DRP: Taking on the Lead Partner role as an organisation from Bosnia and Herzegovina, what did that responsibility mean to you and your team when you first took on the role?
Mirza Sikirić: Taking on the Lead Partner role was, for us, a major step forward in both mindset and the way we operate. Previously, we mainly participated in projects as partners, aligning with activities and expected results defined by others.
For me, this role meant taking full ownership—not only of implementation, but of the vision itself. It also meant taking responsibility for coordination, decision-making, risk management, and keeping a large partnership aligned throughout the project. It gave us the opportunity to shape the project based on real needs from our local ecosystem, while at the same time aligning those needs with the broader development of the Danube region.
This shift—from contributor to leader—allowed us to connect local priorities with transnational objectives in a much more meaningful way, creating a strong foundation for long-term impact.
DRP: Lead Partners from non-EU countries are still relatively rare in Interreg programmes. Did you ever question whether you could manage this task and what helped you move forward with confidence?
Mirza Sikirić: Lead Partners from non-EU countries are still relatively rare, which makes this role particularly meaningful for us. To the best of our knowledge, only two organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina have ever taken on the Lead Partner role within the Interreg Danube Programme—and we are proud to be one of them.
I saw this as both a responsibility and an opportunity. We were not only representing our organisation, but also demonstrating that institutions from Bosnia and Herzegovina can successfully lead complex transnational projects.
We were fully aware of the complexity of the task, but we never doubted that we had the capacity to manage it. What gave us confidence was the strong support system provided by the Programme—especially the Joint Secretariat, as well as our National Contact Point and First Level Control.
At the same time, we built a strong and committed consortium of 16 partners from 10 countries. We invested time upfront to clearly define roles and expectations, which later made coordination much easier.
DRP: You were leading a consortium of 16 partners while simultaneously navigating Interreg rules, reporting requirements, and programme structures many of which were new to you. How did you approach that initial learning curve? Where did you begin?
The initial learning curve was intensive, and I approached it in a structured way. I started by going through all programme manuals and guidelines in detail, just to be sure we fully understand the expectations from the beginning.
Whenever something was unclear, we reached out to the Joint Secretariat, and that support really made a difference.
At the same time, we relied on our previous experience in implementing EU-funded projects. The scale was new, but the logic was familiar, which helped us stabilise things quite quickly.
What proved especially important was not just understanding the rules, but translating them into a clear internal structure. Once we aligned roles, responsibilities, and communication flows within the team, the complexity became manageable and we were able to move from learning into execution relatively fast.
DRP: Your organisation stepped forward from Zenica to lead one of the more technically ambitious projects in the programme. How did that journey begin and what kept you going in the early stages?
This step was not a coincidence—it was a natural progression. We had already built experience through multiple EU projects, including a smaller-scale Lead Partner role.
However, SpinIT was definitely a bigger challenge. What kept me focused from the beginning was a very simple idea: we didn’t want to produce another strategy that ends up sitting on a shelf.
Our goal was to create solutions that people will actually use in their daily work. That was a conscious design choice from the beginning, and it shaped the whole structure of the project.
That is why we insisted on a bottom-up approach. Instead of defining solutions upfront, we involved stakeholders early and let them shape the direction through structured workshops and pilot development. That made a big difference later in terms of relevance and ownership.
DRP: SpinIT brings together stakeholders from enterprise, academia, public institutions, and civil society. From your perspective as Lead Partner, how did you ensure meaningful engagement across such a diverse group?
Mirza Sikirić: Ensuring meaningful engagement across such a diverse partnership was something we addressed already in the project design phase.
We structured the partnership into Territorial and Scientific partners. Territorial partners worked directly on pilot implementation and stakeholder engagement, while Scientific partners supported methodology and ensured quality through the Internal Quality Management Board.
From my perspective, the key was clarity. Everyone needed to understand what is expected from them and where they bring value. Once that was clear, collaboration became much more natural.
We also aligned tasks and budgets with the expected level of engagement, which helped maintain commitment across the partnership.
DRP: Looking beyond project outputs and results, what broader impact do you hope SpinIT will have across the Danube region—in terms of collaboration, capacity building and regional innovation ecosystem?
Mirza Sikirić: SpinIT has already been recognised as a flagship project, which confirms its quality and relevance at the programme level.
I believe the project’s main impact comes from the way we approached digital transformation—by involving stakeholders from the beginning and building solutions around real needs.
