Information technology, communication and networking in software companies of northern Finland

Information technology has extended and provided new possibilities for telecommunication and distance collaboration. This paper deals with social networking and communication in the process of software product development. Our study is based on a survey of small‐ and medium‐sized software companies in northern Finland. The case location is interesting because it is a peripheral region, but at the same time one of the most successful regions in high technology in Europe. The main results indicate that social networks and the possibilities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play an important role in companies' activities, but physical proximity still has not lost its magnitude.