IT clusters in Ukraine: how the community lives during the war

Ukraine has recently been called the “digital tiger” of Europe. According to a study by the IT Ukraine Association and Top Lead agency titled Digital Tiger: the Power of Ukrainian IT – 2023, which was presented in March 2024, Ukraine has more than 2,300 active IT companies, $14.06 billion in foreign exchange earnings, and UAH 68.1 billion in taxes for 2022-2023.

One of the important components of the development of the IT industry in Ukraine has been the ability to establish communications between companies within the country, which in turn helps the market grow, find personnel, attract investment, introduce the latest technologies, and survive during the war.

Ukrainian IT companies, educational institutions, legal and financial advisors are increasingly uniting in horizontal communities called IT clusters. The activities of such clusters include education and popularization of the IT profession, analytical research of the industry, thematic events, support for new businesses, startup competitions, etc.

According to the IT Ukraine Association, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there were 21 IT clusters in our country. After the start of the great war, a lot has changed. Some companies relocated to other regions of Ukraine, some communities reorganized or temporarily suspended their activities. However, most of them are still working, paying taxes, and helping the military with AI development and implementation.

We asked the representatives of IT clusters about their activities, main challenges, and plans, and also collected important information about Ukrainian IT communities for your convenience. If you have anything to add, please leave a comment.

Ukrainian IT clusters: an overview of local projects

It is said in the market that Ukrainian IT companies first formed a cluster in 2011 in Lviv. So let’s start the review with the Lviv IT cluster.

1. Lviv IT cluster

“We need more ‘broths’ – environments in which innovations are cooked. The Lviv IT Cluster and IT Arena are such a “broth”. We already have a lot of such environments, but there should be more. This “broth” of innovations should be cooked in many places,” says Stepan Veselovsky, CEO of Lviv IT Cluster.

According to him, in order for the “unicorns” to remain Ukrainian companies, and not just companies with Ukrainian roots, mountains will have to be moved. “There are not many locations in the world where it is profitable to structure a company. Therefore, it is important that we set ourselves this goal and achieve it,” Stepan Veselovsky recently said in an interview.

The community informed us that they are currently actively working on the creation of the Lviv IT Cluster Research Center. “For us, this is a logical development of our educational initiatives. The research center will combine laboratories for cross-sectoral research and spaces for developing startups and entrepreneurial skills. It will be a place where we strive to bring together all stakeholders: students, scientists, company representatives, city authorities, and partners,” the Lviv IT Cluster said.

Forbes Ukraine recently reported that the Lviv IT cluster plans to create a media outlet that will write about Ukrainian IT, as well as a platform to support Ukrainian IT companies. Two managers of large companies anonymously told the publication that the media will be called Scroll.online. It will include a website and an app. One of the above managers noted that the media will protect the interests of the IT industry. The community is also developing another product – a platform that will tell international companies about the Ukrainian IT industry.

When we asked Lviv IT Cluster about the launch of the media, they told us that they do not comment on rumors about this project at the moment. But they confirmed the information about the launch of a platform to support IT companies. “We will present IT Research Ukraine 2024 and the platform for supporting IT companies in Kyiv on November 21, 2024 at the Ukrainian Outsourcing Summit. It will be the first all-Ukrainian event for C-level executives, top managers, and founders of service IT companies. The speakers will include key players in the IT market,” the Lviv IT Cluster said.

2. Dnipro IT Community

Yevhen Gostishchev, CEO of IT Dnipro Community, told us that the community currently unites more than 60 IT companies, and its main areas of activity are military-tech, education, legal, GR development, and specialized communities within the community for IT professionals, financiers, marketers, and recruiters.

“There are a few proactive members in the community who are currently sole proprietors, but for us, the main criterion for acceptance is business transparency and representation or interests in Dnipro, as well as a sincere desire to jointly implement projects for the development of the region. Speaking in terms of education, this year we set ourselves the goal of developing the product direction in Dnipro, and right now, IT business owners are studying at our business school in the Product Force module. We also actively cooperate with universities, provide reviews of educational programs, and hold useful webinars and career guidance events,” explained the community’s executive director.

