Nizhny Novgorod

As one of the biggest cities in Russia, Nizhny Novgorod inherited a sound research and development base from the Soviet era. One of Russian major centers of education, academic and applied science, the city hosts almost a hundred research institutes and scientific labs, most of them used to service the military sector ten years ago. There are more than 60,000 scientists, researchers, designers, and 2,000 PhDs, who live and work in the Nizhny Novgorod region, representing 7% of all Russian scientific and engineering resources.

The region has the program "Innovation and High Technology in Regional Industries in 2003-2005", which serves to develop innovation support infrastructure. A key element in this work is the "Nizhny Novgorod - Area of Innovative Development" concept supported by the federal government.

The regional educational system provides academic tuition to about 210 000 students a year. Two largest local Universities: Nizhny Novgorod State University (name after N. Lobachevsky) with its five physics and mathematics departments of different profiles, and the Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University provide a steady stream of highly qualified and talented software professionals into the local market. On average, 30,000 university students are educated in the different fields of scientific techniques including software development, radio physics technology, communication, electronics, physics, mechanics, theoretic physics, etc.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the centers of the IT Industry in Russia. It ranks among the leading Russian cities in terms of the quantity of software R&D providers. Intel has a big software R&D center with more than 500 engineers in the city, as well as a major datacenter. Intel Laboratory and Computer Modeling Center are committed to developing software and computer technology, training experts in mathematical modeling, information science, computer engineering and IT, that use Intel-based hardware.

In Nizhny Novgorod there is also a number of offshore outsourcing software developers, including Bell Integrator, Itseez, Tecom, Luximax Systems Ltd., MERA Networks, RealEast Networks, Auriga, SoftDrom, and Teleca, and many other smaller ones that specialize in delivering services to telecommunication vendors.

The rapid growth of software development companies in the region started in late 90’s, although a lot of them were established in the early 90s. Most of these companies are located in Nizhny Novgorod, the others – in the big regional towns of Sarov and Dzerzhinsk. One will never find giants among the offshore software providers, as most can be rated as middle- and small-size businesses. Nevertheless there are several mature offshore software development providers with staffs more than 400 employee.

Nizhny Novgorod has also been chosen as one of four sites for building an IT-oriented technology park—a special zone that has an established infrastructure and enjoys a favorable tax and customs policy.