National Instruments Armenia Moldova IT Center of Excellence

National Instruments Armenia Moldova IT Center of Excellence (ITCE) The state of a country’s economy is a reflection of the state of the country’s leading technical university. Prepared by

ITCE The Challenges • • IT industry is constrained by shortage of skills Low investments in education The Mission To position Moldova as one of the top IT destinations in the world. The Way • To establish world-class education laboratories • To establish world-class research laboratories • To modernize the curriculum

ITCE Functions of ITCE • To prepare world-class IT talent that can solve modern-day challenges • To become the engine for a mushrooming number of local IT start-ups • To attract leading international companies seeking IT talent to setup operations in Moldova The Opportunity for Moldova • Realizing the vast IT challenges that the world faces • Realizing the deficit of IT talent in the world • Acknowledging the long and proven traditions of Moldova in technology and sciences Moldova has a unique opportunity to become a leading exporter of IT technologies, products and services. 3

ITCE Economic and Demographic Effect • The high-tech sector can become one of the stronger sectors of the Moldovan economy • It can create a substantial number of high-quality and well paid jobs • It can stop the emigration of talented youth 4

ITCE Multimedia, 3 D Labs, Mobile Solutions, Web development, Entrepreneurship Clients Multiple Roles Skills training Certification Incubation, Acceleration Students, lecturers Skills Development Companies, employees Model Looking for job Multinationals R&D Consultancy, market research Events, workshops Business Acceleration start-ups established 5

ITCE The Location The IT Centre of Excellence is planned to be located in the Innovation Centre of Technical University total area is 3400 sq. m. 6

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ITCE Governance • Separate legal entity (Foundation) • Joint governance board Business + University + Government Meet quarterly Approve budget and plans • Advisory board • Director (appointed competitively) • Management team • Bank account 8

ITCE Longer term • • • Further expansion R&D Cooperation with international universities Deepening and expansion of the partnerships Grants for teams, start-ups, Venture Capital PPPs with multinationals (like Microsoft Innovation Center, IBM R&D Center, Cisco Cloud Computing Center) 9

ITCE Start-Up Expenditure Cost (USD) 3 years Lab Equipment, 1, 300, 000 Software solutions Lab renovation 250, 000 (800 sqm. ) Furniture 50, 000 Management, Trainers 700, 000 Space, Utilities 330, 000 Total 2, 630, 000 USAID – up to 1 mln USD cash • Renovation, equipment, management costs, trainers, utilities Microsoft, IBM and other MNCs – over 1 mln USD equivalent • Equipment, software, trainers/mentors, education material UTM • Land, building, renovation, utilities, trainers Government • Project-based financing for the Center (including education, startup and R&D support) ATIC and other local companies • Trainers/mentors, internships, real projects, internet 10

ITCE - Revenue sources Trainings Certification Startups (coaching, mentoring, success fee from revenues) Co-working spaces and incubation Events Catering Grants Partnership with multinationals Services for private IT companies, like recruitment, internships Market research and consultancy 11

ITCE Impact Per year • 1000 trained people • 500 event participants • 50 start-ups influenced • 20 start-ups accelerated 12

ITCE Next Steps Confirm participation of other donors and vendors MOU(s) Appoint steering committee and project team Decide name i-Hub, e-Hub, IT-Hub IT Center of Excellence • Detailed business plan • Interior design, renovation, etc. • • DOORS OPEN – launch event – May 2015 13