Sarajevo, December 2018: As members of the global business and scientific communities rally behind Bosnia-Herzegovina and invest in its future, local groups must play their role in embracing and implementing the technologies they bring.

That will be key to the country’s ability to address its developmental and climate change challenges in the long-term, Director of H2i Balkans, Višnja Ćorić, told the USAid Diaspora Invest Forum in Sarajevo in December.

Ms Ćorić was speaking as part of a panel at the USAid Diaspora Invest forum. Other members of the panel included representatives of EDNA Metalworking and Orea.

H2i Balkans is one of the recipients of the USAid Diaspora Invest project , which is financed by the US Agency for International Development, and aimed at facilitating investment into the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina by its diaspora.

H2i Balkans, an offshoot of Singapore water technology company Hydroinformatics Institute (H2i) that was incorporated in April last year,specialises in the use of big data analytics, machine learning, and advanced computer modelling to solve real-world water issues.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, H2i’s expertise in flood forecasting and mapping of areas susceptible to extreme weather events is critical, enabling early warning systems and mitigation measures to be put in place.

Historically, the region has been prone to flooding and flood damages. The funded project, Real-time Flood Risk and Pollution Management System through Computer Modelling and Big Water Data, includes technology and training, and the development of an early-warning flood forecast web portal.

H2i Balkans is currently growing its team and providing local groups with the training needed to support its projects, so that simple applications of its technologies can reach even remote parts of the country, including smaller communities in the floodplains.

“Given the extent of our experience in Singapore, which stretches over a decade, we are in a unique position to be able to transfer both our knowledge and technologies to projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the entire Western Balkans,” says Ms Ćorić.

Ms Ćorić ran the Singapore office for Dutch water institute Deltares before becoming Operations Manager of H2i Singapore in 2014. She is concurrently Director of H2i Balkans

“We are committed to providing the relevant assistance and education, but need the support of local communities to implement our technologies where they are most needed,” she says.