Cluj – Romania’s Silicon Valley

This week, I made my first official visit outside Bucharest, and chose to go to Cluj- one of the largest cities in Transylvania. Why Cluj? Because this town is becoming one of the hottest centres for IT software development. European and UK companies are getting a piece of the action.

Have you had an SMS text from your mobile phone company recently offering you extra credit or loyalty points? Chances are the software program which delivered it was written in Cluj. Some of the largest computer games are also developed by programmers in Cluj. And the reason for Cluj’s success is similar to that of Silicon Valley in California or “Silicon Fen” around Cambridge – the existence of top quality universities that produce extremely intelligent and capable young scientists who can be the next generation of pioneers in information technology.

I paid a visit to the offices of Betfair, a British company which develops and delivers on-line gambling games for the UK based group. This is where some of the most advanced gaming technology is being written at the moment. Next month its Romanian operation will collect the prize for the 2009 Romanian Start-Up SME in the IT industry.

Its success is quite astonishing. Established in 2007 it has rapidly grown through 2008 – 2010 – that is throughout the economic crisis – and now employs well over 100 people in Cluj, including some of the best computer programmers in Europe! I especially liked their building, whose design encourages team work and creativity and even has a games room on the terrace on the roof top, overlooking the city.

We shared ideas on one of the most important issues facing any British employer in Romania – including in the British Embassy – how to combine Romanian and British working cultures to best effect in a single organization. It’s not always easy to get that right, but to my mind a correct mix of Latin flair and Anglo-Saxon organization can be a winning formula.

Follow me on Flickr to see more pictures from Cluj.