According to him, the main challenge is the war. “There are many issues that need to be addressed in terms of state regulation. The task facing the community is to contribute to the technological strengthening of the Armed Forces and address the army’s urgent needs, to form projects and initiatives to preserve human capital and develop the young tech generation. We also respond to legislative changes and strengthen the voice of the IT industry in resolving issues at the state level,” said Yevhen Gostyshchev.

He also noted that IT Dnipro Community is currently preparing for a major strategic session of the community, which will change or strengthen the existing directions for more effective interaction and development. “We are at the stage of implementing a large-scale analytical study of the region’s IT industry. The results will be known in the first half of 2025, and we aim to demonstrate the powerful technical potential of Dnipro to the country and partners,” summarized the head of the Dnipro IT Cluster.

3. Odesa IT Family

The Odesa IT Family community recently celebrated its 4th anniversary. According to the cluster, it currently includes 10 of the most powerful IT companies with a total of more than 11,000 employees covering various IT areas: programming, web development, IT consulting, and cybersecurity. Individual entrepreneurs can also join the community. The community regularly organizes practical workshops and webinars, often on financial and legal topics, and private meetings of stakeholders to share experiences. The Odesa IT Family partner network already includes more than 100 organizations, businesses, foundations, associations, and clusters.

“We have rebooted the system of educational initiatives in the region by launching a series of career guidance lectures, holding 4 science and technology conferences and 3 all-Ukrainian hackathons that supported more than 60 startup projects. We also launched two streams of English-speaking clubs for students and teachers, joined the IT Studios project of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Education and Science, continuing to shoot video lessons for 4 million schoolchildren, and launched an Erasmus+ course on international integration and cooperation opportunities. In support of business, we have organized a series of IT Wave conferences where we discuss topical issues, including the 10th anniversary conference,” Odesa IT Family said.

4. Kharkiv IT cluster

To make it easier for companies to enter new markets, the cluster recently became part of EEN, the world’s largest support network for small and medium-sized enterprises with international ambitions. Community managers now help to find new customers through this platform and participate in the events it organizes. The cluster told us that the community is now actively working on the launch of the Eastern Ukraine EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hub), which is scheduled to open on November 1, 2024. This hub, supported by the European Commission, will be a powerful tool for introducing advanced digital technologies and innovations in Ukraine.

And in 2023, Kharkiv IT Cluster launched the IT Cluster in the Cloud project, which allows companies that do not have physical offices due to the relocation of teams around the world to join the community. This provides them with access to the cluster’s resources and capabilities, regardless of geographic location. Olga Shapoval, Executive Director of Kharkiv IT Cluster, told us in a commentary that the organization includes more than 600 technology companies and partners of various specializations. “We are open to both large companies and small and medium-sized businesses. Individual entrepreneurs can become members of the cluster if they have a team and work under their own brand. We strive to unite those who resonate with our mission,” said the cluster director.

According to Olga Shapoval, the cluster organizes various events for IT professionals and creates specialized clubs and communities in various areas of IT business. Among them: CEO Club for CEOs; communities for PR, HR, Legal, accountants, and salespeople; and TechWomen Community to support women in IT. These communities enable professionals to share experiences, develop professional skills, and establish useful contacts.

The Kharkiv IT Cluster also told us that the community has the largest network of educational partners in Europe in the technology sector: more than 200 educational institutions of all levels in 17 regions, including 46 universities and more than 200 bachelor’s and master’s programs. The cluster covers the entire training funnel: career guidance for schoolchildren; teacher training; support for talented youth; career counseling and a common path to IT professions; and adult education.

