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Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher has written a super condensed glance at why Krakow has a great tech future. He points out that major players such as IBM and Google have a strong presence here, in part because of the huge pool of qualified university student talent and a good startup climate.

JP Allen, a recent visitor to the city, also highlights the fine points and includes a slide deck worth checking out.

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I stepped into IBM’s offices in Krakow the other day on a mundane errand and got a glimpse of a side of the city that isn’t immediately apparent. With all the cobblestones, hundreds-year-old churches and quaint Cukiernie on nearly every corner, one could be forgiven for forgetting there was a surging tech industry in the city.

Certainly there are thousands who work in the industry here, from small startups to corporate giants. Each year, the university engine that powers Krakow’s tech community graduates a new, strong corp of competent engineers, designers, strategists and innovators. And don’t forget the many who crank out the grunt-work of the industry, coding and fixing problems.

Putting aside for a moment any peculiarities about Polish business methods, the work these people perform is for the global marketplace. Whether interacting with American counterparts in San Francisco, Indian partners in Bangalore or Warszawans up the road a bit, the professionals in Krakow are finding new and better ways of doing business in a fast-paced climate. With the global financial crisis re-setting priorities, and budgets, Krakow is set to be a strong player into the future.

It seemed to me a good time to try to pull some of the pieces together and cover it as a community. While I firmly lean toward the content side of tech, I certainly am keen to explore the full landscape of innovation, from iPhone apps to biotech.

I also hope for real, face-to-face interactions with people who want to explore it with me. That’s where Tech Over Coffee comes to mind. Along with this site, I’m planning networking and conversation meet-ups in central Krakow. I hope you can make it, especially if you want to help share your ideas of where tech in the city is headed. Just check the meeting details at the bottom of the page, get the Tech Over Coffee Krakow RSS feed or sign up for the email updates to stay in the loop.

So, thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the brew of ideas and discussion, along with some caffeine. Jump right in.

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