ChatMED coordinator Prof. Dr. Monika Simjanoska Misheva recently met with the President of North Macedonia, H.E. Prof. Dr. Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, to present NEO – the National Evidence Observatory, an initiative developed as a result of her participation in the Tech Diplomacy Global Executive Program (TDGEP).
The idea behind NEO emerged from a challenge that has become increasingly visible through the work of ChatMED: bringing excellent research and technological solutions into practice requires much more than technology itself. Successful adoption depends on an entire ecosystem encompassing institutions, regulation, data, infrastructure, professionals, trust, funding and coordination.
This experience brought tech diplomacy directly into the research-to-impact journey. Following her nomination by the President to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Tech Diplomacy Global Institute’s Executive Program, Simjanoska Misheva began exploring how the knowledge gained through the program could be translated into something practically useful for North Macedonia.
The result is NEO – the National Evidence Observatory.
NEO aims to identify, connect and mobilize knowledge and technological capacities originating from North Macedonia but currently dispersed across universities, research groups, European projects, companies, and professionals from the country who have built careers internationally.
At the heart of the initiative is a simple strategic question:
When North Macedonia faces a strategic priority, what knowledge, technology and people does the country already have that could help address it?
Rather than beginning from scratch every time a new national challenge emerges, NEO seeks to gradually create an evidence base through which existing national capabilities can be identified and connected with concrete public priorities.
During the meeting, the concept and ambition behind NEO were presented to the President, who encouraged the further development and implementation of the initiative. The discussion represented an important step in translating the TDGEP experience from executive education into a concrete national instrument.
The initiative also reflects a broader lesson emerging from ChatMED: research impact increasingly depends on the ability to connect scientific excellence with institutions, policy priorities and implementation capacity. In this sense, NEO extends the same research-to-practice philosophy beyond healthcare and into the wider question of national technological capacity and digital sovereignty.
North Macedonia already possesses considerable knowledge and technological expertise. Much of it, however, remains dispersed and insufficiently connected.
NEO starts from the premise that this capacity is a national resource that needs to be found, connected and put to work.
