Serbia part of European project “Genome of Europe” – Foundation for development of personalized medicine

The Office for IT and eGovernment is part of the international consortium which is implementing the “Genome of Europe” project, one of the three projects of the Digital Europe program that are currently being carried out in Serbia. The project entails participation from 29 European countries, among which is Serbia as only one of the three countries outside the European Union.

In addition to the Office for IT and eGovernment and the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Serbian team of experts that are implementing this project also features the Institute for Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering.

– The aim of the “Genome of Europe” project is to sequence 100,000 genomes of citizens of Europe, of which 2,500 will belong to people of Serbian origin. The primary task is to identify the genetic specificities of various peoples, with a special focus on the possibilities of personalized medical treatment based on the obtained data. We want to determine which medicines are the most effective for the Serbian population and which diagnostic and therapy methods provide the best results. The knowledge and experience that we acquire during the realization of this important European project will be used for the forming of a national genome register of the Republic of Serbia – said the director of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Jelena Bojovic, as announced by the Office.

The project is also part of the wider European initiative “1+ Million Genomes”, which aims to develop digital infrastructure for a safe storage of genetic data and their linking with health information.

The director of the Office for IT and eGovernment, Mihailo Jovanovic, pointed out that taking part in such a project was of great significance for the Serbian economy, the citizens of Serbia and Serbia’s innovation ecosystem, as it provided a unique opportunity to acquire the knowledge and experience necessary for the establishment of a national register of genetic and biomedical data.

– The register will be the foundation for the development of personalized medicine in Serbia, and the Office for IT and eGovernment is working intensively on establishing a platform which will enable a safe keeping and responsible use of genetic and biomedical data for scientific and health purposes. The platform will be located in the State Data Center in Kragujevac – said Jovanovic.

He noted that the project would also be discussed at the upcoming fourth conference “The Future of Biotechnology”, to be held on October 27, 2025, in Belgrade.

As already pointed out, the “Genome of Europe” project is realized within the Digital Europe program, in which the Republic of Serbia participates based on the agreement signed with the European Union in June 2023, which is valid until 2027. This agreement enables legal and natural persons with residency or headquarters in Serbia to apply for the financing of projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, supercomputers and the development of digital skills and capacities within the EU program under the same conditions as the subjects from the EU member states, including access to grants from European funds.

Kancelarija za informacione tehnologije i elektronsku upravu Beograd

Centar za četvrtu industrijsku revoluciju Srbije

Institut za molekularnu genetiku i genetičko inženjerstvo Beograd

Office for IT and eGovernment

Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Institute for Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering

State Data Center Kragujevac

Jelena Bojović

Mihailo Jovanović

Genome of Europe

Digital Europe

genome sequencing

personalized medical treatment

personalized medicine

Register of Genetic and Biomedical Data

The Future of Biotechnology