Slovak technologies are gradually conquering the world. As many as five Slovak companies placed in this year's Deloitte CE Technology Fast 50 chart of the fastest growing companies in Central Europe. The Czech Republic, which is twice the size of Slovakia, has the same number of companies in the chart, according to the Hospodárske Noviny daily.
The biggest town in Eastern Slovakia, Kosice is becoming a digital superpower as up to 3,000 jobs are to be created in the city's IT Valley in the following years, continues the daily. Up to 95 percent of its products are exported abroad while no motorways are needed; it is Kosice's 'Silicon Valley'. Kosice's IT sector is now employing about 7,000 people. The German company T-Systems arrived in Kosice nine years ago. With an initial number of 23 employees, it now employs over 3,000 people. Kosice's branch of software corporation NESS Software Engineering Services grows by dozens of employees every year. The Vietnamese software developer FPT Software is also reporting a permanent expansion in the number of employees. In September, a new player came to town; the Brazilian multinational company Embarco set up its global shared services centre there. Apart from the local universities, new professionals are also brought to the region by a joint project by SAP Slovakia, IT Valley and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJS). This joint academy doesn't only create users, but also developers of SAP's systems. "A real cooperation with the supplier of the software provides students with a concrete advantage in their education. The demand for professionals with these abilities is growing in Kosice," said Gabriel Semanisin, Faculty of Science dean at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University.
