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EETEST 2023 third tutorial speaker announced – Szilard Szell!

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:16:50 +0300

Third Tutorial for SEETEST 2023 with Szilard Szell is announced! Szilard is a Senior Consultant of DevOps Practice for Telco Business at Eficode and has a proven track record in large scale Telco DevOps Transformation Programs, as well as an assessor, trainer, facilitator and coach in Test Automation and Testing Process improvement area. As a conference speaker Szilard is ready to share his view and knowledge with Testing Fellows, that is based on 22 years of industry experience and multitude of certificates held.

On the first day of SEETEST 2023 he will be presenting his tutorial ‘Let's build a Continuous Quality Assurance Strategy around your CI/CD pipeline’ - a topic that proved to be very popular at last year’s edition of SEETEST in Sofia, Bulgaria and will now be presented for our participants in Bucharest. The interactive workshop will help teams to learn how QA is extended to the left and to the right in DevOps, how to design QA pipeline with simple cards and what other testing related activities to be agreed on, to have a full test strategy.

Don’t miss Szilard’s tutorial – get your tickets for SEETEST 2023 now!

Source: SEETB

The new issue of Quality Matters magazine is now out!

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 14:59:39 +0200

Spring is almost here, and as well as renewed energy and inspiration, it has also brought the new issue of Quality Matters! Issue 15 is now here and brings with it a variety of software testing topics – from articles on AI and Agile to test automation, accessibility and even ways to plan for a more sustainable future when it comes to our tech efforts, there is something for everyone in this issue.

A big thank you goes out to all our authors for writing for us and supporting us in our journey. Submission for articles at Quality Matters is open all year long, so if you want to be featured and think you have some very interesting stuff to share, we encourage you to submit an article through our website.

You can access our new issue https://quality-matters.org/index.php?page=qm-issues-archive&issue=15 after a free registration!

Source: SEETB

Quality Matters is a magazine, entirely focused in the Software Quality field.

The publication targets all software professionals who pay attention to quality

Kraków Calling

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:38:33 +0200

In this edition of Kraków Calling we delve into the role of GBS in enhancing the business and its relationship to digital transformation.

With a focus on the local capability in Kraków, we also examine the unique qualities that women bring to the sector and the challenges they face in terms of professional growth and career advancement.

AGENDA

GBS: Business Enhancement

GBS as a provider of value and innovation
Role of GBS in the creation of business strategy
Driving digital transformation

GBS in Kraków: Empowering Women

Scale, maturity, and large share of women in the industry
Qualities women bring to the sector

GBS as a platform: Professional growth and development for women

Gender pay gap and equal promotion opportunities
Supporting women in career advancement

Measures to continue to support and benefit from the development of women.

The #Krakowianki project is a powerful and dynamic initiative that highlights the important and often overlooked contributions of women in the development of Kraków. Through a range of activities, such as the Kazimiera Bujwidowa award for exceptional women, the “Entrepreneurial Krakowianki” programme, and the “Mistrzynie” campaign for female athletes, this interdisciplinary socio-cultural project promotes women’s advancement in social, artistic, economic and scientific fields. From celebrating the heroines of the city to creating a tourist trail dedicated to them, the Krakowianki project strives to inspire and empower women to reach their full potential.

Super Early Bird for SEETEST 2023 is now on!

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 14:19:38 +0200

First and biggest ticket discount for SEETEST 2023 – the Super Early Bird campaign!

Book your tickets before February 28 and you get 30% off the price! The discount is valid for all types of tickets and is the biggest discount you can get for this year’s edition.

2023 is the year it will be at Bucharest, Romania, again in Hybrid format – both Full Conference Hybrid and Virtual tickets are available. And welcome back lots of familiar faces, as well as first-time attendees from around the world!

Book your ticket with a 30% discount here

Source: SEETB

SEETEST 2023 will take place in Bucharest, Romania and online on September 19-20, 2023.

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 13:28:18 +0200

SEETEST working hard on the next edition of SEETEST in 2023 – and announce the official dates and place of the conference!

SEETEST 2023 will take place in Bucharest, Romania and online on September 19-20, 2023. They are continuing hybrid model, to include everyone that wants to learn, even from the comfort of their home.

September 19 will start with 8 half-day tutorials from some of the best speakers from around the world, and September 20 will continue with 2 inspiring keynotes, 20 session presentations chosen by our Program Committee in our Call for Papers and 4 industrial slots – great opportunity for companies to showcase their brands.

September 18 will serve as a conference warm-up – with several full-day pre-conference courses on various topics of interest, for everybody who wants to dive deeper into the hottest topics of the software testing world.

