Serbia’s technology sector generated €4.552 billion in ICT services exports in 2025, marking a 10% increase from the previous year and producing a sector surplus of €3.529 billion. Supported by approximately 115,000 employees and more than 4,000 companies, the industry has become one of the country’s most significant export contributors, expanding beyond traditional outsourcing services into applied research and development, engineering and specialized technology delivery.
- Science Parks Form National Innovation Infrastructure
- Novi Sad Emerges as Engineering and AI Center
- Regional Centers Support Industrial Technology Development
- Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering Gain Scale
- Automotive and Life Sciences Expand Technology Base
- Tax Incentives Support Corporate R&D Operations
- Regulatory and Talent Considerations Remain Important
The evolution is taking place as European companies increasingly seek nearshore partners capable of handling product ownership, industrial automation, regulated documentation, intellectual property management and complex engineering functions. Demand from businesses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and the Nordic countries is shifting toward providers that can deliver technical depth and operational resilience alongside geographic proximity.
Serbia’s technology ecosystem has developed around universities, science parks, multinational research centers and export-oriented engineering firms, creating a broader foundation for nearshore R&D activities than conventional software outsourcing alone.
Science Parks Form National Innovation Infrastructure
The country operates four science and technology parks located in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Čačak. These facilities connect startups, technology companies, universities, investors, mentors and corporate R&D teams while providing an institutional framework through which international clients can identify and assess local capabilities.
The science parks contribute to market transparency by helping companies evaluate technical expertise, establish partnerships, manage intellectual property considerations and align projects with European documentation and compliance requirements.
Belgrade remains the principal commercial center for technology investment and international client engagement. The city hosts major corporate decision-making functions, enterprise software providers, consultants, investors and legal advisory firms, making it a preferred location for product management, fintech development, cybersecurity projects, cloud technologies, artificial intelligence initiatives and managed engineering operations.
The capital also offers access to international schools, transport connections and professional services infrastructure, supporting governance and oversight functions associated with complex nearshore delivery programs.
Novi Sad Emerges as Engineering and AI Center
Novi Sad has established itself as a major engineering and applied technology location through its connection to the University of Novi Sad and the Faculty of Technical Sciences.
The Science Technology Park Novi Sad provides approximately 30,000 square metres of facilities, accommodates technology companies and R&D teams, incorporates two departments of the Faculty of Technical Sciences and maintains links with Serbia’s national AI Institute. The city’s technology profile is concentrated in advanced software engineering, power systems software, embedded technologies, machine learning operations, automotive software, industrial digitalization and energy management platforms.
Several multinational companies have established significant engineering operations in Serbia. Microsoft’s Serbian development centre, operating since 2005, has expanded from a small engineering unit into a development organization contributing to global products. Schneider Electric maintains a major Novi Sad operation focused on electricity distribution and grid-management technologies. ZF has established research and development activities in Novi Sad and Pančevo, strengthening Serbia’s automotive and electric-drive engineering capabilities.
Rivian has also developed a technology center in Belgrade focused on electric vehicle software, advanced driver-assistance systems and enterprise technologies.
Regional Centers Support Industrial Technology Development
Beyond Belgrade and Novi Sad, other cities contribute specialized engineering capabilities.
Niš draws on a longstanding electronics and engineering tradition and supports embedded systems, industrial automation, testing services and hardware-related software development.
Čačak is positioned around industrial innovation, manufacturing digitalization, machinery support, supplier modernization and metal-processing technologies. These capabilities support broader adoption of Industry 4.0 services, production analytics and automation systems.
Software product engineering remains one of Serbia’s largest technology export categories. Companies provide full-cycle development services covering SaaS platforms, cloud-native applications, enterprise software, logistics systems, fintech products, insurance technologies, e-commerce infrastructure, mobile applications, DevOps operations, quality assurance automation and cybersecurity services. The sector’s competitive position is supported by proximity to European markets, engineering education, mathematical training and operational integration with European product development teams.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering Gain Scale
Artificial intelligence has become a national development priority supported by the Research and Development Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Serbia.
