“Ukraine should be a producer of technological products, not just outsourcing services,” Nicholas Tymoshchuk, CEO of UFuture

Undoubtedly, the IT industry is one of the leading “engines” of Ukraine’s economic growth. How to maintain its competitiveness in the race with the most advanced companies in the world’s technology countries? Nicholas Tymoschuk, CEO of UFuture, spoke about the necessary measures for developing this promising domestic industry at the Ukraine Business Council webinar.

• One of the roles of the holding company UFuture in the Ukrainian IT industry is as an investor. Last year, we joined several companies and merged them into a group of IT companies called ITernal. After all, we understand this industry’s development potential and the vital role on the global map.
• Another role of UFuture’s presence in the IT industry is the innovation parks we have been building in Ukraine for the past five years. The largest and most significant is UNIT.City is a huge physical infrastructure with an area of ​​almost a million square meters. Offices, laboratories, educational institutions and housing for representatives of the Ukrainian IT industry, technology and creative companies and divisions of corporations working on innovations — all this unites efforts to increase Ukraine’s competitiveness in the world. We are building not only real estate but an ecosystem designed to ensure the growth of these promising sectors and, as a consequence, the Ukrainian economy.
• Service companies aren’t the most attractive for investment due to their relatively thin margins. The most significant value and the prospect of capitalization growth are in creating the final high-tech product. Therefore, it is absolutely not enough for Ukraine to remain an outsourced IT state.
• Domestic IT professionals need to understand that their current competitive advantage in the world is temporary. The next step is to increase the share of food companies with recent innovations and advanced technologies. It is the only way to create real added value for the Ukrainian technology industry and make our country more critical for the world.
• The role of the state is also essential for the successful future development of technological industries. On the one hand, Ukraine needs to create better competitive conditions for IT and technology companies, not worsen them. Secondly, the government should stimulate investment in the modernization of education in Ukraine by all possible means. It is ridiculous to rely solely on the remnants of the legacy of Soviet education and to believe that this is enough to maintain a competitive position in a world that is changing faster and faster.
• Half of the world’s population lives in Southeast Asia, which is very fast catching up with the entire developed world. It means that today’s competitive qualities of Ukrainian IT engineers will become unnecessary over the next 5-10 years. To avoid this, it is necessary to improve specialists’ next generations through modern training programs continually.
• UFuture contributes to IT and business education in Ukraine because it is the foundation and main guarantee of our country and Ukrainians’ competitiveness in the future.

More opinions from the founders of advanced technology companies on developing the “engine industry” via the link to the webinar.