And traditional Social Event – held in some of the most beautiful venues of host cities, a perfect opportunity to kick back, relax after a long day of learning and network in a casual atmosphere. And recharge for the next day!

Registration will open soon!

Source: the South East European Testing Board

Flexible working hours under the Polish Labour Code

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:12:35 +0200

Remote and hybrid work have become popular choices in the wake of the Covid pandemic. For those employers unable or unwilling to make use of those work arrangements, however, the Polish Labour Code offers another way to make employees’ working time more flexible, i.e. the so-called flexible working hours.

Flexible working hours can be introduced in any working time system and, simply put, provide an opportunity for employees to start work at a different time on each working day.

The system has two variants. In the first it is the employer that sets the employees’ starting hours for each day of the work schedule. The second and the more widely utilized variant allows employees the flexibility of choosing the starting time within a certain range of hours so that the employee’s availability during the core hours is secured. This option may supplement the hybrid work system or may replace it altogether thus providing an alternative for employers who cannot or are unwilling to offer hybrid work.

Flexible working hours may be offered as a collective arrangement agreed with trade unions, and in the case of employers with no trade unions, in an agreement with employees’ representatives selected in accordance with the procedure adopted in their company. A flexible hours arrangement may be also tailored to the needs of individual employees on their written request.

When introducing flexible working hours, it is important to remember that all the rules for daily and weekly rest times must be respected.

Source: Labour Law Update

The Ukrainian IT Industry Is Alive and Healthy

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 19:47:21 +0200

The Ukrainian international IT services industry emerged from the Soviet Union's admired mathematical education and Ukrainian scientific school of early computer science in the '90s and, in the last two decades, has become a nearly $7 billion export industry with about 285,000 specialists.

Yet on February 24, 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Even with the experience of a similar invasion in 2014, many clients and prospects understandably began to worry for their teams, products and future this time around. Let's look at what happened to the Ukrainian IT industry after six months of the war.

According to reports from the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation (via The New York Times), IT companies have maintained 95% of contracts and continued to increase exports. Despite the crisis, the technology sector is not only showing resilience but demonstrating growth, indicated by a record $2 billion in export services revenue in the first quarter of 2022.

Currently, the IT industry is already exceeding the pre-war levels. Companies in Ukraine continue to create products and provide expertise in software development, UI/UX design, cloud services, AI/ML, data analytics, cybersecurity and other IT services. To add to this equation, 3% of all developers fight in the armed forces. Many are in territorial self-defense, and 12% to 15% take part in state cyber defense.

How could this happen despite all of the darkest expectations?

The IT industry is mature, and many companies activated their business continuity plans, allowing people to relocate from the eastern part of the country to safer locations with minimal disruptions. Thanks to modern tools and cloud technologies, we are still capable of providing all of the required data protection.

Companies have made executive decisions quickly due to Covid-19 showing everyone that remote, distributed teams can work—and that they can work efficiently (perhaps the only good consequence of the pandemic). Having an established process and modern software development can support distributed teams, and as mentioned above, Covid-19 helped to convince even the strongest unbelievers.

Finally, the education system inspires hope by continuing to bring new talent to the market. Hard times make people more concentrated, more dedicated and more productive.

What will the future hold?

Is it all reliable? Well, it depends on two major factors. The biggest one that we can already see is the potentially looming economic recession. It already heavily affects IT budgets and demand for IT services.

The second major factor would be the war. Depending on how long it will last, what the result is and what policy the state will adopt regarding IT workers, two scenarios of events can be predicted. An optimistic and most probable forecast is that the demand for IT services will remain high, the cash flow will stick to Ukraine, and the IT sphere itself may become the new main driving force of the economy. Ukraine is one of the leading outsourcers in the world, and more than 100 Fortune 500 companies rely on the services of Ukrainian technology companies—including Intetics, which has hundreds of software developers in Ukraine. Even in the worst-case scenario, however, the industry will move people out of Ukraine and use developers in other locations. If the experiences of 2014 and 2022 tell us anything, this should be done without disruptions again.

The last consideration is pretty obvious: It's great to see worldwide help to Ukraine fighting the invasion, yet it's more important to give work to Ukrainians. This is a vital step in helping to forget the worries of current times.

Dear clients and dear prospects, let's continue to do our best.

Source: Forbes

Ukrainian ІТ Industry: Reboot in the Wartime

Thu, 26 May 2022 15:54:39 +0300

Considering the importance of a holistic analytical research of the national IT industry that contributes to elaboration of further development strategy by government and business, IT Ukraine has conducted the new research with participation of its members and in partnership with the Ukrainian IT clusters in Vinnitsa, Dnipro, Kyiv, Konotop, Mariupol, Odessa, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyy, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv. Here are the results and new data of this research.