“The cluster pays great attention to working with veterans and implements the Razom Tech program aimed at supporting the reintegration of veterans and adapting businesses to their return,” said the community’s executive director. Since February 24, 2022, 56 military units in Kharkiv and other regions have been under the care of the cluster, which is implementing initiatives to provide IT expertise and the necessary equipment.

Olga Shapoval also noted that the biggest challenges now are: the instability of the IT booking mechanism and the lack of this opportunity for those who work with foreign customers; the lack of a transparent mechanism for traveling abroad to participate in international events and projects with mandatory return; constant changes in regulation and taxation; low predictability of government actions and violation of the guarantee of stability of Diya.City conditions.

“In the future, we aim to: join forces to preserve the human potential of the industry; advocate for the interests of the IT community at the state level; develop recovery and digitalization projects; and promote international cooperation between Ukrainian IT companies and the Western world. We believe that by working together we can overcome these challenges and ensure the sustainable development of Ukraine’s tech sector,” summarized Olga Shapoval, Cluster Director.

5. Kyiv IT cluster

“Kyiv is the city with the largest number of companies and IT engineers. There is competition between IT companies here, and they are quite closed. It is more difficult to unite them than in small cities. In the capital, everyone is self-sufficient, there are many offices of international companies, and it is very difficult to unite them,” said Igor Arkhipenko, co-founder of the community, earlier.

The Kyiv IT Cluster told us that after the outbreak of the great war, the community temporarily stopped collecting membership fees, but plans to resume paid membership in 2025. “We currently have 72 members, including sole proprietors. The exact membership data will be available early next year,” the Kyiv cluster said.

In September 2024, the team at Kyiv IT Cluster changed completely. It is the team that is now actively working on new areas of activity. The new CEO of Kyiv IT Cluster is Sergiy Yashchuk, who is also the CEO of PLATFORMA coworking spaces.

The cluster also told us that the community is currently actively working on reorganizing projects and plans to present a new strategy for 2025 at the end of this year. The main areas of focus remain the organization of events for cluster members and the community, as well as cooperation with chambers of commerce and industry to support the export of IT services. “We have launched a new project together with Platforma coworking space – Kyiv IT Center, a soft-landing program for companies planning to open their offices in Kyiv. More information will be announced at the event to present our strategy for 2025,” Kyiv IT Cluster explained.

The Kyiv IT Cluster has already developed a cybersecurity program for IT professionals, which will be launched in early 2025. “Like many other organizations, we face numerous challenges. However, we constantly keep in touch with government projects and the IT association to work together to overcome difficulties. Our main plan is to remain a united community and support those who need help,” the Kyiv IT community summarized.

6. Khmelnytsky IT cluster

According to the community, the Khmelnytsky IT cluster currently includes 18 companies: they all have different ownership, there are international companies, there are giants of the Ukrainian IT market, but the vast majority are local companies in Khmelnytsky.

“Some areas of activity are not developing as fast as we would like. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have added a volunteer direction. We actively cooperate with higher education institutions and colleges that teach IT specialties. For students, we organize interesting meetings, MEET UPs, master classes, workshops, and guest lectures with the participation of leading specialists from our companies. We are also working on the development of school education, including career guidance meetings and master classes for schoolchildren,” the cluster said.

According to representatives of Khmelnytskyi’s IT community, one of the main challenges for most companies is the issue of booking key employees. “In general, we plan to develop, hold activities for young people and the community-to develop all areas of our activities and bring our victory closer,” the NGO summed up.

7. Rivne IT cluster

The Rivne IT Cluster told us that 11 companies and 11 educational institutions, as well as individual entrepreneurs, are currently members of the community.

“The main event of Rivne IT Cluster is the annual Game City Conference. For the second year in a row, the event has been attended by more than 300 visitors, including IT professionals, entrepreneurs, and students. The event takes place in Rivne and promotes the development of the tech industry in the region. All the participants’ presentations are divided into the following topics: education, business, GameDev, and IT,” the community said.

