The East German software scene has, according to Computerwoche, got its eyes firmly fixed on the West for the joint ventures it may need to become competitive. At a recent seminar of the newly-formed Unternehmensverband Informationssysteme eV, set up to look after the interests of that industry, small software houses, software teams intending to set up their own companies, and of course representatives from VEB Kombinat Robotron’s mighty Projekt Dresden – turnover of around $120m, and more than 1,000 employees – agreed that the way forward was to seek out such joint ventures while still maintaining a common front. Obstacles still abound – joint ventures with Western firms have still to be officially authorised at government level, while little-used and antiquated company laws could prove problematic. Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped the Robotron Projekt Dresden, which has acknowledged that its only possibility of survival is to split up into small divisions working with Western companies, from going forward with its first Deutsch-Deutsch venture with West Berlin software house Data-print GmbH – legal problems are, however, on the cards.