The potential of the IT industry

The rapid growth of the industry by more than 50% during 2019-2021 continued up to the War and, according to the National Bank of Ukraine, in February 2022 reached the highest monthly indicator of export in the history of the Ukrainian IT market – $839 million, which is 43% more than for the same period in 2021 ($480 million).

According to the results of 2021, the industry provided 37% in the export of computer services and USD 6.8 billion of the income to the economy of Ukraine, paid UAH 23.5 billion worth of taxes and fees. At the beginning of 2022, 285,000 IT professionals were working in the industry.

During the first quarter of 2022, the IT industry provided record-high $2 billion of export income in wartime. A similar figure in 2021 was $1.44 billion. Therefore, the volume of IT exports has increased by 28%.

In March 2022, the Ukrainian IT industry maintained 96% of computer services exports ($ 522 million) compared to the similar period last year ($ 546 million) and proved its resilience in the time of instability and increased risks.

How IT professionals help Ukraine during the War

According to updated data, an average of 3% of IT specialists joined the Armed Forces (1% more than the previous figure). At the same time, the figures vary depending on the company size:

in companies of 1200-3000 people - 2% of employees joined;
in companies of 200-1200 people - up to 4.5% of employees;
in companies up to 200 people - up to 1.8% of employees.

The involvement of specialists in governmental projects and cyber force has increased significantly from 5% to 9% in the industry:

in companies of 1200-3000 people - 5% of employees;
in companies of 200-1200 people - 14% of employees;
in companies up to 200 people - up to 8% of employees.

During the two and a half months of the War, the IT industry has managed not only to maintain its operational activities, but also to actively support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Government. During all this time, the companies participating in the research have transferred UAH 806 million to charitable foundations and on various humanitarian purposes. Military equipment, gear, clothing, tech equipment and other necessities for our defenders are purchased on a regular basis. Thus, by the companies that took part in the research, 11,102 bulletproof vests, 6,574 helmets, 140 cars, 700 turnstiles, 136 drones, 3 Starlinks, 3,756 laptops and tablets, 834 handheld transceivers and communications equipment, 332 night vision devices, 255 thermal imagers, 812 military first aid kits and more were purchased and handed over to the Armed Forces.

Remaining an economic support for the Government in Wartime, IT business is almost the only one that pays taxes in advance. 27% of the surveyed companies paid UAH 165 million taxes in advance. On average, an IT company pays the following amount of taxes to the budget of Ukraine every month, depending on the size:

company of 1200-3000 - up to UAH 42 million;
company of 200-1200 - up to UAH 1.5 million;
company up to 200 - up to UAH 810 thousand.

Sustainability of the industry

During the War, most companies maintained customers and contracts despite all the risks stated by customers, such as failure to implement projects due to the War, mobilization of key engineers, instability in the country, physical data security, cyber threats, lack of Internet, inability to work with developers located in areas of active hostilities. In general, 52% of companies kept 100% of their contracts, 32% of companies - 90-99% of contracts. Only 16% of companies lost 10% or more of their contracts.

The main factors of keeping the customer were:

high level of customer loyalty;
long-term partnership;
delivery stability;
persistent communication with clients;
fast stabilization of business processes, including through BCP;
prompt relocation of teams and resumption of operating activities;
high social responsibility of companies based on the principles of People safety;
high quality of services, even in times of War.

At the same time, the reasons for the loss of customers include geopolitical risks and security, customer’s internal policy, refusal to work with customers from russia and belarus, change of customer’s development strategy, relocation of teams or mobilization, loss of supply chains.

IT business development forecasts for 2022

According to our new data, 77% of IT companies have attracted new customers already during the War, 56% of them expect the growth by 5-30% this year. 41% of companies forecast the preservation of existing volumes at 50-100%. Only 3% of companies expect volumes to fall by 50% or more.

Relocation of businesses and teams

The largest percentage of relocated employees is in the companies of 1200+ people (32%), in companies of 200-1200 people this figure is 24%, in companies up to 200 people - only 14%. The main countries of relocation are Poland, Germany, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Moldova, and Croatia.

At the same time, all large companies (1200+ people) and 64% of companies of 200-1200 people plan to open new offices. Instead, 75% of companies up to 200 people do not plan to expand. Potential countries to open offices include: Poland, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Croatia and the United Kingdom. Companies expect that up to 18-25% of employees will relocate abroad after the War.

