Macedonian Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies - MASIT is a volunteer, non-profit chamber of commerce. The chamber was founded in 2000 as an initiative of the top fifteen Macedonian IT companies and was operating as an Association within the Economic Chamber of Macedonia. In April 2007, on the Annual Assembly of MASIT, the legal transformation of MASIT from Association to Chamber of commerce was agreed.

Today, MASIT is the voice of the Macedonian ICT industry. The chamber represents companies of the ICT sector in Macedonia including: software and IT services companies, hardware companies and distributors, carrier and other telecom companies, as well as training providers and ICT consulting companies.

A 9 member Managing Board that is elected by the General Assembly governs MASIT. The Managing Board includes the President and the Vice-President.

All of the MASIT activities and initiatives are preformed through the work of the Managing Board and/or the working groups, where all of the members can participate and discuss their initiatives, needs and problems. MASIT participates in events related to the IT industry and promotes the accomplishments of the members in the area of IT software and services development. MASIT representatives participate in the definition of the IT regulatory framework and help to define national IT standards. MASIT facilitates the ICT through different public-private-partnership initiatives.

The governing bodies include Managing board, Supervisory Board, Commission of Honor. There is an Executive office where a professional staff is employed. The Executive office handles all of the activities of the Chamber.

The Statute of MASIT also defines an ICT Experts Council. The ICT Experts Council is consisted of individuals, professionals in the ICT field, working in the Academia, Governmental, Financial and other institutions and organizations, who volunteer their knowledge, experience and expertise in development of the ICT sector in Macedonia.

MASIT fosters a regional and international cooperation with other associations and organizations. Regionally MASIT is cooperating with the ICT Associations in the SEE (South-East Europe) region and is a member of the Balkan and Black Sea Cluster Network. Internationally, MASIT became a member of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance - WITSA (www.witsa.org) in May 2005 and since January 2009 MASIT is a member of the European Information Technology Observatory - EITO (www.eito.com). MASIT has an outstanding cooperation with the donor organizations USAID and GTZ.

VISION:

MASIT to be the enabler for growth of the Macedonian ICT businesses, their recognition and image domestically and abroad, as well as enriching the Macedonian prosperity and economy by having stronger, organized and progressive ICT industry.

MISSION:

MASIT is the voice and resource of a competitive ICT sector, supporting an innovation-driven economy and a key contributor to the nation’s prosperity.

GOALS:

The following goals have been established to achieve the vision and mission stated, as well as to satisfy the needs and interests to retain and expand membership.

• Public dialog – to strengthen MASIT recognition and role in the development of ICT related Legislation, Policy and Market regulation through protecting and representing the interests of the ICT business community.
• Competitiveness – to increase the competitiveness of the members through capacity building, fostering innovation, lifelong learning as well as certification of companies and qualification of human resources.
• Collaboration and Networking – to support the collaboration and networking of the ICT companies domestically, regionally and internationally through events, projects, partnerships and competition awards. To build and enhance MASIT network with recognized organizations in order to improve Macedonian ICT industry brand,  recognition, image and reputation.
• Export capacities – to support the exports through improving the export promotion policies; international branding and position; promoting clusters and collaboration; strengthening export capabilities and knowledge; fostering quality and company excellence with ultimate goal to establish Macedonia as a well recognized brand for specialized, high quality outsourcing services and software products.
• Sustainability – to constantly enhance its financial and organizational operations and establish MASIT as recognized and professional organization through innovative, effective and efficient management and leadership in order to boost the fulfillment of its vision and mission.

Source: MASIT