How Deutsche Telekom’s new IT hub punched its ticket for Thessaloniki

Greece is developing into a technological hub centered on Thessaloniki and smaller emerging regional centers such as Patra and Ioannina. Powerful multinational groups chose Greece, highlighting the highly qualified human resources as a number one asset.

Deutsche Telekom’s new major investment in Greece, with the installation in Thessaloniki of its new IThub, after the withdrawal of its activities from Russia, is another link in the chain of innovation.

Read also: Deutsche Telekom: Relocating its hub from St. Petersburg to Thessaloniki

Already 258 IT scientists, relocated from St. Petersburg, have found work at the IThub, currently hosted in the central OTE building in the center of Thessaloniki. As the president and CEO of the OTE group, Mr. Michalis Tsamaz pointed out, during yesterday’s tour of the new IT and software center by the Minister of State and Digital Governance, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, an additional 270 IT experts will be hired by the end of 2024. It is estimated that up to 1,000 people will be employed by 2027.

Deutsche Telekom’s new technology hub is called T-Digital and in 2023 it will have its own home, in a renovated, state-of-the-art “green” building of the OTE group, also in the city center, which is yet to be found.

However, as the group’s executives pointed out yesterday this is not a simple relocation of activity, but it’s about Deutsche Telekom’s decision to create an IT hub in Greece. Peter Leukert, Deutsche Telekom Group CIO and CEO of Telekom IT, pointed out, that Greece’s development prospects, and the high level and training of its human resources is what shaped the decision. As he explained, IT is very important to Deutsche Telekom’s success as a leading digital provider, and Telekom IT currently employs 10,000 software and new technology specialists in various countries.

A demanding undertaking

With the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of last February, the possible closure of Deutsche Telekom’s activities in Russia became visible. At the end of March, it was officially confirmed that the telecommunications giant suspended software development in Russia, since it did not manage networks, nor maintain business relations with domestic companies, having left the MTS telecommunications group in 2005.

As OT had written, the relocation of the Telekom IT hub to Greece from St. Petersburg prevailed among other options that entered the table, such as Croatia, Slovenia, and even India, where there is already a growing technological base of the group.

It is noted that, before the start of the war, Deutsche Telekom employed approximately 2,000 people in Russia. The giant software development center in St. Petersburg was central to supporting the group’s overall activity, in fiber optics, cloud, customer service upgrade, Open RAN. According to relevant information, last April, the majority of IT experts working there accepted a relocation proposal. The group’s managing director, Mr. Timotheus Höttges, had characterized this initiative as a humane solution.

The undertaking was certainly not simple, because on the one hand the time frames were very tight in order to ensure the orderly continuation of the DT’s plans, as well as to ensure the appropriate relocation “corridor”. Critical, therefore, for the implementation of the investment was the contribution of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, which accelerated the procedures for the establishment of the company in Greece and facilitated the immediate transfer and relocation of the IT Experts, securing residence permits.

At the same time, there was close cooperation with the competent Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the facilitation of entry into the country and the competent Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs for their registration in the health care and social security system.

The other links in the chain

As part of their visit to Thessaloniki, Minister Mr. Pierrakakis together with the Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Mr. Thodoris Livanios, also visited the Pfizer Digital Innovation Center in the city. This is an investment that actually started during the pandemic and to date employs approximately 400 people to develop IT solutions for the global operation of the multinational pharmaceutical company.

“Pfizer’s choice to locate its Digital Innovation Center in Thessaloniki gives the region a ‘Silicon Valley flavor’. The investment is a vote of confidence for the country and contributes to winning the bet of the brain gain”, commented Mr. Pierrakakis.

Initiatives in the direction of innovation have also been taken by other large companies, such as Cisco with the creation of the Center for Digital Transformation and Digital Skills also in Thessaloniki. Also, Think Silicon, now a member of American Applied Materials, has also created a research group in the city in collaboration with the Informatics department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. And then, there are significant investments in Data Centers, the most known being that of Microsoft, but also with active Greek companies that provide further potential.