INTERVIEW: Silicon Valley Georgia for Professional Development
On the 16th of September, Georgia’s ambitious new high-tech research and development center Silicon Valley Tbilisi officially opened, a complex in the city center that will house Tbilisi’s University of Business and Technologies, an IT Academy, as well as laboratory and research centers within one space. Specific initiatives such as this aim to establish Georgia as one of the leading exporters of technological innovations.
To get more insight into the project that can potential radically alter Georgia’s educational and economic sector, GEORGIA TODAY contacted the manager of the project, Mikheil Batiasvhili to find out more.
How did you come up with the idea for this project?
In Georgia, students have a good theoretical knowledge, however, they lack in practical knowledge: they study 4-year Bachelor’s degrees then do a Masters for 2 years and only after that do they have an opportunity to attain practical experience. This means wasting a considerable amount of time, as graduating later very often necessitates re-trainings in order to get a desired job. Our aim is to provide both practical and theoretical knowledge in business and technology. In this direction we’ve made and are still working on more than 100 agreements and partnerships. We aim to create a space that ensures good education, practical experience and the creation of job opportunities. We aim to have a future generation that has adequate and specific skills and knowledge for today’s global and local market conditions.
Which companies are involved in this project?
Numerous companies are, including Silknet and Georgian Airways, and international companies such as Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz. What is most important: they are willing to provide job opportunities for students and ensure their training. As one of the problems for companies is finding the right candidates for job vacancies, they are eager to give a chance to well-trained young professionals.
Will job employment opportunities be solely dependent on those partnerships?
In today’s globalized world, there are numerous instances of distance working. Geographical location plays practically no definitive role in terms of attaining a job position. Thus, there are many jobs, for example in the USA, Britain or France that can be carried out from Georgia. We have exclusive access to several information bases. Each day, we see more than 10 million vacancies. Some of them from the design sectors, some for IT. Our employment and retraining programs aim to ensure such distance employment for students. If we say it in rough terms, each day, there is the potential to earn around 5 million GEL, thus each day approximately 5 million GEL is lost due to incompetence or lack of information about vacancies.
The University of Business and Technologies opens next year. What will the annual fee be for students?
Even though the University itself starts functioning from next year, lots of re-training programs will be introduced before then. The approximate annual fee will be 2250 GEL- this is the minimum amount we were able to set. Our aim is to give opportunities to as many prospective students as we can. It should be noted that scholarships for academic excellence will also be offered. The University itself is extremely well equipped- our students will be in touch with the latest technologies there. The location is practically perfect; it’s in the center of Tbilisi, in an ecologically clean area.
We heard a media school will also be integrated into Silicon Valley. How does this fit into the project objectives?
It is quite naïve to assume that nowadays spheres such as fashion and media are far from technology. In today’s reality, new media and technologies are practically inseparable. New media is everything from social platforms to any technologies that ensure the spread of the information, thus a media school is very much in-line with our organizational objectives and goals.
There will also be a middle school. Is it a separate entity that shares a physical space with the university or are the university and the middle school somehow related?
Not only do we plan a middle school, but we’re also preparing Sunday business-oriented schools for kids. Of course, the middle school will have a technological profile. Our aim there is to prepare a new generation that is technologically versatile and advanced.
How is the Georgian Silicon Valley similar or different from its American analogy?
The USA Silicon Valley has existed for nearly 100 years. It is very difficult to draw comparison, as the time context is that much different: we are starting just now. However, we aim to ensure fast integration into the world market so that we are not behind the innovations that are happening in the world right now. To be honest, Silicon Valley in Georgia is very much aimed at the global market. For this reason it will be defined by global trends and specifics, however, of course, some local factors will have an influence as well. These will become clear as the project kicks off.
Do you think Georgia, as small as it is, has the potential to become one of the important exporters of technological innovations?
Yes, I believe Georgia answers one of the main prerequisites for becoming the exporter of technological innovations. A huge percentage of the country’s population has access to the Internet and technologies. We have conducted several studies and found that the level of computerization in the country is quite high. Now all that is left is to make the right steps and be well trained. For Georgia, a similar precedent happened in the tourism sector and it can happen in the technological sphere as well.
One of the main priorities of your project is to help young entrepreneurs to introduce innovative products. How do you ensure that in today’s sea of startups similar ideas are not simultaneously developed in another country?
The fact that there is a competitive global market is not intimidating- it can act as a stimulus. Let’s look at Estonia where Skype was invented. Even though the USA is a much bigger country with a large economy, it does not necessarily mean inventions cannot occur in developing and small countries as well. Information about what is happening in the world is available everywhere and we, of course, have access to the databases in order to keep track of the recent inventions and possible gaps in the market that can be filled.
Do you have partnering international universities? Will any exchange programs be implemented?
We have lots of partnerships and agreements, some of which are still in the negotiation stage. Of course, exchange programs are planned, but we are still making our first steps. This project is like a living organism and we will do everything in order to ensure the professional development of our students.
Natia Liparteliani