Technology firms in the country offer services including computer vision, predictive analytics, natural-language processing, AI-supported document processing, data engineering, model deployment, MLOps, fraud detection, industrial quality control, medical imaging support and demand forecasting. These capabilities are increasingly being applied to industrial productivity, energy forecasting, compliance automation, production defect detection, technical document classification and regulated data processing.
Another area of specialization is energy and utility digitalization. Serbia has developed expertise in electricity systems engineering, grid management software, energy-market analytics and distribution management technologies.
Technology providers support projects involving SCADA integration, data historians, grid-connection documentation systems, ADMS and DERMS platforms, battery energy storage dispatch logic, renewable energy forecasting, metering-data validation, electricity trading interfaces, guarantees of origin and power purchase agreement documentation, CBAM-related electricity reporting and owner’s-engineer reporting systems.
The focus on electricity infrastructure and energy-market software places Serbian providers closer to regulated assets and operational systems than conventional software outsourcing businesses.
Automotive and Life Sciences Expand Technology Base
The presence of automotive manufacturers and technology investors has supported growth in embedded engineering services. Companies in Serbia are involved in firmware development, embedded Linux systems, automotive middleware, infotainment testing, advanced driver-assistance system support tools, electric-vehicle charging software, battery diagnostics, hardware-in-the-loop testing, sensor-data platforms and manufacturing software.
The life sciences segment is also developing through the BIO4 Campus project in Belgrade, which is focused on biotechnology, biomedicine, bioinformatics and biodiversity.
The planned complex includes hundreds of laboratories and is intended to bring together researchers, students and doctoral candidates. Commercial opportunities are expected in bioinformatics workflows, laboratory information systems, medical-data platforms, AI-supported diagnostic tools, pharmaceutical documentation, research-data management and software development for biotechnology companies.
Tax Incentives Support Corporate R&D Operations
Managed technical operations represent another growth segment, including L2 and L3 support, cloud operations, DevOps monitoring, network and security operations center services, application maintenance, ERP and CRM administration, testing automation and technical customer support. The market is also supporting build-operate-transfer structures under which foreign companies initially establish managed delivery teams through local partners before converting them into wholly controlled Serbian R&D subsidiaries after 12 to 24 months.
Serbia’s tax framework includes incentives for research and development activities. Qualifying R&D expenditure can benefit from a double corporate tax deduction, while qualifying royalty income may receive an 80% exclusion from the tax base under specified conditions.
These measures are designed to support companies developing proprietary intellectual property rather than solely purchasing outsourced services. Industry participants are also promoting structured delivery models, including nearshore R&D platforms that connect science-park companies, university-linked teams, specialized vendors and startup businesses with foreign clients. Such models typically include technical and financial due diligence, project supervision, intellectual property oversight, compliance monitoring and performance reporting.
Other delivery structures include dedicated engineering teams consisting of five to twelve engineers supported by Serbian delivery management and European product ownership, as well as applied AI and industrial data laboratories focused on predictive maintenance, renewable energy forecasting, computer-vision systems, document automation, spare-parts optimization and ESG data management.
Regulatory and Talent Considerations Remain Important
As Serbia is not a member of the European Union, companies must address GDPR compliance requirements, data-transfer mechanisms, contractual protections, information-security standards and audit provisions when structuring cross-border engagements.
Salary growth has also altered the economics of the market, with experienced engineers increasingly employed by established domestic and international organizations. Companies evaluating Serbian technology partners continue to assess delivery performance through pilot projects, code reviews, documentation standards, client references and intellectual property governance frameworks.
The sector’s next stage of development is focused on increasing participation in product architecture, intellectual property creation, regulated engineering activities, platform operations and long-term research and development mandates. With ICT exports already measured in billions of euros annually, Serbia’s technology industry is expanding its role across software engineering, artificial intelligence, industrial systems, energy digitalization and scientific research infrastructure, supported by science parks, multinational R&D centers, university partnerships and targeted tax incentives.
