In the second half of March, I had the opportunity to go to Belgrade in Serbia.
I was visiting there the European department of one of our clients. The purpose of this trip was to introduce our company and our software development process to the team that was using the product which we helped to create.
During my trip to Belgrade, I prepared a presentation in which I described what SolDevelo has done for our client and what we were doing for them at that time. I also gave a quick lecture about the Scrum framework and showed how we do our work.
The Refugee.Info
The Refugee.Info project was related to the provision of critical information to people in a tough situation. In its early stages, the product in which we were involved was split into three main components: the content management portal, the web client, and the mobile application. Later on, we focused on the first and the second part.
The main use of the Management Platform is CMS, in which we can gather, store, and process all news and content that is useful for the main users of this project. We also implemented Service Providers Management in there, in which we could gather all information about services that our users could receive in a specified geographical area (mainly Greece and Serbia).
In the Web Client part, we focused on displaying the gathered information in a readable and very accessible way. The site had to be created in three language versions: English, Arabic, and Farsi, and it had to be responsive, in order to be usable both on desktop and mobile devices. Apart from this major part, there were also a few minor applications.
One of them was the Balance Checker site, which provides the refugees with the possibility of checking their available funds.
After work
In my free time, I had the opportunity to do a little bit of sightseeing. It turned out that Belgrade was a great destination for a weekend trip. There were a lot of things worth seeing. Everything was very accessible.
Most of the attractions were located within walking distance from the Old Town. Streets were full of people to very late hours (even in the middle of the week).
During my stay there, I managed to have a taste of the local cuisine and of some regional beer. One of the Serbian dishes I ate was Karađorđe’s escalope, which is very similar to the Eastern dish called De volaille but is made of veal stuffed with kaymak and served with Tartar sauce.
Serbians very often eat salads with goat cheese. Their food is very tasty and delicious (but Polish beer is way better).
The city
What is very interesting about Belgrade, is the fact that it is very, very old. The city was established in the third century B.C. (the ancient city was called Singidunum). In the center of Belgrade, a fortress that was built in 535 and was developed through ages is located.
This is the core and the oldest part of the urban area of the current capital of Serbia. It is divided into four sections: Lower Town, Upper Town, and two ‘Kalemegdan Parks’ (Little and Large). This spot is very popular among tourists and locals. If the weather is good, the parks are full of people, during the day and in the late evening.
In the fortress area, various museums and a zoo are located. There are also kilometers-long tunnels and catacombs under the fortress (still mostly unexplored).
Overall, my trip to Serbia was a great success, both in its business and touristic part. I met our client there and we could exchange thoughts on the project we were involved in. We also shared expectations about its future.
I could work directly with the users of the management system part of the project. I received a lot of feedback which we implemented later in the applications. Here in SolDevelo, we are very open to business trips since they always strengthen relations with our clients.