8. Vinnytsia IT cluster

Daria Nyshporska, CEO of Vinnytsia IT Association, told us that the organization has been operating in the market for six years and has united 18 IT companies with local offices and more than 50 partners. Sole proprietors are not currently members of the association, but there have been cases of small teams joining and later switching to LLCs. “We work according to the classic cluster model, bringing together IT business initiatives (SMEs and giant companies), government, education, and industrial business. The main task is to support and grow the ecosystem for comfortable business. We conduct annual research by IT VN Research – according to their data, Vinnytsia currently employs about 10,000 specialists,” said the community director.

According to her, the cluster constantly organizes cross-sectoral dialogue events for top management – business marathons, launched a collaboration platform with local IT called Tech Connect and already has successful cases of interaction, as well as offers legal advice.

Monthly themed clubs and Open Days are organized for employees of local IT companies. The cluster also actively cooperates with local higher education institutions that train technical personnel for the market, and is a member of the stakeholder councils of Vinnytsia National Technical University, Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University, and Vinnytsia Trade and Economic Institute of DTEK.

“The main challenges for the industry are still the decline in exports and a pause in the market for young professionals. This is closely related to the economic shackles imposed by the government on business, in particular in terms of tax regulation and the reservation of key specialists. Despite the constant dialog with the authorities, it often turns into a monologue. An example is the suspension of booking through the Diia portal. It was promised that the booking process would not be paused, and on October 20, 2024, the service stops working. Currently, only 4% of specialists in the industry are booked, which is a meager figure for an industry that ranks second in terms of exports. Nevertheless, we understand that the economy is cyclical and are actively preparing for a new upswing,” said the head of the association.

The Vinnytsia IT Cluster is also currently building international ties. It recently joined the European Cluster collaboration platform, a Pact for Skills initiative, attended the EU Cluster conference in Brussels, and signed memorandums with IT clusters in Latvia, Romania, and Spain. The plan is to prepare incubation programs for young teams on the basis of the new Crystal Innovation and Technology Park. “We have already held the debut Innovation Day event and are ready to develop a center for creating innovative technological products,” summarized Daria Nyshporska.

9. Transcarpathian IT cluster

Stanislav Shykalov, Chairman of the Board of the IT Cluster, told us that currently there are 14 IT companies and 20 individual entrepreneurs. “The Zakarpattia IT Cluster is not only a platform to support local IT businesses, but also a driver of change. We integrate the latest practices to develop the region’s IT ecosystem and actively work with international partners to attract investment. Our largest project this year is Drones of Zakarpattia. The initiative is being implemented jointly with the National Guard of Ukraine. The project brings together leading experts not only to teach UAV control, but also to create drones that can perform a wide range of tasks for our military,” said Stanislav.

According to Myroslava Maydych, executive director of the Transcarpathian community, the IT cluster becomes a monthly meeting place for local IT professionals to share their experiences. “We organize public discussions, IT lunches, meetups, and webinars where everyone can communicate with like-minded people and colleagues, find new opportunities, learn about current trends, and get new contacts. The development of education is one of the most important areas of activity. By cooperating with Uzhhorod National University, we are raising the level of technical education in the region and updating curricula, which helps train young professionals. We believe that our region has potential, and we want young people to see opportunities for development here without having to go abroad,” summarized Myroslava Majdych.

10. Cherkasy IT cluster

Cherkasy IT Cluster currently has 15 members – IT companies in the region. “These are companies that have been operating in the market since 2006, with a reputation and significant experience in technology. The Cherkasy branch of the IT STEP academy is also a member of the cluster, and UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group is a financial partner. Participants are IT companies that cooperate with individual entrepreneurs. Individual entrepreneurs are not members of the community,” Anastasia Nehoda, executive director of Cherkasy IT Cluster, told us.

