IT and Software Development

In 2006, new projects of Microsoft (Development Center for Mobile Technologies), Skype (Application Development Center, the company's first outside of its home country), CSC Corporation (IT center for European clients), Deutsche Börse (software development center) and RedHat (software development center) were added to the list of already successfully established centres in the country. In addition, companies such as Sun Microsystems, Monster Technologies, LogicaCMG and Infosys officially announced expansion projects based on the success of their operations in the Czech Republic.

A statement made by Dr. Michael Kuhn, CIO of Deutsche Group, best describes the Czech Republic's attributes: "Based on an economic comparison of several Central and Eastern European countries, the Czech Republic clearly emerged as the best choice for our new subsidiary. The country offers highly qualified IT specialists with good language skills in both English and German."

Following Prague, an earlier hot location for such projects, top-notch locations (Brno, Ostrava, Plzen, Liberec and Hradec Kralove) have emerged and offer a good supply of the high-quality labour that is needed for such projects.

Although competitive costs play a substantial role in deciding where to locate, skills are the critical factor for success in this sector. The Czech Republic offers particularly skilled labour force. The country has traditionally been very strong in technical fields and approximately one-third of all university graduates have a degree in a technical field. Overall, there are almost 300,000 students at 23 public universities and 37 private universities.

Due to its characteristics, the Czech Republic is also highly regarded among different research organizations. According to a recent Economist Intelligence Unit study which ranked the Czech Republic third among the most attractive offshore locations in the world, "the Czech Republic's potential stems from a combination of relatively low labour costs, an attractive regulatory environment, and close proximity to Western Europe, with which it also shares close cultural and historical ties. The country's relatively well-educated workforce broadens its attractiveness as an off-shoring location beyond those of regional competitors such as Poland and Slovakia." Similar conclusions are offered by CIO Insight (Global Outsourcing Report 2005), AT Kearney (The 2005 Global Services Location Index) or Gartner.

"Sun chose to locate its development centre in the Czech Republic over other attractive locations around the world. Prague was chosen especially thanks to its abundance of software-development specialists, excellent infrastructure, stable environment, and the helpful attitude of the government."

• Zdenek Pilz, General Manager, Sun Microsystems Czech

"The Czech Republic is an attractive destination for companies like ours that hope to reach a broad European market - Brno has excellent infrastructure and facilities, a supportive government, and people with multiple language skills."

• Akshaya Bhargava, Managing Director and CEO, Progeon Ltd.

If you are interested to find out more about opportunities to invest in IT and Software Development in the Czech Republic, do not hesitate to contact us at fdi@czechinvest.org. You can also contact CzechInvest's foreign offices.