Microsoft’s CTO Ratko Mutavdžić: Croatia Must Start Experimenting More with New Trends

Ratko Mutavdžić, Microsoft’s Director of Technology for Central and Eastern Europe, explains that Croatia needs to try to catch the train and introduce visas for digital nomads as many countries are already recognizing that the population of traveling workers is growing. They can already be called competition since young people, and even entire work teams, will choose to work remotely in countries where they have regulated status, says this esteemed Croatian IT expert, assessing that Croatia certainly fits the description of future ‘IT’ destinations and just needs to make a little more effort to realize its potential. We spoke with him a bit more about this topic.

Why do you support the introduction of visas for digital nomads in Croatia?

The world is different than it was last century and is changing every day. Work models, employment, and temporary employment in some industries today are completely different, and a country that does not adapt – falls behind. It is a shame not to recognize the trends of creative and digital service industries, which have a higher fluctuation of employees or temporarily, freely employed, and to include them in the right way in the development of the state’s potential. There is also the question of the need for innovative models. Croatia must start experimenting more with new trends and see how they make sense for us. It is logical that some will succeed, and some will not, but their acceptance or rejection must be based on understanding and experience. The impact on the economy will probably not be large, but it will be interesting. Estonia predicts about 1800 digital visas annually.

Are we already late with this?

It is never too late, but we already have a number of countries that have opted for such a visa. We can already call them competition because young people (and even entire work teams) will decide to work remotely in a country where they have regulated status. I think the next ones will be countries that have a pleasant and clean working environment (sea, climate, sustainable environment, forests…) in which Croatia is also included, and they will decide where to spend the next few months in a combination of work and enjoyment.

What kind of multiplicative effect could such visas have on the economy?

Quite large, especially since Croatia is a tourist country. Young people can occasionally work from Croatia, enjoy and spend here, and be sure that they are welcome and accepted. Moreover, digital nomads today do interesting and creative jobs, are well paid and have a need to enjoy life, while working occasionally from various locations. These are mostly young people, social, ready to take advantage of the opportunities that the destination offers.

Do you think copying the Estonian model would be good, or would you change some criteria for obtaining a visa?

The Estonian model is a good start and contains basic criteria that probably apply to every country. For us, it is important that we do not adapt such a visa to our complex bureaucratic system, but rather simplify it as much as possible. However, it would be good to go a step further and think about benefits, combining a simple visa with ‘technological’ tourism, development centers, participation in startup and other communities, co-working – in other words, to design our form of competitiveness in relation to other countries.

You work in a large company where digitalization is at a high level, are there indications that jobs in such companies will become even more ‘nomadic’ now that remote work has gained new momentum?

In our industry, this has been happening for some time; the industry has become highly mobile. Technologically, we have had such opportunities for several years, and recent events have indicated what can be done with technologies, but the work business model could not be changed completely due to the limited work system based on ideas from the last century when people worked from the beginning to the end of their working lives in one or two factories, probably in the same location. With this approach, it is completely irrelevant where people work and how they create their results – while states have indirect benefits from community and industry development.

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