Key Insights from Google Cloud Romania October 2024

PAC was present yesterday at Google Cloud Romania in October 2024. This edition marked a significant increase in attendance, with both Romanian and international participants.

While showing increasing potential, the Romanian market still lags behind other European countries in cloud adoption. Factors contributing to this disparity include a relatively low digital literacy rate among the organization's population and decision-makers. Therefore, these types of events that facilitate dialogues between IT professionals, business executives, students, and industry experts, together with presentations about emerging technologies and real-world applications, are essential to accelerate technology adoption in the domestic market.

However, recent investments in digital transformation, particularly within the public sector, have generated a positive outlook for the market. Among the success stories, the most prominent is the application developed by Zitec for the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests called Sumal 2.0. The system has already demonstrated its effectiveness in a pilot project designed to detect irregularities in timber transportation.

Sumal 2.0 has streamlined the process by utilizing Google technologies, improving both efficiency and accuracy. One notable example is the automation of photo analysis, which has significantly enhanced the detection of fraudulent images. This project serves as a great showcase for other regional governments that are considering implementing similar solutions.

Zitec has had a strong collaboration with Google lately in multiple projects, one being with the Romanian Post. With a 162-year-old history that still has an image of a dusty institution, the Romanian Post has invested substantially in digitalization lately. After RPA adoption from UiPath, Romanian Post opted for a suite of applications provided by collaboration and productivity platforms - in this case, Google Workspace. The modernization of the Romanian Post is relevant not just for the institution but also for the rural areas of Romania, which lag behind the big cities in digitalization and financials.

Another Google-highlighted collaboration has been with the Romanian Football Federation, which currently leverages the data collected through insightful real-time insights.

Alongside the public sector, Google Cloud seemed to find a path for growth in Romania, whether we talk about large banks, retailers, logistics companies, or SMEs. The ecosystem partner plays an important role, so companies like Zitec or the new agreement with BRINEL (part of iQanto, a division of the SNEF group).

While Romania has traditionally served as a hub for global tech companies' offshore and nearshore operations, the market's potential for domestic projects is gradually emerging. Despite current lower margins, the ambitious initiatives underway have the potential to catalyze future growth. Recognizing this opportunity, Google has strategically identified Romania as a market with significant development potential and is actively expanding its presence. Despite the market's potential, several challenges may hinder these ambitions, such as anticipated economic headwinds, a relatively low digital literacy rate among decision-makers, and established competitors actively pursuing similar opportunities.