Digital Transformation Conference 2019: high-level speakers share their insights on digitalization and innovation

The Diplomat-Bucharest has organized the third edition of its Digital Transformation Conference aimed at Romanian and international companies focused on digitalization and innovation technologies. With more than 100 confirmed participants in the room, we brought together once again some of the most important figures from Romania’s business and civil society, high-level authorities, the energy sector community, the financial industry and also the business services sector, to discuss some of the most pressing issues the Romanian business environment faces today.

In her opening speech, Carmen Adamescu, Partner Advisory at EY Romania and first session moderator, invited the speakers to discuss more about the future, about their plans, and about the challenges for the community.

Here are some of the most important quotes from our speakers. Please be noted that the full report on the event will be published on the next issue of The Diplomat-Bucharest magazine.

“Digitalization is an interesting topic on everyone’s lips. Digital transformation in all areas is a challenge that both the government and companies are experiencing. We talk about several angles through which this digital transformation is processed” – Carmen Adamescu, Partner Advisory, EY

“Romania has the opportunity to implement a series of emerging technologies. We can implement artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, but we need government predictability and stability,” – Cristian Cucu, CIO, Secretary of State, Romanian Government

“One of the challenges we are facing is the level of education. We need to be aware of the risks associated with cybersecurity. We need to raise the level of education and risk awareness. We cannot have a high level of cybersecurity as long as there is no high level of awareness,” – Iulian Alecu, Deputy Managing Director, CERT-Ro

“The Romanian state has an issue with its public services. The problem is beyond digitization, it is about how much the state cares about the services for its citizens. I do not see a government concern to implement innovative technologies. Innovation hubs are needed. If you do not make mistakes you cannot learn,” – Radu Puchiu, Open Government Partnership Envoy

“Estonia’s public services are 90 percent digital. What do we have to do? It is enough to copy at least 10 percent of what the Estonian Government has done and it will be a win for everyone,” – Yugo Neumorni, CyberSecurity Council Chairman, European CIO Association

“Twelve years after joining the EU, Romania is at the back of the UE in terms of financial intermediation. When it comes to economic wellbeing, we are the second-to-last in the EU. Unfortunately, Romania ranks 123 out of 134 countries in terms of financial education,” – Gabriela Folcut, Executive Director, Romanian Association of Banks.

“Regulation is not keeping up with technological progress. Banks are trying to become more digital, but the regulatory framework is sometimes a barrier,” – Leontin Toderici, Deputy CEO, Chief Operations Officer, Banca Transilvania.

“BCR invests a lot in the financial education of Romanians. We need to continue to do that. The low level of digitization is an opportunity, we need to see how we can do things better,” – Marian Ignat, Executive Director, Digital Banking Division, BCR.

“The main challenge for the banks is to keep the clients happy and loyal. A poor experience for a client can lead to losing that client. The winners will be the banks that successfully manage the data flows and customer experiences,” – Panagiotis Pantazis, Sales Director, Oracle Applications.

“The energy transition is characterized by several fundamental elements: decarbonisation, decentralization, digitization and electrification. The increasing share of electricity in end-user consumption is due to the benefits that this form of energy can bring” – Valeriu Binig, Director, Regulatory and Antitrust, Enel.

“When talking about digitization at Hidroelectrica, our main focus is on OT – thus we ensure the safe operation of our production capacities and we contribute to the security of the National Energy System. We are making investments to increase the level of digitization of our production capabilities, such as upgrading the SCADA and diagnosys system from Portile de Fier,” – Cristian-Cornel Kameniczki, IT&C Department Manager, Hidroelectrica.

“We have to prepare the Romanian citizen for accepting digitalisation. We need to look at the sources of funding for these digitization investments. We are at the beginning of a transition period towards a deep transformation of the energy sector,” – Livioara Sujdea, Chief Distribution Officer, Electrica.

“We need a sustainable energy grid for the solutions that energy providers are preparing and launching on the market. We have invested a lot in the area of customer education,” – Anda Hajdinjak, Head of Innovation Hub, E.ON Romania.

“The future is electric, but Romania still does not feel the same. Over 90 percent of the products we launch are digital solutions for increasing energy management efficiency,” – Marius Persinaru, Country President Romania & Rep. Moldova, Schneider Electric.

“We’ve been hearing about the rapid advancement of digital transformation within the business services industry. In theory it seems to be an obvious integration and enhancement process but as key organizations move into the next phase of implementation is it time to take a moment to reflect, to readjust our strategy and goals for digital excellence within the industry, or are we perfectly on track? So that is one of the questions we’re going to tackle” – Colin Lovering, Senior Vice-President, Avison Young Real Estate Romania

“In terms of digital transformation, we need to take baby steps into this world. First, we need to go to the processes and then to automation. We have several tools we have developed in-house for RPA or artificial intelligence, but all these tools will not work without proper processes” – Laura Baiasu, Head of Quality Romania, Wipro Limited     

“I think it’s a dangerous idea to say that Romania is relatively behind in terms of adopting digitalization. This huge energy companies need to understand how they approach people from the rural areas. It’s not a good thing for them to say: ‘We tried to do this, but unfortunately our clients don’t know how to adopt digitalization’. I truly believe it is the company’s responsibility to teach clients how to adopt digital tools” – George Didoiu, Director Tenant Services, Colliers International

“When we are talking about digital transformation it is not about our internal transformation, but about selling such digital services. It is really difficult to sell something if you are not good at that particular subject. After we started our agile transformation a few years ago, we noticed that there is a strong connection between digitalization and agile business” – Vasile Putina, CTO, Pentalog Software Factory           

On behalf of our team, please receive the compliments on your attendance and support for the Digital Transformation Conference 3rd Edition, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest magazine.

We thank the speakers for their participation and confidence in our work. We would also like to thank to all our supporters:

– Diamond Partner – Wipro

– Platinum Partner – Oracle

– Gold Partners – Schneider Electric, Colliers

– Partners – E.ON, Hidroelectrica, Selir, Arval, Sea One, Wave

– Associations: Romanian Association of Banks, CIO Council Romania, ANIS, Cluj IT.