Not Just Russian CAD/PLM

David Levin, the Founder and CEO of LEDAS and Editor of the Russian publication isicad has a blog called “Not Just Russian CAD/PLM” where he writes about the Russian CAD/PLM industry and more.

In recent times I have noticed a concerted effort to bring Russian CAD/PLM technologies to the attention of the rest of the world and the West in particular. David Levin has been instrumental in accomplishing that. I believe the recently concluded upFront.eZine Tour of Russia had precisely the effect that the organizers wanted. Ralph Grabowski’s detailed and in-depth interviews with a number of Russian CAD software developers shed a great deal of light on the happenings in that part of the world. The one thing I found common was the burning desire to break free and conquer.

Not only is Russia coming to the West, but the West is going to Russia as well. Recently Cyon Research announced a COFES Russia Seminar in partnership with LEDAS on 14th September 2010. The seminar will be a part of isicad-2010 Forum organized by LEDAS.

I believe such interactions are critically important in order to expand horizons and create opportunities for companies in Russia. The same goes for other similar countries. As someone who lives and works in a third world country, I completely understand how hard it can be to market and sell products globally, especially to the West. Development is the least of our problems. As I see it we face two major challenges – money and language. India is a bit better off on the language front, thanks to the years of British rule. But in countries like Russia and China language is still a major problem. I outsource some of my development to people in these countries and can relate to the language problem first hand.

The language problem in China is particularly interesting. By the end of this year China will be the largest English speaking country in the world with more than 300 million, which is about the population of the entire Unites States. There is absolutely no shortage of  people in China who wish to learn English. The shortage lies in the teachers who can speaking proper English themselves. Little wonder that web-based English learning sites like www.speak2me.cn have had more than a million registrants and growing exponentially.

It is heartening to know that our next generation will not face the language problem. And if this generation plays its cards right, they may not face the money problem as well.