Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, is known for its second largest tech community in the country. Hosting about 25 percent of all Ukrainian developers, it is currently undergoing a transformation from a major IT outsourcing destination to a technology hub with its own software and hardware startups.
Community initiatives have sprung up to further develop the human capital in terms of both technological abilities and entrepreneurship.
“The IT cluster hosts companies that require highly skilled talent; its primary objective is to develop the human capital. Such projects imply close cooperation with schools and universities, promotion of the IT profession among the youth, professional trainings, English language courses for IT students etc.,“ noted Andrew Pavliv, chief executive officer at local software development company N-iX and Chairman of Lviv IT Cluster Supervisory Board, in a recent interview.
“However, our broader goal is to make Lviv a desirable place for young technicians to live and work in,” he added.This year Lviv IT Cluster is developing a program of industry events such as regional IT roadshows and Lviv IT Arena. The latter is a tech conference which attracted last year one thousand participants from Ukraine and beyond.
Among other projects are the “IT-House,” which aims to provide comfortable and affordable residential buildings for employees of local tech companies. The community also has plans to stimulate the development of startups and entrepreneurship as well as venture capital and business incubators.
Many startups can be started within IT outsourcing companies, believes Pavliv. “Some members of Lviv IT Cluster have started their own, self-funded projects. Such initiatives could be brought to a new level with the support of venture capital.”
The economic instability and the civil war in the eastern part of Ukraine are bringing new challenges. The community needs to keep customers informed and confident.
“The IT cluster can report community news. Our clients and partners across the world will understand that, far from the turmoil, our companies continue working and growing. Probably, not as fast as we would like, but still growing,” Pavliv said.
The article was first published at Ukraine Digital News.
