The Summit on Intelligent Industries in Romania was held in Cluj for the first time, on October 15, 2024!  In the middle of the transition towards a green and digital economy, it was time to talk about the challenges that various industries are facing in Romania. The Summit on Intelligent Industries organized in Cluj-Napoca by Confederatia Patronala Concordia reunited ITC companies with manufacturing and service companies, in order to foster the dialogue between the parties involved in digitalization, automation and cross-sectorial innovation

Romanian industry has shown a remarkable power of reinventing itself in recent years. Romanian companies are already feeling the pressure of the double transition (green and digital) and the need to invest and innovate further. Innovation, technology, production capacity, productivity and labor cost, regional disparities and international regulations will play a key role in increasing the added value of the Romanian economy and for the future of the industry.

The dialogue revolved around the needed ingredients to make the Romanian economy more competitive, productive and sustainable.

• How will look like the Industry 4.0 in Romania?
• How can we use in a more effective manner the EU funding available?
• How can we accelerate the transition towards a green and digital economy?

The opening speech was delivered by Dan Șucu, current president of Concordia Employers’ Confederation and founder of Mobexpert –a large Romanian furniture retailer and producer. He gave an inspiring perspective on the current economic context and the need to increase the competitiveness of the Romanian economy through innovation but also through the exchange of ideas and continuous conversation between business representatives. He emphasized the importance of associations and partnership between various economic actors in Romania and in South-Eastern Europe.

Soon after the opening speech, the audience was put en garde with the recent proposals of Mario Draghi in his report on the future of European competitiveness. The main investment recommendations were presented to the audience and put in the Romanian context:

• Innovation and Technology: Creating an enabling environment for the development of advanced technologies, including R&D investments to close the gap with the US and China.
• Decarbonization: Investment in clean technologies, such as wind turbines, and low-carbon fuels to support the transition to a green economy.
• Energy infrastructure: Modernizing and expanding energy networks to facilitate the transition to renewable energy sources and reduce external dependencies.
• Defense capability: Strengthen the European defense industry by investing in standardization and interoperability to create a more unified and effective military capability.
• Capitalization on capital markets: Advancing the Capital Markets Union to facilitate access to finance for businesses, in particular start-ups and innovations.
• Education and training: Invest in education and training to prepare the workforce for new technologies and support social inclusion.
• Cross-border infrastructure projects: Support infrastructure projects connecting Member States, facilitating trade and mobility.
• Cybersecurity: Investment in cybersecurity to protect critical infrastructures and ensure a secure digital environment. an competitiveness.
• Digital technologies: Promote the development and deployment of digital technologies to improve industrial competitiveness.
• Critical resources: Building industrial partnerships to secure supply chains for essential raw materials, reducing external dependencies.

After a relevant presentation of the future macroeconomic market trends, the first panel talk discussed the prospects for reindustrialization, the challenges and synergies between the green and digital transitions, and how Romania can advance as a regional industrial leader. Representatives of Rombat, Eletroglobal, NTT Data, BCR and Savini Due were interviewed by Ziarul Financiar deputy editor in chief and provided striking perspectives on the above topics.

Further on, the second panel talk continued with a debate on the circularity-based business models that support sustainable consumption and production, on how European funds can be used to develop business and boost competitiveness. It was a very passionate panel, since the representatives of Carel Woodworks and La Ferma cu Omenie shared their traumatic experiences with the public funding procedures. While we also witnessed totally disruptive perspectives, like the ones of OVES Enterprise, a local tech business specialized in defense and security.

SOFTECH, as a software development company specialized in complex industrial software development and software integrations, joined the conference in order to grasp the local community’s perspectives on the proposed topics: Industry 4.0; effective use of EU funding; green and digital economy.

Thank you ANIS Romania – The Employers’ Association of Software and Services Industry in Romania, for inviting us and engaging with the regional IT companies from Transylvania.

About The Summit On Intelligent Industries

Concordia Employers’ Confederation in partnership with BCR launched in November 2023 a broad initiative to find concrete solutions to increase the productivity, complexity and competitiveness of the Romanian economy, in a context marked by the transition to a green and digital economy. Under the umbrella of the “Intelligent Industries” project, this initiative involves the organization of a series of debates in various cities across the country, with the aim of identifying relevant measures at both sectorial and cross-sectorial level. These measures aim to promote the adoption of new technologies to increase the competitiveness and productivity of Romanian companies, from small to large enterprises.