Republic of Kosovo Government Ministry of Economic Development

5.2.9.Timetable Strategic Pillar 9: Investment Promotion

5.3.Organizational Structure

The implementation of the Kosovo IT Strategy requires a stakeholder-setting which could best be described as an “extended” triple helix, including actors from the IT industry (private sector), government institutions, academia, as well as donor organizations:

Figure : Stakeholder setting and “extended” triple helix

In order to allow for effective strategy implementation an organizational structure is needed which closely involves all the above-shown stakeholders and coordinates their joint efforts towards promoting the Kosovo IT industry and achieving the vision and goals of the strategy. Defining such an organizational structure is particularly difficult, since these stakeholders are legally independent and have different structures, capabilities, resources and organizational cultures. Unlike in a company or ministry, there is no central unit or hierarchy.

Therefore, an innovative form of organization is needed which allows for collaborative strategy implementation in a multi-stakeholder setting and which is beyond traditional corporate or bureaucratic organizational structures based on control or hierarchy. At the same time, the organizational structure needs to reflect the strategy and its principles, goals and measures (“structure follows strategy”). Considering the dynamics of the IT industry, it also needs to facilitate flexible adaptability to changing market conditions as well as effective monitoring and decision-making.

Taking into account the above considerations, the working group defined a network-oriented organization for the implementation of the Kosovo IT Strategy. Such form of organization directly engages all relevant stakeholders from the Kosovo IT industry and is based on voluntaristic collaboration through multilateral coordination by a joint steering committee. The following scheme outlines the proposed organizational structure:

Figure : Organizational structure for implementing the Kosovo IT Strategy

As seen above, the steering committee is responsible for the overall management and coordination of strategy implementation and also approves tasks and resources according to the operational plan. It orchestrates the different task forces and monitors the implementation of the strategy.

For each of the 9 strategic pillars, specialized task forces responsible for implementing corresponding tasks or work packages will be established. These task forces are self-managing teams, which report directly to the steering committee. In case the task forces are not able to fulfil their tasks due to inadequate resources or capabilities, they can be assisted by consultants through donor organization.

Furthermore, an advisory board will provide additional support with regards to consulting, resources and external know-how. The advisory board will also be particularly relevant with regards to coordinating donor support in close cooperation with the steering committee.

In this context, it deserves mentioning that STIKK will play a key role within the organizational structure and will provide a central platform for managing and coordinating the implementation of the Kosovo IT Strategy in close cooperation with other stakeholders.

In fact, STIKK will serve as a “system integrator” for the implementation of the strategy. STIKK represents the actual target group of the strategy, i.e. Kosovo IT enterprises. Moreover, it has a well-established and effective organizational structure, with highly qualified full-time staff, as well as excellent infrastructure including office space, conference rooms, training facilities and IT facilities.

In order to further increase the organizational and operational effectiveness of STIKK, it will be enhanced into an IT cluster, thus allowing for a closer integration of key stakeholders such as universities. Such a cluster structure will enable STIKK to implement selected support measures of the IT strategy as specialized cluster services for the Kosovo IT industry (e.g. STIKK Training Academy, export-oriented support services, etc.). Another benefit of using STIKK as a system integrator within the organizational structure stems from the fact that unlike ministries or public agencies, it is less susceptible to political influences and reshuffles.

The agile approach of the strategy (see chapter 2) is directly reflected in the organizational structure through an agile team framework based on Scrum. As shown in the above table, the organizational structure exhibits several agile elements which will be described in the diagrams below, including the project owner (steering committee) and the agile teams or task forces with their task force managers/agile managers and team members:
Product owner (steering committee):

Task force manager / agile manager:
Agile team members:

Figure : Organizational structure and agile team framework based on Scrum

The effectiveness of these agile task forces is attributable to small, multi-disciplinary teams and close cooperation in iterative cycles (sprints). Concrete benefits of this agile organizational structure include:

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  Effective cooperation and coordination through joint task definition & prioritization (sprint planning), as well as regular meetings to align tasks
  
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  Ownership and stakeholder involvement through constant collaboration and communication
  
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  Accelerated implementation of the strategy and its support measures
  
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  Flexibility and enhanced ability to manage changes of priorities, scope and tasks
  
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  Self-managing team empowered to make decisions
  
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  Increased effectiveness due to multi-disciplinary teams
  
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  Reduction of risks through constant feasibility checks during sprints
  
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  Innovativeness due to multidisciplinary teams and the integration of new inputs and ideas
  
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  Constant tracking of team progress with regular review meetings
  
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  Transparency and effective communication
  
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  Learning organization and continuous improvement through iteration and constant feedback loops
  

Regular communication and interaction between the task forces as well as with the steering committee will also be needed in order to ensure continuous improvement of the Kosovo IT Strategy.