Russian IT-companies and Dutch entrepreneurs meeting organized by RUSSOFT
The association of Russian software development companies RUSSOFT continues to apply the strategy of promoting Russian companies at the client-rich locations. Last year RUSSOFT officially declared the start of its operation in The Netherlands by opening an office in The Hague. In October 2014 with support of Westholland Foreign Investment Agency, RUSSOFT organized the presence of Russian IT companies at the major Dutch technological event — The Hague Tech.
The Hague Tech expo specializes on innovative IT technologies, equipment and solutions. One of the key parts was the Smart City Conference where companies presented their solutions and technologies for creation of global information environment for megapolises. In 2014 The Hague Tech gathered over 600 delegates of government sector, IT corporations and technological startups. The goal of The Hague Tech is to create a comfortable environment for business discussions, agreements, and projects, targeted at further development of The Hague IT infrastructure.
The Russian delegation included: First Line Software, Reksoft, Lanit-Tercom, Arcadia, Kentor — companies, specialized in custom software development, and Viziware, Acrodis, E-ngineers, presenting their own products and solutions. During the forum Russian companies participated in matchmaking — a series of targeted negotiations with potential partners and customers. Over forty Dutch companies requested meetings with eight Russian companies.
"The Netherlands are one of the most promising European markets for Russian custom software development companies, and we are grateful to RUSSOFT for the opportunity to participate in The Hague Tech. One of the key topics of the Forum was the development of solutions for smart cities. At First Line, we possess rich experience in delivering a broad spectrum of solutions for managing various municipal and other public services. Among First Line’s solutions and projects applicable to the context of smart city that were presented at The Hague Tech were smart street parking system (delivered for the City of Moscow), wifi-based retail analytics system (Retail Instruments), and video management solutions for law enforcement (Video Guardian)," said Alexander Pozdniakov, CEO of First Line Software. "We liked the event format, matchmaking especially, organized as perfect as in the previous years. Our company presented People Traffic Analysis system. Some of our Dutch colleagues were very interested in the solution, so we hope that this interest will grow into the full cooperation. We will be glad to participate in the forum next year. I hope we will get our first Dutch partner soon", Sergey Baklan, Arcadia CEO, said. "At the event we presented not some specific solutions but Reksoft as a whole company focused on software development for Russian and foreign markets. In my opinion participation in the Forum was useful for us. It allowed us to learn the real IT market trends in Europe and particularly in the Netherlands. I would also like to point out the good format of the event, that helped us to negotiate with some innovative companies and strengthen business ties with our partners", concluded Ekaterina Zabelinskaya, Director of International Sales at Reksoft. "Participation in The Hague Tech, and especially in the matchmaking part, was really useful. We were approached by potential clients with their real needs, which may eventually grow into a partnership. We clearly felt that the Netherlands do not have enough engineers, and this situation creates opportunities for Russian companies. During this difficult political situation we were touched by friendly attitude and openness of Dutch companies and government organizations representatives" - said Denis Akimov, General Director of Kentor. "Meetings with our foreign colleagues during The Hague Tech demonstrated that European IT community is ready to cooperate with Russian companies, regardless of the tough political situation of the past months. We are grateful to our partners from WFIA for cooperation. This year they managed to prepare wide contact-making program for RUSSOFT delegation members. I hope that SmartCity subject will allow Russian companies to introduce their solutions to European market, as well as learn European companies’ best practices for implementing them at home. said Valentin Makarov, President of RUSSOFT. |