Source: IT Ukraine Association

Poland Among Intel’s Destinations to Develop its Most Advanced Technology

Mon, 04 Jul 2022 14:27:08 +0300

Intel, one of the largest technology companies, has announced its investments across France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain. The company will spend €33bn on expanding the entire semiconductor value chain.

The investment program includes research and development (R&D), manufacturing and state-of-the art packaging technologies.

In Poland, Intel will increase its lab space by 50% in Gdansk by 2023. Currently, the Intel campus is the largest research and development center of this brand in the European Union. The new space will center around the fields of deep neural networks, audio, graphics, data centres and cloud computing.

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said “This broad initiative will boost Europe’s R&D innovation and bring leading-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing an essential role in shaping Europe’s digital future for decades to come.”

Source: Do IT In Poland

Creating a CEE Powerhouse of Digital Skills and Sourcing

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:33:00 +0300

A merger of two leading emerging Europe edtech firms could provide a boost for the region’s drive to become a global hub for digital skills.

Two of emerging Europe’s leading edtech companies have joined forces to create one of the region’s biggest digital skilling and sourcing powerhouses.

They hope that the merger will help attract more investors to the region as it strives to develop a skill-driven economy.

The firms, Budapest-based Codecool and the Gdynia-based Software Development Academy (SDA) – both founded in 2015 – will together boast a presence in eight countries (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Estonia, and Albania) and will train 15,000-20,000 individuals from the Central European region annually.

With over 300 employees, 17 digital reskilling pathways, a network of 1,600 mentors, the merged companies offer skilling, upskilling, and reskilling to private individuals, companies and governments. The two firms are on target for combined revenues of 20 million euros this year.

“This is an exciting new chapter for both companies where we create a real powerhouse for digitalisation,” says József Boda, CEO of Codecool. “Through our consolidated digital skilling programmes, we confidently continue to serve the needs of individuals, companies and governments. Graduates from our courses are in high demand, especially as western European and US organisations look to outsource or find additional talent while lowering costs.”

For the public sector, the two firms have undertaken two successful reskilling programmes, training 10,000 ICT specialists in Albania and 600 engineers in Hungary. The company also continues to encourage and support women in ICT through several of its programmes.

Filling recruitment gaps

Gaining digital skills is a global requirement and the merged companies believe that they can help the EU and UK to upskill workers or fill recruitment gaps. The EU is currently struggling with a shortfall of approximately 1.8 million ICT experts.

While the Covid-19 pandemic led to increased demand for cyber skills, there is still a cybersecurity workforce gap of more than 2.72 million positions globally. In the UK, tech job opportunities hit a 10-year high as the demand for skilled workers outgrows the level of digital skills available.

“There is a global battle for digital talent, especially coders and programmers, so our main aim remains to provide high quality digital skilling for employees and employers – but on a much larger scale,” says Michał Mysiak, CEO of SDA, who will lead the merged company as CEO.

“We believe that the combination of Codecool and SDA – with distinct regional and category strengths – will boost the skills level of Central Europeans who are hungry to learn and will be pivotal the digital transformation of Europe and beyond.”

The need for highly skilled ICT professionals

While progress is being made across emerging Europe to digitally upskill its workforce and citizens and address the digital divide, according to the European Commission’s annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) the region’s overall performance remains underwhelming.

Only Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania score above the EU average in the areas of human capital, connectivity, integration of digital technology, and digital public services.

Meanwhile, four of the five worst performing states in the EU are in emerging Europe: Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. The fifth is Greece.

A key goal of the European Commission’s Digital Decade programme is to employ 20 million ICT specialists by 2030, with an equal proportion of men and women.

To reach this objective, 161 billion euros will be allocated to innovation and the digitalisation of EU markets under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.

In Poland 21.3 per cent of the total 35.4 billion euros recovery fund, more than seven billion euros, has been earmarked for digital transformation alone. In Romania, the figure is around six billion euros.

“To encourage even more investors to the region there is a need to provide highly skilled ICT professionals in a fast-track mode and the merged company is an answer to this need as well as a unique chance for the region to become an emerging ICT service centre on a global scale,” adds Mysiak.

The need for highly skilled ICT professionals

Only Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania score above the EU average in the areas of human capital, connectivity, integration of digital technology, and digital public services.

Meanwhile, four of the five worst performing states in the EU are in emerging Europe: Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. The fifth is Greece.

A key goal of the European Commission’s Digital Decade programme is to employ 20 million ICT specialists by 2030, with an equal proportion of men and women. To reach this objective, 161 billion euros will be allocated to innovation and the digitalisation of EU markets under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Source: Emerging Europe