According to her, the strategic directions of the cluster’s activities are:

EDUCATION — improving the quality of IT education in higher education institutions, colleges, and schools; the community works closely with regional educational institutions;

PR — promotion of the IT industry at the regional level and Cherkasy as an IT location at the national level; according to the latest market research conducted by the Lviv IT Cluster in 2023, 7000 IT specialists work in the Cherkasy region;

Government Relation — support for dialogue and communication with the authorities at the national and local levels; the cluster believes that this area is one of the most important, as it aims to help businesses overcome current challenges in real time and maintain economic stability; colleagues from the IT Ukraine Association help Cherkasy residents join meetings with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Mykhailo Fedorov;

CSR — Military — since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all social projects in the cluster have been reoriented to focus on supporting the defense, primarily the Cherkasy units. the cluster has allocated over UAH 2 million in joint projects, and the companies participating in the IT community have donated over UAH 70 million to the defense.

In 2023, the Cherkasy IT Cluster launched and first held the TFUSION BUSINESS FORUM, which was also aimed at IT professionals.

As for EDUCATION, Cherkasy IT Cluster implements two key educational projects: STUDIT OPEN SOFTLAB – a career guidance project for schoolchildren and students, the main goal of which is to systematically integrate IT career guidance into the educational process; IT KIDS – free programming courses for students in grades 6-7 and 8-9. The second project is implemented jointly with Cherkasy State Business College.

Here are links to accompanying videos that can help pupils and students understand what IT career guidance is:
https://bit.ly/4foj5WC
https://bit.ly/3AprKJy
https://bit.ly/3YnxUC6
https://bit.ly/3YqFb3R

Anastasiia Nehoda believes that the main challenge for Ukrainian tech businesses is to retain human capital. “Exports of the IT sector are significantly decreasing compared to previous years, and this is strongly influenced by the ability to book key specialists who hold company projects. Currently, the number of booked specialists is about 1% of the total number of industry professionals, which is a very small indicator for the further development and growth of the sector. And thus, for economic stability in general,” summarized the director of Cherkasy IT Cluster.

11. Chernivtsi IT cluster

According to Dmytro Shkilnyuk, chairman of the board of the Chernivtsi IT Cluster, the community consists of 14 companies. Individual entrepreneurs are not currently part of the cluster. The main areas of activity are: creating conditions for comfortable conduct of IT business in the region; improving the quality and quantity of IT specialists; popularization of the IT industry; raising the level of IT education in the region; organization of IT events; support for young companies; joint protection of IT business.

According to the head of the community, the Chernivtsi IT Cluster holds various activities at least once every two weeks to improve the technical level of IT talent in the city: IT breakfasts (up to 40 attendees), where technical topics, IT business, and IT marketing are discussed; meetings of thematic communities (at least once a month, a specialized event); mini-conferences of specialized communities (up to 160 attendees); training for cluster representatives (for company management); CEO dinners for owners and top management of companies, for partners; monthly mini-cross-fit competitions “IT-zaruba“.

“We are trying to create the conditions for our IT talents to get the best knowledge and experience in Chernivtsi. We want to make sure that specialists don’t have to go to Kyiv or Lviv to get knowledge. We make knowledge and experience accessible. We plan to launch AI community, BackEnd community, and PM community by the end of the year. We call our conferences, for example, HR hills and QA hills. Why “hills”? Because the city of Chernivtsi is located in the foothills, there are low mountains around the city, and there are many hills in the city. That’s why the association of the city is on the hills,” explained the head of the local IT community.

In terms of educational projects, the cluster’s activities focus on cooperation with school and higher education institutions. The community has eight joint projects with city and regional education departments. The goal is to popularize the IT industry and attract applicants to the local university. “We want to show schoolchildren that working in IT, they can earn a European salary in Chernivtsi and work on global projects. Our main projects are the IT Applicant Portal, the IT KickStart motivational event for schoolchildren, and the Bukovyna Computer Science Olympiad Studios. We also provide internships for students of Chernivtsi National University and Polytechnic College,” Dmytro Shkilnyuk, CEO of Chernivtsi IT Cluster, told us.

