Unexpected talent flows in the context of Russia’s war on Ukraine: missed opportunities in Georgia and Turkey (2022-2023)

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Georgia and Turkey experienced significant inflows of tens of thousands of Russian and Belarusian IT (information technology) specialists who chose to leave their countries in opposition to the war, to avoid military conscription, or search for a better life abroad. Confronted with this mass influx which occurred in several waves and continues to this day, Georgia and Turkey have a unique chance to increase the innovativeness and competitiveness of their own IT industries with the help of these wholly unexpected talent inflows. This chapter examines how Georgia and Turkey responded to the inflows of Russian and Belarusian IT specialists and to what extent both countries started to utilize their expanded talent pool to the advantage of their IT sectors. Our analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with IT specialists and IT industry stakeholders and an analysis of local and international media reports. Our findings illustrate that Georgia and Turkey face significant obstacles in integrating and benefiting from recent IT specialist inflows. In Georgia, continued socio-political tensions hamper any closer engagement, particularly with Russian IT specialists. Whereas, Turkey, in general, has yet to take the necessary steps to utilize foreign IT specialists and thus far appears uninterested in benefiting from the unexpected IT talent inflow. At the same time, foreign, including newly arrived IT specialists from Russia and Belarus, seemingly do not feel attracted by the Georgian or Turkish IT sector due to their comparatively lower stages of development and salary levels.