressed.

Bregu pointed out that the Western Balkans have changed a lot in the last decades. “We know that digital transformation and innovation are everywhere. But the innovation performance of the Western Balkans is still below 70% of the EU average,” she noted. The Regional Cooperation Council Secretary General said there is great potential in the region, but investment in research remains low at less than 1% of GDP.

There are a growing number of young women entrepreneurs who have not only embraced entrepreneurship as their career path, but are also implementing innovative solutions, said Bregu. She also highlighted that most of the applications received for the award were from women.

The awards were given in six areas - industry innovation, green innovation, STEM innovation, youth innovation, university innovation, and women innovation.

Industry Innovation Award: AgAR - Agricultural Unmanned Ground Vehicle. AgAR was created by Coming ComputerEngineering from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nis, Serbia. AgAR promises to change the face of agriculture. Its rugged construction overcomes uneven terrain and inclines with ease, offering stability and payload capacity.

Women Innovation Award: KUNGUL – Albanian application. Designed to empower cosmetics consumers, KUNGUL provides important information about potential allergens and harmful chemicals.

Green Innovation Award: PowerWheel from North Macedonia. The innovation is an advancement in wheel technology, initially focusing on suitcases, but also finding applications in shopping trolleys, hospital beds and prams.

STEM Innovation Award: Flourish from Montenegro. Flourish is a revolutionary digital coach focused on accessible emotional intelligence development. Flourish has already empowered over 4,000 people worldwide to increase their emotional intelligence levels.

University Innovation Award: Robotic Hand developed at the Department of Mechatronics at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Prishtina. The project presents a robotic hand capable of basic movements, developed as a multi-axis system with emphasis on balancing modularity and coordination.

Youth Innovation Award: QManager from Bosnia and Herzegovina. QManager is a versatile system designed for efficient queue management in various administrative offices, including banks, city administration centres and service centres.

The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) inaugurated the regional Butterfly Innovation Award in December 2021. It is now awarded annually to innovators, young people and women entrepreneurs in the Western Balkans for innovative, scalable, and market-based solutions.