RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN UKRAINE
Today our article will be slightly different from those that you could read before because we will talk about research and development centers in Ukraine for the first time. And to be more precise, we will consider the whole mechanism of the work of research and development centers, find out how competitive this business format is, and whether it’s viable in the realities of the Ukrainian IT market.
For some, this article won’t be new, because perhaps this topic has slipped more than once in the Google search engine, but for some, it will open up new horizons of opportunity. By the way, an interesting fact - according to experts, new information is remembered 17% better than what has ever been reproduced in our memory. So, let’s start!
WHAT ARE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTERS AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
We used to think that research and development centers are most often not an independent component - they can be complementary to one or another institution, or part of the state, but very rarely - a variant of a fairly highly competitive business. Let's first take a look at what a research and development center is and what it does.
So, first, it’s worth noting that r&d centers are institutions created specifically for the organization and conduct of scientific research and development. Such centers in the modern sense began to emerge only at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, that is, relatively recently, and the reason for their creation was the need to study new organizational forms of work. Thus, a certain number of scientists, specialists, and researchers who study the same field of science - medicine, IT, or the humanities, cooperate to achieve common goals. The result of such activity is the release of a new competitive product or service. Thus, we can already say that this form of business is viable in a competitive environment, but more on that later.
For example, it’s no secret that the National Academy of Sciences is considered the main center of scientific research in Ukraine, and the history of its founding, which dates back to the distant 1918, belongs to one of the greatest achievements of Ukrainian culture in the first half of the 20th century.
In addition, today the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is making a lot of efforts to develop international scientific relations and integration into the world scientific community. The institutions of the Academy are actively involved in the implementation of joint research under direct bilateral agreements with foreign scientific organizations, as well as with grants from many international scientific foundations and programs. Contacts have been established and agreements have been concluded with academies of sciences and research centers in more than 50 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia.
LET'S CREATE THE PERFECT FORMULA
Of course, having all the necessary resources and potential, and knowing all the stages of preparation and their sequence - the creation of a research and development center won’t be confusing for you, but the question is different - there are many options for its creation and placement, and then how to choose exactly the one that will be suitable just for you?
Let's take a look at the format of the offshore creation of a research center. In short, offshore services is a fairly popular business model, thanks to which a company can create their own team, and in our case, a research center, in a country with more favorable conditions for it. “The fish chooses where it is deeper”, and the person chooses where his costs will be minimized, and work efficiency maximized. Thus, we can choose the most attractive country, with low tax rates, a high percentage of skilled workers, as well as a favorable economic climate for the establishment of our research and development center.
Of course, such a system, like any other, can have its drawbacks, mainly related to quality control from above, but if you choose a good team, then these nuances can be avoided. How? In order not to waste time and resources searching for such a team on their own, IT outstaffing agencies help many businessmen create exactly the team that will fit all their requirements.
Can this formula be called close to ideal for creating a business like a research center? I think you will already answer this question yourself, after analyzing all the above pros and cons.
WHY UKRAINE?
You will agree that finding a place, hiring employees, equipping a workplace, and taxes is an expensive business for many people who are or are thinking about starting a business offshore (by creating an offshore software development team in Ukraine). But if we are talking about Ukraine, here we can safely say that the price corresponds to the quality.
Let's look at this with an illustrative example. We want to create a competitive IT research and development center in Ukraine. First of all, we need to find specialists, which is actually not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The most common and proven search option is outstaffing agencies, but we also don’t exclude such options as bulletin boards and search through acquaintances. It cannot be denied that Ukrainian specialists are in demand in the European and Western labor markets, because it’s not uncommon, thanks to perseverance and love for their work, that they become leaders in many projects. And as a main plus for a businessman, Ukrainians sensibly evaluate their work and will not unreasonably raise prices for their work, but in the future don’t hope that you can find a qualified specialist who will agree to work for a penny.
Now let's look for a place where we would like to place our research center. Let's start with the most important and decisive moment - low rent and property tax. It’s not difficult to compare and verify this, you just need to drive in the search engine “rent housing/premises in Kyiv for a year”, and, for example, “rent the same area of housing in the USA”, and you will understand how significant your cost savings will be.
It should also be noted that by choosing Ukraine, you give yourself and your employees the opportunity to enjoy not only work but also the beautiful sights and landscapes of both the capital and other cities of the country. And as a result of this monologue, we can say that by choosing the right vector of movement and setting a goal, this business format is very viable in the realities of the Ukrainian IT market.
COMPETITION - JUST RACE FOR A PLACE UNDER THE SUN OR KEY TO SUCCESS?
So we come to the most interesting topic - the competitiveness of research and development centers as forms of a certain business. Before we start delving into this topic, let's digress a little, and you will answer the question for yourself - do you think that competition can arise in this business format, and why?
The transition to the post-industrial method of social reproduction has significantly changed the vector of the world economy and doing business in general, as well as determined its innovative focus. Best international experience proves that the peak of innovation activity is reached at the point when a company, entering the market, presents its service or product that is able to compete at least on a par with other similar products. That is, we can already say that competitiveness is an important indicator, without which there will be no progress.
Is such a business format as research and development centers competitive, yes. Why? Everything is simple - in any environment where there is a "reproducer-consumer" chain and where there is the same type of product, as well as a demand for it, after a certain time, competition begins to develop. Let's take for example the sphere of IT - there are a lot of scientific IT centers, and the goods they reproduce are of the same type, which means that competition is already emerging there. But the question is, will you and your team be strong enough to survive in these competitive races?
CONCLUSION
The topic of popularization of research and development centers is just beginning to gain momentum, but not without that, many people already hear about it. We live in the era of technology, in the era of outstanding scientific discoveries that humanity has been able to achieve thanks to scientific research. Piece intelligence, the first synthetic DNA, a quantum computer, and vaccines that have been developed over the years - all this is already a reality thanks to the continuous work of r&d centers.
As for the opening of an r&d center in the realities of the Ukrainian market, we can only say one thing - Ukraine has created ideal conditions for this, which we have repeatedly listed in this article. In addition, it is no secret to anyone that Ukraine is now going through not the easiest times, namely a war, and many advanced European countries are openly supported not only with words but also with material resources. But even this won’t become an obstacle in unlocking the potential of this country in the near future. In this case, the opening of a research and development center in Ukraine won’t only be a profitable business, but also a kind of support in such a difficult situation.
We hope this article was useful for you, and that you are one step closer to creating an r&d center in such a beautiful country as Ukraine.
If you have any questions or have an idea about hiring a team of professional developers in Ukraine, we would be glad to fuel your business idea with our services: contact.us@gointeractive.co
