We are always one step ahead

The show "M:tech", which is shown on Television Vijesti next Wednesday, April 24, will experience a jubilee that few can boast of - it will have its 200th episode.

In previous years, the host of this show, Marija Racković, informed the audience about news from the field of technical innovations and brought interesting stories about technologies used around the world, and she plans to continue at the same pace. At least until some robot replaces her, as he jokingly says. M:tech is shown on the TV Vijesti channel on Wednesdays at 17.30:18 p.m., and those who miss an episode always have the option of reruns on Sundays at XNUMX p.m.

How does it feel to reach the 200th episode of the show?

When you reach the 200th show - in this case, it means that four years of serious work, more than 80 hours of broadcasting and many steps to climb are behind you. However, just knowing that it is one of the projects that "lives" on Television Vijesti for the longest time, and that as such M:tech is still the only Montenegrin show that deals with technology, gives the feeling that it is really always worth putting work and effort into it. what you like.

When you look back at what you've done so far, what are you most proud of? How do you think this show stands out from some others from this area that deal with similar topics?

Basically, I am most proud when one of my colleagues urgently asks me to fix his phone. (laughs) Joking aside, considering that, like most people, I only knew the basics and necessary about technology at the very beginning of working on the show, today I have completely new perspectives and I can easily handle concepts that were once completely foreign to me. In addition to understanding it, I love technology today. I am especially pleased that people who are big fans of technology are regular viewers of the M:tech show, and in the past four years we have really become a brand, as evidenced by the standard good rating and interest of our audience.

At the very beginning, when I was thinking about how this show should look, without being dry, too terminologically expert and incomprehensible, I came up with the idea of ​​creating a format that would actually show life from a technological angle. And I think that's exactly what people are interested in - they won't understand who a virtual assistant is, if you don't explain to them plastically what all the jobs he can do for them. Or why there is so much talk about the 5G network. When you show them that a doctor from China operates on a patient in Mostar in that way, you have succeeded in explaining to the viewer, on a small sample, how his life could look like in ten years. That's what makes M:tech stand out - we're one step ahead.

Where does your interest as a journalist specifically for this segment of life, technology, come from?

Five years ago, technology didn't interest me beyond what I needed to know to use a phone or a computer. However, when you realize that it is inevitable that in ten years we will be chipped or that most of the work will be done with a button, you start to get interested and research. When you meet people who managed to make millions with a good idea and a few euros in their pocket, then it is clear how important it is to follow trends. Although Montenegro lags far behind developed countries in this regard, while you are waiting in line in front of the counter, it is inevitable that you will ask yourself what it is like to live in Slovenia, where business has been paperless for years?! We are behind the trends, but they will not bypass us. If someone had told you a couple of years ago that organizing cyber funerals would quickly become a lucrative business, you would probably have thought they were joking. Burying all electronic data about a person and everything that can be found about them on social networks is already much more expensive than organizing a traditional funeral.

Since Montenegro is not exactly a center of technological innovation, how difficult is it to follow such events from this position? What does the preparation of your show look like?

Montenegro is not a center of technological innovation, but thanks to the new generations, it could become an important stop on the technological path. More and more young people understand the importance of applications and start-ups and see themselves in that world. That is what is truly commendable. On the other hand, someone had to open that chapter. The leader in terms of innovation on our market is certainly the company M:tel, which is also the general sponsor of our show. Thanks to their projects, you now have a lot of important technological topics that should be talked about in Montenegro. In addition to the Digital Factory, which was founded a year and a half ago, as the first Montenegrin ICT Hub (a center for the development of technological entrepreneurship and innovation) and which will already give birth to the second generation of the Start ap Academy, M:tel was also the first on our market to launch a service via which you can pay with your mobile phone, a very important telemedicine project in cooperation with the Clinical Center, as well as competitions for high school students in creating applications. In cooperation with the "Vijesti" business academy, their project now includes IT-literate Montenegrin pensioners from numerous Montenegrin cities. Slowly but surely, Montenegro is getting its technological story.

As far as preparation is concerned, M:tech is broadcast every Wednesday from 17.30:25 p.m. and lasts about XNUMX minutes. This means that every few days they follow the most important events on the technological scene, "package" the stories, record our topics and announcements, until the famous Tuesday when they go into the editing room and stay there for a couple of hours.

In which segment of technological development has the most progress been made in recent years? Has anything particularly surprised or amazed you from the news/stories you've worked on?

In recent years, it seems to me that the most progress has been made precisely in robotics. The reality is that many people will lose their jobs because of robots, but the fact is that they will also become our right hand in many situations. A segment that is developing at an incredible speed is the part of the auto industry that involves autonomous driving. It was this segment, it seems to me, that showed that technology should not be tested if it is not almost completely perfected. I believe that the numerous accidents that have happened recently will leave their mark. On the other hand, a big shift in a positive sense has been made in the field of vehicle electrification. A lot of money is being invested in attempts to go to Mars and the Moon, but I'm still skeptical about that... On the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution, the 5G network could change almost everything.

What are your further plans for the future, do you hope there will be at least 200 more shows?

Another 200 shows would mean four more years of work. By then, a robot may already be doing it. Well, that's the technology in a nutshell...

In the hands of bad people, everything is wrong, including new technologies

How do you yourself look at various experiments and technological innovations, what do you hope for in the future, and is there anything that you are afraid of, since there is no shortage of films and series that warn us how all these techno gadgets can be used in a negative way ?

I always repeat in the show that the best should be taken from technology. Unfortunately, there is a very thin line on which that line is crossed and modern achievements are used for purposes for which they are not intended. The fact is that drones are made to be aerial support, to facilitate the work of rescuers in case of fire, repairs and accidents. The fact is that they are made to save, not to kill. It is also a fact that Facebook was founded with a mission to connect people, not to sell users' private data. I am of the opinion that in the hands of bad people, every good thing is wrong. However, I believe in a part of technology that can make our lives easier and more beautiful. Actually, I'm not thinking about when a robot will take over my workplace, but when it will cook my lunch... (laughs)