Marc Walder receives Medal of Honor for his services to digitization

During a ceremony in Belgrade on Tuesday evening, Ringier CEO Marc Walder was awarded the Medal of Honor by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. "I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Walder for his tireless efforts and contagious enthusiasm in promoting Serbia as a business and investment location," said Vučić. "His expertise and dedication have contributed to the strong rise and rapid development of start-up companies, one of the key drivers of our economy."

Following the example of the Swiss initiative Digitalswitzerland, the May 2017 Digital Serbia founded as a non-profit, non-governmental organization. The mission of the Digital Serbia initiative is to develop a strong, globally competitive digital economy in Serbia. Founding members include Ringier Serbia, Infostud, Microsoft, Nordeus, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Seven Bridges, Startit, Telekom Srbija and Telenor.

"I am very honored to receive the Medal of Honor from Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić. Serbia has enormous potential to become an even stronger digital hub in Europe. Digital education, a vibrant startup economy and a smart regulatory framework will further contribute to the transformation of the Serbian economy. I would also like to thank Jelena Drakulic-Petrovic, CEO of Ringier Serbia and Deputy President of Digital Serbia. She was one of the driving forces in setting up Digitalswitzerland's counterpart in Serbia," said Marc Walder during the award ceremony.

In the meantime, the Digital Days are organized in parallel in Switzerland, in Sweden by the Swedish Digital Day Initiative, in Serbia by the Digital Serbia Initiative, in Austria by the ICT Strategy of the City of Vienna, in Poland by the Digital Poland Foundation, in Ukraine by the IT Ukraine Association and in Liechtenstein by Digital Liechtenstein.