FILM ABOUT IT, EXPO-2020 AND STRONG COMMUNITY: EASE ASSOCIATION 2 YEARS
Ukraine and the whole world face different challenges every year: crisis, pandemic, lockdowns, and now war and constant blackouts. However, the Ukrainian IT sector stands firmly on its feet and works 24/7 to contribute its share to the victory of Ukraine and its development. The “European Association of Software Engineering” EASE, which started its journey only two years ago, also makes a lot of efforts . During this time, the association has united dozens of companies, from the largest and well-known to small ambitious startups. The association has repeatedly represented Ukraine at international exhibitions and conferences, created many useful projects for finding work and supporting businesses during a full-scale invasion, organized events and hackathons.
But it did not happen immediately. At the time of the creation of EASE in Ukraine, there were already several communities that had managed to gain a foothold in the market as experts, and IT clusters that had proven themselves well within the country.
— At first, it was not easy to enter the market of the IT community. At that time, there were already several associations formed and they did not really want to cooperate with us – new and unknown. Therefore, we try to communicate with the entire market at once to understand which product is interesting for the IT business. It was difficult to involve the first residents, because being the first is either a risk, or, on the contrary, a great privilege, because to be at the beginning is to be near the source of the foundation. But we managed to form a community of active cool guys and girls who share our values regarding the development of the IT industry, – says Vladyslav Savchenko, President of the ” European Association of Software Engineering ” EASE.
Over the two years of the Association’s existence, hundreds of events took place and dozens of projects were implemented, including telebridges, EASE Road Show, IT FuckUp Night, EASE Work platform, IT Bar’s own YouTube show, and much more. Liubov Mochalova, CEO of the “European Association of Software Engineering” EASE has highlighted her own top of the most significant events both for the Association and Ukrainian IT as a whole.
THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH EASE EVENT
In a short amount of time, the Association prepared a large-scale event, which became the first loud statement about EASE within Ukraine. The event was attended by 4 deputy ministers, 150 representatives of IT companies from all over Ukraine, the Kyiv IT community and mass media.
— This was the first big event prepared by a small team during the difficult time of the pandemic. We announced ourselves loudly throughout Ukraine, because our goal is to involve as many like-minded people as possible and create a really high-quality IT community in Ukraine. We didn’t know what was ahead of us, but even then we understood the value of joining a group of like-minded people. Being close to your loved ones in such turbulent times as during the coronavirus or full-scale war and blackouts is extremely important, says Liubov Mochalova.
EXPO-2020
Another large-scale event was the international exhibition Expo-2020 in Dubai. EASE Association presented its stand in the Ukrainian pavilion.
— We packed the software into a full-fledged stand that worked autonomously and without the help of assistants, launched a video on it about our residents and created an educational game about the history of IT. More than 20 million visitors to Expo-2020, thousands of potential customers. We announced the powerful IT sector of Ukraine to the whole world, proved to international representatives that we are no worse than others. After the exhibition, we received good feedback, as well as new partnerships and collaborations, added Liubov Mochalova.
Full-length film about IT “The First Code”
In Ukraine, no one has yet filmed a full-length film about the history of domestic IT: from the declaration of independence to the military present. A full-scale invasion halted the shooting of the film, but now it will feature a story about the struggle of Ukrainian IT people on the cyber front.
– The filming of this film is a logical step for us as people who have taken it upon ourselves to strengthen and develop the IT brand of Ukraine in the world. But this step also had to be reached both mentally and morally. We have already presented a mini-episode about the full meter, so the upcoming premiere is an event that will go down in history thanks to the initiative of the EASE team.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Despite the war, the work of the “European Software Engineering Association” EASE continues. No team member gives up and works, because the main task of the community is support.
— It is necessary to unite in order to be stronger. Everyone has their own insights, their own knowledge, their own database. And by using these resources in the community, you can very easily share it all and become better every day, without closing yourself under the hood of your company. Communities solve all communication problems. Now it is very important to be together, to move towards victory, to strengthen each other, – emphasized Vladyslav Savchenko.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to plan for more than a month in conditions of instability, but in 2023 EASE dreams of increasing the number of residents, expanding in Europe and bringing Ukrainian IT to an even higher level.
— Now we all need to stand up and win the war in Ukraine. We will definitely continue the expansion of Europe next year – it is 100%, we will develop the association in Poland, and maybe we will add another country. We will premiere our film, organize new events and continue working on existing projects. But all this would not have happened if it were not for our like-minded people. We are grateful to every resident who trusted us and supported our initiatives, to every company that makes joint efforts with us in the development of the IT market in Ukraine and its presentation to the international community, Liubov Mochalova summarized.
