Career Fields In Science

By admin, January 2, 2010 4:51 pm

career fields in science
Countries that have a good Computer Science foundation?

I’m a Computer Science major in the United States but I don’t want to live in the US. I’ve been reading about the quality of life factors for other countries and saw Iceland had number 1 last year and Norway has been the number 1 for the majority of the last 20 years. I’m seeking a better quality of life for myself and my family, but I would like to live in a country that has a good Computer Science career field. Language doesn’t matter. Could anyone please reccomend a good resources where I can find information on CS strength by country?

The most common such ranking I’ve seen is the “Global Information Technology Report” by the World Economic Forum:

http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Information%20Technology%20Report/index.htm

It’s Networked Readiness Index ranks Denmark at the top, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, and the US. However, it’s focused more on the business side of things to help companies decide where it’s most advantageous to set up shop.

In terms of working in the field of CS, the biggest factor would actually be in the company you’re working for, rather than the country you’re located in. For example, if you work as an IT professional in a non-technical company, no matter where you’re located, chances are that you won’t be advancing your CS knowledge as much as you would in a more technical company. If you want to live/work in a strong CS environment, I would look for a company with a large technology and IT infrastructure and/or one that has a well-developed (and well-funded) training and knowledge-exchange system. It’s extremely important to have access and exposure to new technologies and new training as the field advances.

However, don’t count out non-IT companies altogether. Some companies that don’t specialize in IT still have strong IT organizations, and as long as there is emphasis on training and new technology, you may end up in a richer environment than you would in an all-IT company that doesn’t spend the time/money to keep their employees up to date.

When deciding where to live, I would evaluate what’s important to you in terms of society and use that to limit the geographical locations you’re interested in. Then, within your top location options, you can look into companies that fit your criteria for a strong technical environment. Chances are that in all but the most developing countries, you’d be able to find firms that meet your technical needs.

From personal experience, I’ve worked as a software engineer in the US, France, China, and Norway. All of them have very strong computer science fields, but I found vast differences in the projects where I was working. I will say that although you say language isn’t an issue, I did find it to be a limitation. In China and France, the field is large enough to support local conferences, classes, etc. and my basic language skills precluded my attendance. In Norway, the strong English skills and small population meant that many events were Europe-wide, requiring a little travel but no language skills (since most international events are conducted in English).

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