One of the participants at this year's MoStart conference was Alan Đurić, a young Croatian entrepreneur from Dubrovnik and co-founder and CEO of the Swiss company Wire.

Wire is known for its namesake app, which is considered the most secure for instant messaging, providing end-to-end encryption for messages as well as voice and video calls. The app was launched in late 2014 and is available for iOS, Android, OS X, Linux, and Windows operating systems.

Đurić also contributed to the development of Skype, and his co-founder Janus Friis supported the development of Wire. Additionally, Đurić is one of the pioneers of VoIP technology, which enables phone calls over the internet.

Speaking at the MoStart conference during a lecture titled "AI Catastrophes on the Horizon – Navigating Dangerous Paths with Strategic Security and Privacy Measures," Đurić emphasized that Wire offers a secure communication platform.

He stated that this platform has been used by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Jens Stoltenberg, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and many others.

“Whether you support them or not, when it comes to data security and privacy, I believe they are among the best references. I am personally proud that they are users of the platform. This shows that our largest user is the German government, with nearly 50 different ministries and offices involved,” Đurić revealed.

He advised young students building their careers to expect continuous learning and product improvement, whether they are working in their own company or for someone else.

Besides Wire, Đurić mentioned that he co-founded Telio, a telecommunications company that provides VoIP services in Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, with a total of 200,000 users.

“With Telio and NextGenTel, we delivered the first international calls 20, 21 years ago, which were the first in Europe and free of charge. As the company grew, we acquired a mobile operator and entered the mobile phone market in Scandinavia. We then purchased an ADSL operator, as well as fiber-optic transmission operators, and successfully positioned the company on the Oslo stock exchange. Investors who were in the initial phase of the company, along with dividends and overall growth, received 85 to 88 times their invested capital. They were very satisfied,” Đurić believes.

He also mentioned that they launched the company Sonorit, which was purchased by Skype, and whose technology is now used by Microsoft Teams. This technology was developed at Global IP Solutions, where Đurić was the "lead architect and engineer" on the Internet Low Bitrate Codec project, which became the WebRTC standard.

He explains that this standard is now used by over five billion people through applications like WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.

Đurić also spoke about data security and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, emphasizing that it is crucial to think about product security from the earliest stages of development.

In the end, he advised students and young engineers to persevere in their goals.

"Whenever someone tells you that something is impossible, don’t accept it right away. Try not to go headfirst into a wall, but also look closely to see if there’s a hole in the wall or a way to get around it."

By the way, the second edition of the MoStart conference was held from April 24 to April 26, 2024, at the University of Mostar. The conference was organized by the University of Mostar and the Center for Information Technologies of the University of Mostar (SUMIT), in collaboration with the Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNET), the Agency for Commercial Activities (AKD), the Ministry of Science, Education, Culture, and Sports of the HBŽ, the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth, Culture, and Sports of the SBŽ, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the ŽZH, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Posavina Canton, and the Institute for Education and Upbringing of the ŽZH and HBŽ, as well as the Institute for Education of Mostar.
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