About the city
Lviv today is a city of opportunities and perspectives open to innovation and creative solutions. Over the past few years, Lviv has emerged as a center of Ukrainian information technologies and become one of the top three IT-cities of Ukraine alongside Kharkiv and Kyiv.
In 2009, international company KPMG named Lviv one of the most promising cities in development of IT-outsourcing. Lviv was the only Ukrainian city to get into the ranking which included thirty other locations all over the world.
Tholons’ rating of 2014 only strengthened the status of the city placing it among top-100 European outsourcing centers. International recognition goes alongside practice: more and more Ukrainian and international companies started opening their offices in Ukraine, and now IT industry is represented with almost two hundred companies.
The advantages of the city on the international IT market
Economic attractiveness
Lviv IT market is financially attractive for the foreign investors since they can hire experienced professionals and open new offices for reasonable prices. The city offers many opportunities for the potential businesses since it provides them with the high-quality services that are economically profitable and position the city as one of the most competitive IT centers in Europe.
Highly-qualified human capital
The city has eight high-end universities with more than four thousand talented IT-graduates every year. Academies and schools of IT companies support the students and others wishing to learn the IT profession while professional schools and courses provide the people with an opportunity to retrain for future employment.
Cultural and geographic proximity
Thanks to its historic past and location, Lviv is very connected to the European culture and mentality. More than one-third of Lviv IT specialists knows a second European language alongside English. The fact that the city is located in the very heart of Europe also makes it a convenient destination for outsourcing: flying from Lviv to major business centers in Europe will take approximately three hours. Thanks to this, one-third of the customers Lviv IT-companies have are Europeans, and half of them are Americans.
Positive dynamics
Over the past five years, Lviv IT-market has increased threefold. 90% of IT-companies’ directors consider Lviv a favorable place for business, and more than 83% of them plan to continue investing in it. Many local companies open offices abroad, the export market is growing, and a large number of Ukrainian IT-specialists is moving to Lviv from other cities. Lviv hosts large-scale IT-events as well as experiences positive trends thanks to the Association Agreement with the EU.
