Communications of the ACM
Inside Ukraine's Thriving Tech Sector
Daryna Hameliak has to assure potential Avenga customers that the company can meet deadlines despite the war.
Credit: Emile Ducke / The New York Times
The tech sector in Ukraine is thriving, a rare bit of upbeat news in a nation in deep economic distress.
The 200,000 computer engineers and code writers in the country need just a laptop and an Internet connection to earn a living. Figures from the National Bank of Ukraine show that in the first five months of this year, technology companies brought in $3.1 billion in revenue from thousands of customers, a jump from $2.5 billion a year earlier.
Customers from Silicon Valley to Seoul offer ardent "We stand with Ukraine" affirmations during video calls, tech executives say, and many seem eager to support the country. But there is worry that noble impulses will collide with the unsentimental imperatives of running a business.
"You have only a short period of empathy from customers," says Yuriy Adamchuk, chief operating officer of Avenga, a software developer based in Lviv. "There is some period of empathy, and then it will pass. At that point the question is: Can you deliver or not?"
From The New York Times
View Full Article – May Require Paid Registration
No entries found