Industrial legacy
Due to its specific geostrategic position, at the crossroads of important roads, Niš has been, through its history, heavily destroyed and rebuilt again many, many times.
In 1878, after the Turkish-Serbian war, when Niš was annexed to Serbia, the former Turkish kasaba (small town), a passing station of caravans and a military fort, began to emerge on the model of developed European cities. Niš becomes a major railway center – a railway crossroads. The passage of the railway through Niš created an environment for many activities in the development of industry, health care, urbanization, education, science and culture. The hospitals were opened (military and civilian), Coal boiler plant – forerunner of mechanical engineering, urban plan was developed – Niš Urban Regulation Plan by Austrian Franz Vinter, first gymnasium was founded, library was established, Serbian Royal Academy established, Pasteur Institute established and the hydroelectric power plant and the city got public lighting and industrial electricity, the first airport in Serbia was built. The first experts to conduct all these jobs were foreigners from Western Europe.
In the second half of the twentieth century there was an extremely dynamic development of Niš as an industrial city. After World War II, the impoverished country, then Yugoslavia, wanted to catch up with the developed world. The priority was industrialization. Niš, due to some social circumstances, was defined as the center for electronic industry development. It began in 1948 when, at the invitation of the Government of Yugoslavia, a group of German experts began the development of radio X-ray tubes and electronic receiving tubes with necessary supporting staff. There was a lack of domestic experts. It was a zero start. In addition to the R&D facility, an industrial school was formed. The first experts were a hintfor the organized education for young locals to work in the industry, especially electronics. Already in the early fifties the first electronic components, radio and x-ray tubes and finished devices, radios and x-ray machines were produced.
The development of the electronics industry in the world has been closely monitored, especially with new technologies, permanent education of higher educated personnel in the field of electronics, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, stimulation of young people through scholarships for 1000 future professionals. Of particular importance is excellent business cooperation with leading European and world companies (Philips, Siemens, RCA, Honywell, etc.) through various business forms - licensing, cooperation, consulting, technological support, commercial arrangements, which resulted in compliance with the necessary dynamics of development, production knowledge and product market placement.
From the late 1950s to the late 1980s the electronic industry Niš ( RR Institute - first name) was a leader in Yugoslavia and the Balkans in the area of electronics. As a result of business commitment to developing technologies needed for the manufacture of finished products, it set a condition of professional development of employees through internships in well-known European and world companies, regular monitoring of world trends in electronics, joint researches in international and national projects.
The education of young people and additional professional upgrade of the experienced workers was provided by the opening of the Technical Faculty in Niš in 1961, followed by the Faculty of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering within the newly established University of Niš. This university has trained highly qualified staff of all profiles necessary for business in Niš and the region. The opening of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Niš was initiated by the Electronic Industry of Niš, by hiring the most famous professors in Yugoslavia and providing all conditions for work, necessary space and equipment. Today it is a University with about 30,000 students.
The production program included the production of radio and TV sets (12 million radios and 6 million TV sets were manufactured during this period), several thousand X-ray machines, a large number of devices and systems in the field of computer technology. Base production was used in manufacture of these products, reflected in production of radio and X-ray tubes, wide range of semiconductors - from diodes and transistors to integrated circuits. The first transistor in Ei was manufactured in 1962. More than 50 million electronic tubes and over 100 million semiconductor elements were manufactured. The production of elements, assemblies and subassemblies that were built in into the devices was also widely present, as well as the development and production of printed circuits, which are still being marketed in the country and abroad today. It's just part of the story of Ei Niš, which employed about 24,000 people, 2000 of which were university graduates.
21 century – the city of Niš proves the acquired knowledge is tradition and richness
After turbulent social circumstances in the 1990s, in Yugoslavia, the collapse, wars, and foreign army forces intervention, the new century and the millennium is entered with a stalled development in all segments of the country.
However, tradition and knowledge in electronics brings hope and positive results, especially in the IT sector in Niš. The Faculty of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering continue to provide quality staff. New companies, thanks to new telecommunications connections, the Internet, are establishing themselves as a reliable partner to the world's largest companies in all areas.
Today in Niš there are about 300 small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of IT and advanced technologies from various branches of industry. All newly established companies since 1990, and especially after 2000, are dedicated to research, development and production in areas that are of top interest in the European and world markets. Cooperation with foreign partners is an integral part of the business policy of IT sector actors.
Electronics, classic and digital, is an international work in all fields. From education, research, development, production, marketing and placement. International teams are the only ones ready to achieve results worth attention. The construction of the Science and Technology Park will provide an opportunity for further development of advanced technologies in this part of Serbia. Spin-offs and start-up companies will have ideal working conditions.
In 2018, the City of Niš – the Office for Local Economic Development made a major step in the presentation and affirmation of advanced technologies by publishing the MONOGRAPH “NIŠ-CITY OFADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES”. This monograph is the first edition of this type of publication in Serbia. Rich in data, documents, and photographs, it provides readers with an authentic review of the
development of electronics and advanced technologies, placing it in the context of world development in this field. The monograph was published using the logo "2018 EUROPEAN YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE # EuropeForCulture" obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.
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