Microsoft Innovation Centers Fuel Growth of Local Software Economies

Victoria.NET in Australia is a great example. A bunch of local ISVs and other industry stakeholders came together, with support from the state government of Victoria, Microsoft and Intel, to co-operatively develop opportunities for the entire information and communications industry in Victoria. The members of this cluster have used the Microsoft brand to raise their profile and showcase their work with potential clients. They now also have a united voice within the industry, as well as a point of contact and place to consult with others in the industry. They can network and partner with like-minded organizations and can attend trade shows and exhibitions as part of a larger entity.

Similarly, a cluster in India launched an initiative earlier this year to create a baseline of quality for software applications developed by local ISVs. The partners agreed on a basic level of skills certification for all developers and application testing for new software. This is a world class thing that came out of India that had never been seen before.

The power of clusters extends to funding. Outside the United States, there's less seed-stage capital available from the venture-capital or the private-equity communities. One reason is VCs are not able to find good investment opportunities to their attention. Now venture capitalists can come to these centers to review business proposals from technopreneurs who might not otherwise have access to this type of funding. Venture capitalists know they