“Romania is doing very well what it is doing now, but we have a problem: we are running out of patience. We have smart city projects, and we are on the right track. We have over 1,000 smart city and smart village projects and initiatives at the national level.

Our project started in 2015-2016 and we are lucky to understand these ecosystems and we have seen them through several types of approaches. We have seen failed projects, we have seen successful projects, and we have learned from each project. We have what we need, but we still need to be patient,” Eduard Dumitrascu, president of the Romanian Association for Smart City (ARSC) said during Smart Transformation Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“In 2016 we started the Smart City caravan and we realized that we must accelerate these projects. The smart city industry in Romania is very mature now, with many sources of financing. Local administrations are prepared for smart city projects, but we must be patient to implement these projects.

We have the Smart City Academy project where we run accredited professional training courses for the local administration.

We have over 160 mayors and county councils as members in our association. There are many others who understood that smart city also means digital transformation, big data, governmental cloud, etc.

PNRR is a good program for Romania, but I am afraid that we will have problems implementing the projects. We need organization, determination in order not to miss the financing and development opportunities of Romania. The economy based on innovation must be a priority for Romania.”

Full recording of the conference: