Kharkiv IT Cluster at the Kharkiv EDU Forum 2020 discussion panel

23 December 2020 y.

On December 15, Kharkiv IT Cluster participated in the Kharkiv EDU Forum 2020. At the discussion panel, dedicated to the IT industry, the participants of the Kharkiv IT Cluster talked about IT specialists, one of the most promising professions of the future. The discussion panel was moderated by Olesya Ulyanova, Telesens CEO. Participating Cluster's companies were represented by Viktor Shalnev (Nix Solutions CEO), Gennady Bukshevalov (Head of SoftServe DevCenter), Eduard Rubin (Telesens Founder), Ruben Melkonyan (Quantum Founder), Eugene Sakalo (Head of GlobalLogic University Program). First, participants shared their views on the myths about the IT industry:

• IT is easy
• IT is hard
• IT is only for girls;
• You can work in IT without English knowledge
• IT covers only technical professions (programming only).

“It is totally fine to have myths in IT. IT is a growing field that is constantly developed by young specialists. If something is popular, it is not unusual to have myths formed around it. Therefore, myths are a good indicator that the industry is developing,” — Yevgeny Sakalo shared his thoughts. Ruben Melkonyan shared his opinion on the myth that IT is easy and you do not need mathematics: “In IT, you must have deep knowledge in math and be able to apply it correctly, suggest improvements. Without mathematics, specialists are limited in the quality of their work.” During the 90-minutes discussion, the participants disputed on the topics interesting for those planning to work in IT: the skills necessary to succeed in IT, education modernization and whether artificial intelligence will replace us in the future. Eduard Rubin shared his thoughts on the development of young people in IT: “IT is a tremendous field for choosing interests — the whole industry and a worldwide trend. Today, there is no other way for young people but IT. Everyone should find their path in it." Other topics discussed were:

• The way of forming a specialist in the IT industry
• Soft & hard skills relevant for IT
• A way to acquire those skills and the problems that arise
• Vanishing professions in IT and how to prepare for changes
• Required infrastructure (formal and informal education) for the formation of qualified resources
• What makes an IT specialist: influencing factors for choosing a specialty
• Key success factors — mandatory steps for successful development.

Viktor Shalnev spoke on the topic: where does the way of an IT specialist begin and what affects his success: “The successful formation of specialists depends on the “base” and the vision their parents gave them, as well as on the number of opportunities around to fulfil their potential in various engineering solutions, from courses to mathematics and physics lessons at school and studying at the university. Each person can find themselves in IT in different areas: some find themselves in design, others in Data Science. But everything starts at the beginning, in childhood." Gennady Bukshevalov also shared his opinion: “Mathematicians are like artists. Artists draw the world using paint, and mathematicians paint with formulas and numbers. In fact, to achieve success in IT you need the ability to describe the world around you in numbers. It's also necessary to develop this skill from childhood. As for the diploma, now you need to have certain skills and knowledge, be able to do something, regardless of the diploma. There are many training programs, courses on the Internet.” Olesya Ulyanova added that it was not enough in our reality to be just an expert in your field and have hard skills, because employers also considered soft skills. It was an exciting, and most importantly, necessary discussion for the IT industry, because by raising and solving such issues, we are changing the IT industry for the better, opening it up for new and ready for changes specialists. Kharkiv IT Cluster expects the results of our expert panel to become the basis for the development of the Kharkiv region strategy in 2030.