According to him, the main thing now is to keep the industry at the current level and prevent it from falling. Another important task, in Dmytro’s opinion, is to create favorable conditions for doing IT business in Chernivtsi so that IT talents feel comfortable living in the city.

12. Poltava IT cluster

13. Mariupol IT cluster

14. IT-cluster of Luganshchyna

15. IT cluster of Donetsk region

16. IAM Cluster – Zaporizhzhia

17. Ternopil IT cluster

18. East Ukrainian technocluster

“We will help in some places, and our competitors will help in others. But we have one clear goal in common: Ukrainian software or software from countries that are not cannibals should work in Ukraine,” Pavlo Zaitsev, head of EastUkrainian Technocluster, said in October 2022.

19. Mykolaiv IT cluster

20. Kherson IT cluster

21. Konotop IT cluster

22. Kryvyi Rih IT cluster

23. Lutsk IT cluster

24. Ivano-Frankivsk IT cluster

25. Kolomyia IT cluster

26. Chernihiv IT cluster

Also worth mentioning is the IT Ukraine Association, which is the largest national association of IT companies in Ukraine and represents the interests of more than 85,000 IT professionals. The association protects the interests of IT companies in the field of taxation and legal aspects of doing business; implements educational and social projects; provides legal and PR support, exchange of experience between members and partners; promotes the brand of Ukraine as a leading developer and supplier of IT products and services in the world.

It also helps companies to obtain contracts in international markets and represents the interests of member companies in international industrial organizations. The IT Ukraine Association has been conducting various global and local studies of the Ukrainian IT market for many years. The Executive Director is Maria Shevchuk. For more information about the Association’s activities, please follow the link.

Recently, the IT Ukraine Association together with Mind and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation conducted a study “Where is IT in WAR”, according to which, over the two years of full-scale war, the technology industry has invested at least UAH 38.8 billion in support of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, UAH 2.4 billion in humanitarian projects, and UAH 2.8 billion to help veterans.

The industry is also investing not only revenue but also its own experience and expertise in winning. “We are experiencing the largest technology war in the world. Without the latest developments, it would be much harder to resist an enemy with more resources. However, technology companies have accepted this challenge. Hundreds of their developments are already destroying the occupiers,” the study says.

90% of IT firms have mobilized employees. The vast majority of these companies continue to keep their jobs, purchase equipment, provide financial support, and keep paying salaries. There are more than 10,000 employees of IT companies in the ranks of the Defense Forces.

Other IT communities, hubs, coworking spaces

In addition to clusters, there are many IT hubs, innovation parks, centers, and coworking spaces in Ukraine where IT professionals can meet each other, share experiences, or simply work comfortably. During blackouts, such places have repeatedly saved IT professionals. There were times when even ordinary coffee shops and McDonald’s turned into mini-coworking spaces. We can’t mention them all, but we’d like to list the most famous IT centers. These places are: Kyiv’s UNIT.City – the first innovation park in Ukraine; Coworking Platforma (Kyiv), Peremoga (Kyiv), Creative States (Kyiv, Dnipro), smartworking “Garden” (Kyiv), co-working Kooperativ (Kyiv), Generator (Kyiv), “Promprylad.Renovation” (Ivano-Frankivsk), LvivTech.City (Lviv), CoMMuna (Lviv), TERRITORIA (Lviv), Coworking Futura (Lviv), Sense It Global (Khmelnytsky), Cooffice (Odesa) and many other great places.

According to various estimates, Ukraine also hosts up to 1,000 events related to technology, startups, and investments annually. As we can see, the IT ecosystem in Ukraine is developing thanks to the initiatives of local IT clusters. They create new opportunities for IT professionals and revitalize business processes in the regions. So let’s wish all of us a quick victory and sustainable innovative development.