Guenter Weimer, General Manager, developer and platform evangelism, Microsoft, Central Eastern Europe

Interview with Guenter Weimer on Innovation, local software economy & the Imagine Cup

Q: Thanks for the time Guenter. Could you tell us about yourself and your role here at Microsoft?

A: Sure. My name is Guenter Weimer. I’m the General Manager of the most exciting team at Microsoft, the Developer & Platform Evangelism team (DPE). That probably doesn’t tell you too much, but in fact we are a group of about 100 technology enthusiasts. We are spread over the countries in Central & Eastern Europe and are really going after the latest and newest technology. Our audiences rank from students, universities to partners, to software developers to customers and all those engaged with the latest technology. That’s our mission, focusing on the platform.

Q: Would you say from the comments that you just made it really is all about fostering and encouraging local innovation and entrepreneurship?

A: Yes, software as such of course is about innovation and Microsoft is about innovation. We invest a big amount of money every year, about 8 billion, into new technologies. And our job in DPE is to make sure that those new technologies, even before they are available as new products, are adopted by local companies so they can create new local innovative products that benefit local organizations and people. That is the mantra of software development and we as Microsoft don’t develop full solutions, we develop platform products.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit more about the developers that work on Microsoft platforms and how does this impact the local software economies and the IT industry in Central Eastern Europe?

A: Central Eastern Europe had a great growth over the last ten years in the manufacturing sphere, mainly from the West and building good products. Now software can be the next big thing for those countries. There is a big tradition in Central Eastern European countries on technical education, good technical universities, and as such, there are a big number of technical students, many of whom go on to create new businesses and can start competing globally and not just in their countries. And we are a key enabler of that movement. We give access to our technology, so all students can get our tools and access our development environment for free. We give them training, we connect them through entrepreneur organizations to start new companies and we help them, from kids in schools or teachers, to students until they become a business and we help them throughout that lifecycle.

Q: Is this something that happens just directly from Microsoft or do you also work with government institutions and universities to really bring this sort of line of programs and activities that help enable all these local developers?

A: Yes, as previously mentioned, we are an enabler in helping, but we work very, very closely with both central governments and local governments to foster innovation. We are just the platform giver, but our biggest interest is to provide new opportunities for businesses and this only works with strong partnerships with all institutions.

Q: Do you feel, especially in the current economic times that are very challenging, that Microsoft is playing a relevant role supporting local industries and economic growth?

A: Our commitment is long term and we are not reducing our investments or our work with local developers. We plan to keep it at the high level it is today and aim to really help them so that they are better prepared once the crisis is over. And of course every crisis brings new opportunities.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit more about the type of initiatives or programs that Microsoft is running across Central and Eastern Europe to really encourage entrepreneurship and really push the limits on innovation and creativity?

A: Let me give you two examples, the first is DreamSpark, which is where every student can get access to our technology for free. In addition, we run one of the largest worldwide student competitions, the Imagine Cup, where students compete on a worldwide level to test their innovative ideas expressed in software, and to test their new products. We help those students afterwards also to get into business and we help local start-ups and new businesses to get off the ground very quickly. We give them, again, access to our technology as well as access to funds, and access to our core data centers.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit more about Microsoft’s Innovation Center’s? What is their role, are there many centers across Central Eastern Europe, and what type of work or activities do you do in them?

A: Microsoft Innovation Center’s are always a partnership organization, primarily with local governments and with universities, where we partner to bring in people and provide them with training, help them with technology, help them to build showcase applications and connect them back to local businesses. Today there are over 30 Microsoft Innovation Centers in Central and Eastern Europe, all of which are co-funded by Microsoft and governments. So far, we have already had over 20,000 people attending courses and trainings in the centers. We see them as an important cornerstone in our relationship and partnership with governments.

Q: Could you share with us a few examples or success stories coming out of these Innovation Centers?

A: Let me use an example of an Innovation Center in a rather small country, Croatia, which is not even positioned in the main city, but rather on the outskirts. The local government decided that they want to attract companies that are in the high tech area. This center is where we started helping new start-ups to become successful and join with the government. This center is one of the great showcase examples of how this works. There are also other technology examples, such as a center in Russia, in Moscow, with the Institute of Technology, where we partner on a more basic research level and help both sides in using our technology to enable research.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit more about the Imagine Cup and the role that students across Central Eastern Europe play within this competition?

A: As I mentioned earlier on, there are a great number of technology students in the CEE region. The Imagine Cup for us in CEE is a tremendous opportunity to showcase this talent of students. The Imagine Cup is a worldwide competition where students from around the world come together and compete, in categories such as Software Design, Algorithm, Short Film, as well as many others. This year around 300,000 students initially competed against each other in their local country. In Central Eastern Europe we had close to 20,000 students competing in this initial stage and many went on to the worldwide final. This year the finals are being held in Cairo, Egypt. The Imagine Cup is actually the biggest student competition that exists in the world and we are very proud to be bringing the 2010 finals to Warsaw, Poland.

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• Guenter Weimer, regional director, developer and platform evangelism, Microsoft, Central Eastern Europe