Smart City snapshot: 330 initiatives in 45 cities, reaching 6.09 million Romanians

There are 330 Smart City initiatives in Romania either projected, in progress or already finalized in 45 large, medium or small cities around the country, according to Vegacomp Consulting, one of the smart solutions integrators.

“The latest report brings us not only a change in leadership in terms of Smart City verticals, but also a first series of interviews with city officials that have already made significant steps in the area. The listed cities now get to sum up, according to the latest census, a population of 6,093,856, almost a third of Romania’s population. However, we also see a relatively low growth in Smart solutions adoption among the population that wasn’t yet covered – a natural situation, considering that the first edition of the report was drawing the information from scratch and the following two editions represented a real-time evolution of the coverage. A remarkable thing, highly appreciated, is moving several initiatives from the private suppliers to the municipalities, as well as a stronger approach to centralising data and integrating Smart City solutions within said municipalities,” said Cornel Barbut, Vegacomp Consulting CEO.

While at end-2018 the report presented a Smart City market that exceeded 300 projects in Romania, March 2019 drives the number to no less than 330 initiatives.

Alba Iulia, Arad, Avrig, Bacau, Bals, Brasov, Bucharest, Bumbesti-Jiu, Calarasi, Cernavoda, Comanesti, Constanta, Cluj-Napoca, Deva, Falticeni, Galati, Giurgiu, Gura Humorului, Hunedoara, Iasi, Lugoj, Mangalia, Mizil, Moinesti, Odobesti, Oradea, Petrosani, Piatra Neamt, Predeal, Reghin, Resita, Satu Mare, Seini, Sibiu, Slatina, Suceava, Targoviste, Targu Jiu, Targu Mures, Targu Neamt, Tarnaveni, Timisoara, Targu Bujor, Tulcea and Turda are the cities listed in the report, with a minimum of one Smart City project, each.

The leading cities, by number of planned, work in progress or finalized projects are: Alba Iulia (103), Brasov (20), Timisoara, Bucharest (19), Arad, Iasi (18), Cluj-Napoca (16), Sibiu (13), Oradea, Avrig (12), Constanta, Piatra Neamt (11), Hunedoara, Slatina (6).

The identified Smart City projects remain structured within the same six verticals in line with the recent European Union reports: Smart Economy, Smart Mobility, Smart Environment, Smart People, Smart Living and Smart Governance.

“Our second year of Smart City market analysis for Romania shows us a mixture of starting enthusiasm among several municipalities, a relative slowdown in terms of project execution and new initiatives – a sign that municipalities wait for the pilot projects results or even face budgetary restraints while adapting their flows to the innovation they are attempting – and also a sometimes wrong rush to categorise every initiative as a Smart City one – from the security certificates of a server, to implementing a simple set of video cameras or LED lighting. The market also begins to develop a need for Smart City conceptual theory and for building a core of specialists with strict and exclusive responsibilities within the Smart City area,” adds Barbut.

The new leader of the local market is the Smart Mobility vertical, with 82 projects, closely followed by Smart Living, with 80 projects. The podium is completed by Smart Governance, with 68 projects, and Smart Economy ranks fourth, with 59 initiatives. The last two positions are held by Smart Environment, with 26 projects, and Smart People, with only 16 initiatives.

Founded in 2004, Vegacomp Consulting, a turn-key integrator, builds on a team of over 25 years of experience in telecommunication, especially in fiber optic networks, in Romania and internationally, and focuses its projects on solutions development that combine telecoms and energy.