Van Williams, CIO of American company Virtustream states that the local talent pool was one of the main reasons for opening a Lithuanian office in Kaunas. In his article, which is being published on IDG Connect, the world’s largest technology media company website, Williams praises IT professionals prepared at KTU.
“When you think of major tech hubs across the globe, Lithuania is not an obvious place that comes to mind. But this looks to be changing, with the Baltic state home to a vibrant and growing tech scene, which has been bubbling under the surface for some time.
Recent research suggests that the Eastern and Central Europe cloud computing industry, over the next few years, will grow by about 20 percent and Lithuania is at the forefront of this renaissance. The Lithuanian economy is one of the fastest growing in the European Union and was recently placed 24th on The Ease of Doing Business Index”, says CIO of Virtustream in his article.
According to Williams, at the heart of this revolution, both geographically and economically, is Lithuania’s second largest city – Kaunas, home to The Santaka Valley and the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). With an estimated 50 thousand students enrolled at the University, it very much acts as a breeding ground for some of the most technically gifted students in Central Europe, streaming them into the ever growing Lithuanian IT talent pool, maintains CIO of Virtustream.
Santaka Valley, co-ordinated by the KTU, plays a large role in the technology scene and is home to a number of high-tech businesses such as the Italian company Grupp Fos and Virtustream.
Williams is valuing Virtustream’s strong partnership with KTU as well – besides sharing space on the University’s campus, the company’s representatives regularly speak at the conferences and conduct job fairs.
“With the university feeding into the local tech scene, there is an intense “talent war” raging in the region, as more and more IT technical specialists come through the system, feeding both local and international business”, writes Williams.
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