The project brought together 16 partners from 10 countries, developed 10 pilot actions, and achieved 8 transnational replications, which shows that the approach can be transferred and adapted across different contexts.
I was personally approached by several partners who wanted to use the SpinIT intervention logic when preparing their own project proposals, which is probably the clearest signal that what we developed has value beyond this project.
What makes SpinIT different is not only what we developed, but how we developed it.
DRP: What would you say to organisations from other non-EU Danube countries that are hesitating to take on a Lead Partner role? What do you know now that you wish you had known at the beginning?
Mirza Sikirić: It is completely understandable why organisations hesitate—being a Lead Partner requires significant effort, responsibility, and coordination.
At the same time, I see it as one of the most effective ways to build capacity, gain strategic experience, and position your organisation for more ambitious projects in the future.
One key lesson I learned is the importance of clearly separating Lead Partner responsibilities from regular project partner activities. In our case, we expanded the team and ensured dedicated capacity for both roles, which proved essential for maintaining quality, efficiency, and control over project implementation.
Looking back, I can confidently say that the effort is absolutely worth it, both in terms of organisational growth and long-term positioning.
DRP: What is one key insight about digital transformation and innovation in the Danube region that you gained through SpinIT, something you could not have learned without leading this project?
Mirza Sikirić: One of the most important insights I gained is how fast digital transformation is evolving.
When we were designing the SpinIT project, artificial intelligence was still emerging and often perceived as a trend. Today, only three years later, it has become an integral part of everyday work and digital development. This clearly demonstrates the importance of flexibility and the ability to adapt quickly to new technological shifts.
Another key insight is the diversity of digital maturity across the Danube region. In some areas, we found ourselves ahead of our peers, while in others we identified significant gaps.
Without transnational cooperation, it would be very difficult to gain such a comprehensive perspective. What became very clear to me is that the Danube region does not move at one speed—its strength lies precisely in that diversity, because partners can learn from each other in very practical ways. This is where the real value of the Programme lies—it enables benchmarking, knowledge exchange, and accelerated learning beyond local limitations.
DRP: In your view, has SpinIT changed the people involved, not just the institutions? And do you believe that kind of change is enough to ensure lasting impact?
Mirza Sikirić: I believe SpinIT has clearly influenced not only institutions, but also the people involved.
Through SpinIT pilot activities and pilot project validation, more than 600 participants across the Danube region were trained and engaged, covering SMEs, public sector representatives, academia, and individual learners.
This is also supported by feedback collected through surveys conducted at the end of pilot implementation and validation phases. In addition, many project partners have already integrated these pilot activities into their future plans, ensuring continuity and sustained impact even after the formal completion of the project.
In my view, this kind of individual-level change is what ultimately drives institutional transformation. When people adopt new ways of thinking and working, the impact becomes embedded and far more sustainable over time.
DRP: The project implemented 10 pilot actions across areas such as IT sector development, Industry 4.0, and smart technologies. What did these pilots reveal about the region’s readiness for digitalisation and innovation?
Mirza Sikirić: The pilot actions clearly showed that readiness for digital transformation exists across the Danube region, but only when solutions are designed around real local needs.
What made SpinIT particularly strong was not just the implementation of 10 pilot actions, but the structured process behind them. We started with analysis, peer learning and stakeholder engagement through Local Discovery Groups, which ensured that each pilot was grounded in actual challenges identified in the territories. This resulted in pilot implementations across Zenica, Tuzla, Pécs, Varaždin, Zadar, Cluj-Napoca, Prague, Novi Sad, Haskovo and Ptuj, reflecting a wide diversity of regional priorities and levels of digital maturity.
The pilots themselves addressed different aspects of digital transformation, including cybersecurity awareness, AI skills, smart business processes, collaborative robotics, digital procurement, traineeships and youth innovation. This diversity was important because it allowed each partner to focus on what was most relevant locally, while still contributing to a common transnational objective.
The validation phase confirmed the real value of this approach. We achieved 8 successful replications of pilot activities across partner regions, demonstrating that many of the developed solutions were transferable. At the same time, the process showed that replication should not be forced. Some pilots were not replicated, not because they lacked quality, but because we consciously chose not to force replication where there was no real demand from local communities. This helped us keep the process truly demand-driven and aligned with local needs.
The experience showed that digital transformation in the Danube region works best when it combines strong local ownership with structured transnational exchange. The pilots were not just individual experiments, but a mechanism for learning, adaptation and scaling solutions across different territories.
