Siemens and Alba Iulia City Hall have agreed to include Alba Iulia, a city located in Romania’s Transylvania region, in the global research project Smart Cities Research.

Besides Alba Iulia, the Siemens research includes Aberdeen (UK), Brussels (Belgium), Istanbul (Turkey), and London (UK).

The Smart Cities Research will provide a thorough analysis on the financial models and benefits obtained in several intelligent infrastructure areas, depending on the priorities of each city. The infrastructure sectors analysed in this research are energy, buildings, traffic management, public transport, and public safety.

Alba Iulia Municipality is included in the pilot project Alba Iulia Smart City 2018, announced this spring by the Ministry of Communications and Information Society.

“If you’re just proud to have been chosen from many hundreds to be a Smart City, but don’t do anything about it, you have all chances to remain with your pride and paper. It is imperative to find concrete solutions that could significantly increase the quality of life of Alba Iulia inhabitants, as beneficiaries of the new century technologies. The research will identify the areas where technology can increase the quality of life,” said Alba Iulia mayor Mircea Hava.

“The participation of Alba Iulia in this research, along with other major European cities, will have a positive impact in locally discovering the most effective models of sustainable intelligent infrastructure, but also in setting development priorities. I hope that the analysis results will help implement the project Smart City Alba Iulia”, added George Costache, CEO Siemens SRL.

The survey methodology includes, among others, detailed interviews with the representatives of local authorities on the project, their priorities and strategies. For each city included in Siemens research project, three main areas will be analysed with priority in terms of financial impact and economic benefits.

Alba Iulia officials, the specialists of Urban Development Department at Siemens, and the representatives of Siemens Romania had a first meeting on the city’s inclusion in this research in August. The three priority areas to be analysed are going to be established in a short time. The research will be launched at the Global Smart Cities Expo in Barcelona later this year.

Romania should have the first smart city by 2018

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo by: Ionut Vaidean)