The IT market is one of the most dynamic in the world, and the need for IT specialists in Lithuania is constantly growing. Expert assessments and market research show that this sector is now experiencing a real golden age, and the need for software engineers will not decrease in the coming decades. True, in this constantly changing field, in order to achieve good results and international recognition, you have to do a lot of hard work - study, study and study again.
As the IT sector grows, so does its reputation
The analysis conducted by the Center for Monitoring and Analysis of Science and Studies (MOSTA) showed that since 2015. the number of occupied jobs in the country's labor market has grown by almost 3 percent. Meanwhile, the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector has seen five times faster growth, reaching 15 percent. The group of professions of software developers, application developers and analysts stood out for the greatest growth in jobs. True, although according to Eurostat, in 2018 ICT specialists in Lithuania accounted for only 2,7 percent. of all employed people, MOSTA analysis shows that 12 percent of those who started their studies in the ICT field in the same year. Such study programs as Program Systems or Computer Science Engineering have been among the most popular for several years, and IT companies create conditions for specialists to continue learning and improving their skills.
Along with the growth of the Lithuanian IT sector, its reputation in the world is also growing. In 2015, the first survey of the reputation level of the Lithuanian IT sector, conducted by the market research and consulting company TNS LT together with the national information and communication technology sector association INFOBALT, revealed that the reputation of the Lithuanian IT sector is one of the best in Europe. The average IT sector reputation index in Europe was 56 points, and in Lithuania it reached as much as 67 points. According to the latest data, at the end of 2016, the Lithuanian IT sector reputation index rose by another two points and already reaches 69 points, so the trends are clear and truly positive.
Lithuanian programmers are among the best in the world
This is perfectly illustrated by this year's Lithuanian performance in the international programming competition "Google Code Jam". This is an internationally recognized competition, first organized in California in 2003. The goal of the competition was to discover and attract the most talented programmers to work at Google. Every year, programmers from all over the world compete in this competition and strive to solve complex algorithms within a certain time. This year, the competition attracted more than 60 thousand participants.
Meanwhile, twice as many Lithuanians participated this year than last year – 109, and as many as 98 qualified, which, considering the size of the population, is the second best result in the world after Singapore.
According to Mantas Urbonas, CEO of the IT company Visma Lietuva, which provides software services to the Northern European region, such a competition opens up opportunities for programmers to test their skills on a global scale, which is why the company initiated and organized events even before the competition, the goal of which is not only to introduce the competition itself, but also to help prepare for it by sharing available knowledge and expertise.
"Visma Lietuva" constantly applies this practice - by sharing our knowledge, we grow our competence. We also applied this method when preparing for the competition. During the events, colleagues from Visma Lietuva and other IT companies who had already tried their hand at the competition in previous years shared their experience, and it was possible to get acquainted with the specifics of the tournament. We will continue this initiative, so we hope that in the coming years it will help attract even more participants from Lithuania," says M. Urbonas.
Provides the opportunity to achieve recognition
According to Vydūnas Trapinskas, Investment Environment Expert at Invest in Lithuania, such competitions are a great way to show investors how many and how high-level talents we have in Lithuania.
"This Google programming event brings together the best programmers in the world. The fact that Lithuania showed one of the best results in terms of population size only confirms Lithuania's potential once again and that the IT strategic direction is not just a direction. This is also a sign for other investors who, seeing where talent is concentrated, can direct their investments towards it," says V. Trapinskas.
How do you become the best?
According to M. Urbonas, it is easy to see every day that Lithuania is recognized as a country of excellent IT specialists.
"Visma Lietuva" programmers work together with colleagues from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries, who value Lithuanians as productive, pragmatic, capable of developing software in accordance with the highest quality standards. We constantly invest in employee training, hackathons, participation in conferences, and transfer knowledge to the younger generation during various internships. All this allows us to ensure the necessary knowledge base and its constant updating, a good reputation and results of the company, and the opportunity to expand," says M. Urbonas.
True, he emphasizes that it is one thing to be good at programming, but to participate and win a competition of this type as Google Code Jam, you need particularly strong skills. “You also need motivation to prepare for it, which is why we organized preparation events and encouraged programmers from all over Lithuania to participate,” says the head of Visma Lietuva. According to him, although it is well known that Lithuanians are excellent programmers, they need encouragement to be able to prove their competences in international tournaments and raise Lithuania’s ranking on the global level.
In programming training – as in sports, good preparation is important
According to the manager of Visma Lietuva, the Google Code Jam competition resembles sports tournaments – it has a ranking system, and after solving the task, the participant immediately sees his result and can compare it with others.
"In sports, as in this, you have to prepare every day. If you want to become the best, you must solve tasks every day and go to competitions properly prepared," says M. Urbonas. According to him, the constant development and learning of representatives of this sector is encouraged by the market itself, which improves and changes every day.
"Competitions like Google Code Jam help strengthen the basics of programming, as the tasks are prepared in such a way that programmers can apply their algorithmic and programming skills and become better specialists. Such skills are later valuable in creating effective software. In order to contribute to the development of Lithuanian programmers, we will continue this and other initiatives in the future," says M. Urbonas.
