ESTONIA
IT Market Overview
The IT industry in Estonia is made up of about 23,000 experts. Roughly 1,150 people graduate from colleges and universities with degrees in IT related fields. Furthermore, the IT sector is an important component of the nation’s economy, making up more than 5% of its GDP, which is a great improvement over the 2015 situation. This is due to an increase in the value of software development services. It is also worth mentioning that the Digital Strategy 2020, a government plan which is targeted towards making IT the most important sector of the economy, is well in place.
A lot of important tech innovations started in Estonia. These include Skype, TransferWise, Lingvist, Click &Grow, etc.
Business Environment
Estonia leads as far as IT solutions are concerned in the Baltic Region. The country adopts a wide array of electronic services such as e-banking, national ID Card, digital signature, and so on. Furthermore, the country is paying serious attention to its Cybersecurity. It is the centre for the cyber security unit of NATO.
In addition, the country is highly stable politically. It belongs to a number of international organisations including NATO, OECD, WTO, the Eurozone,etc. which makes it a good destination for investment.
Risks mad Challenges
One major challenge of Estonia is the reduction of its working age population. The country has low unemployment rates but the working population is ageing, and this is a threat to the IT industry.
Also, the country’s IT industry is still being heavily dominated by the traditional sectors, and has little concentration of R&D services.
LITHUANIA
IT Market Overview
Close to 37,000 experts currently make their living in the IT sector of Lithuania with about 1,700 potential tech specialists leaving school each year. Over $100 million has been pumped into this industry in the past year and numerous IT events are being held in the country, some of which attract a large number of participants and top international speakers.
Business Environment
There is a policy in the country, the Programme on the Information Society Development for the period of 2014-2020, which the government is actively implementing. It is geared towards improving the speed of internet connection and make e-services more widespread. More so, the government has increased funding in the IT education, and the interest in IT is growing among students.
Risks and Challenges
There is an alarming rate of emigration among the tech experts in Lithuania. As a result of this, lack of top experts has been a debilitating factor in the effort being made towards improving the IT sector of the country.
LATVIA
IT Industry Review
The country has over 5,000 IT firms which employ more than 30,000 experts. About 6,000 IT students graduate from tertiary institutions in Latvia on an annual basis. A lot of reputable IT service providers like Siemens, Evolution, IBM, have centres in Latvia.
Business Environment
The growth of the country’s IT sector is based on the fast broadband subscriptions. Factors such as infrastructural development, innovation, etc. take priority in the country. Also, the government intends to ameliorate administrative woes and improve government e-services which will attract investment and open up job opportunities.
Risks and Challenges
A very little proportion of the population embrace digital skills. R&D services is barely patronised in the country.
CONCLUSION
The situation of these three countries looks promising. They have moderate rate of software development market growth. There is an inadequate number of IT experts which is a challenge in this region.
