BlackBerry developers interested in cooperation with Tatarstan

The Research In Motion developer, RIM, designer of the BlackBerry handset, considers establishing its development centre in Kazan. The company’s Vice-President Paul Lucier and Prime Minister of Tatarstan Roustam Minnnikhanov have discussed prospects for cooperation.

Roustam Minnikhanov noted that Tatarstan was interested in finding long-term partners for implementing tasks in the field of IT. “We welcome any types of innovations in the IT industry,” said Roustam Minnikhanov, “and we intend to provide all conditions for developing IT projects here, including with the participation of foreign companies.” In his words, Kazan could be a point of growth in the IT field, not for Tatarstan alone but for the entire Russian Federation.

The prime minister went on to note that RIM’s service was in demand in Tatarstan, and their promotion would increase business competitiveness and contribute to more efficient management, Roustam Minnikhanov stated that cooperation with RIM could be on the projects like Electronic Government of Tatarstan, providing computerised public services to the population and others.

The RIM representatives marked highly IT park’s prospects in Kazan, which they had visited before the meeting with the Prime Minister. It is a world-standard IT centre, they said.

Paul Lucier confirmed the company’s interest in cooperating with Tatarstan, saying the company intended to take part in some pilot projects, reports the Cabinet of Ministers’s press service.

Research In Motion, RIM, was set up in 1984. BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device presented in 1997. The devices then looked like pagers with a large screen. The main function is instant corporation communication. The present-day BlackBerry is a smartphone featuring electronic mail, sms, internet browsing and is compatible with other remote devices. The device is sold to over 150 operators in 170 countries.