Consortium

With a population of 74,000 and an urban area of 104 km2, Alba Iulia has a population density of 713 per km2. Alba Iulia is located by the Mureş River in the heart of Transylvania in central Romania. Cultural heritage and tourism are of significant importance for Alba Iulia. According to the World Bank Alba Iulia ranks first among county capitals in Romania in attracting EU funding per capita, more than 200 million Euros were attracted in the last 10 years. The historical centre is the core of the urban organisation. The Alba Carolina Citadel, the most representative Vauban Citadel in Romania, highlights the city of Alba Iulia. After a series of large renovation projects over the last decades of more than €70m, financed by EU funding (ESIF), the Municipality has enhanced the city’s cultural heritage and provides the opportunity for both citizens and tourists to explore the area. However, there is a diverse economic structure, with, a business environment attractive for foreign investors. The city has also an important porcelain industry (the largest in Romania) main porcelain provider for IKEA, Other industries present in the territory: TRANSAVIA – the largest meat producer in Romania, Albalact (recently Lactalis)- one of the largest milk producers in Romania, Solina (former SUPREMIA)- is the largest spices factory in south eastern Europe, wiring factory SEWS, Foundry MECANICA, Carpeting Factory, VCST, etc.

The Development Strategy of Alba Iulia underlines the importance of the sustainable development of the local economy and improved quality of citizens’ life. This strategy has been the result of an important participatory phase, when citizens, City administration employees, businesses’ representatives, different institutions and local organizations, provided recommendations. It is in the interest of the City Administration to keep this document updated, as the key indicators change their values in time.

It is based on the following premises, for the sustainable development of the city:

• Improving quality of life;
• Competitiveness and attracting investments;
• Good local governance through the elected bodies and effective management;
• Getting citizens’ support and involvement;
• Flexibility of approach for better adaptability to future changes.

The strategy puts forward three important approaches for Alba Iulia:

• “Alba Iulia of the residents” – improving quality of life;
• “Alba Iulia of the tourists” – cultural tourism development and advertisement of the town’s brand;
• “Alba Iulia of the investors”- promoting businesses.

Starting with 2016 Alba Iulia is implementing as a national premiere the Alba Iulia Smart City pilot project. Alba Iulia Smart City 2018 is a pilot project meant to transform Alba Iulia Municipality into the first city in Romania where integrated smart city solutions will be implemented starting with 2018 with the occasion of celebrating 100 years of the unification of Romania which took place in our city in 1918. The pilot project is implemented by the Municipality of Alba Iulia in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Society. This project is unique in Romania due to the fact that it is the first smart project developed between the national government, a local public authority and private companies and also to due to the fact that all the smart city solutions proposed by companies are or will be implemented on the costs of the private companies involved and will ensure the interoperability with other smart city solution providers in the future.

The pilot project is focused on implementing at local level smart, innovative and compatible solutions, developed by the private sector, in a wide range of areas such as: smart lightning system, smart parking, smart mobility, smart citizens, e-governance, smart administration, 5G networks, smart energy consumption, smart businesses, applications using beacons for tourism promotion, free WIFI access in all touristic public spaces, smart education projects, LORA technology, innovation labs, hackathons etc.

So far, the Municipality established an official partnership agreement with more than 35 companies, Orange being the first partner to support the development of the smart city project with smart city solutions under an official partnership with the municipality. Until now the city has contracted more than 100 smart city solutions (a symbolic goal to reach by the end of 2018 for celebrating one hundred years of unification).

The project will greatly benefit the inhabitants of Alba Iulia Municipality, together with the business investors and the tourists visiting the city. The project Alba Iulia Smart City benefits from the technical support and interest of over 35 companies, some of which are world renowned companies like Orange Romania, Siemens, Microsoft, IBM, CISCO, ZTE, Xerox, Phillips and others.