selectedItem

Return the underlying data item object of the selected item:

<input id="combo" ></input>

<script type="text/javascript">

    $(function () {
        $("#combo").shieldComboBox({
            dataSource: {
			    data: countries
		    },
		    textTemplate: "{name}",
		    valueTemplate: "{code}",
            inputTemplate: "{name}"
       });
   
        $("#combo").swidget().selected(0, true) // select the first item
   
        $("#combo").swidget().selectedItem(); // return the country object from the datasource to which combobox item is bound 

    });

</script>