Cluj IT

About Cluj IT Cluster

Cluj IT Cluster is a Silver labeled cluster management entity, built on the quadruple helix model along the IT value chain (companies, universities and research institutes, authorities and other catalyst organizations and the community). Cluj IT facilitates and integrates the communication and collaboration among its members. Cluj IT Cluster has more than 60 members and accounts for almost a third part of the entire IT industry in Cluj, while also leveraging on the partnership with 5 of the most important universities in Romania. Our challenge is to support innovation in processes and design of new products and services to increase SMEs competitiveness on national and international level. Cluj IT Cluster is a founding member of the Balkan, Black Sea and Baltic ICT Network and is a member of the European Digital SMEs Alliance. More recently, Cluj IT has founded the Transilvania iHub 4.0, a digital innovation hub with the aim of increasing SMEs competitiveness through digitalization. Cluj IT also keeps close contact with the Enterprise Europe Network.

What are the main Objectives of the Cluster?

• Strengthen market position and stimulate exports by shifting the focus from outsourcing (IT services) towards building innovative products and services
• Build a chain of structures which allows the development of complex products that address various needs and challenges
• Develop instruments that can support efficient processes for resource and knowledge sharing among cluster members
• Facilitate financing of R&D projects for technological transfer, either through private investments or private & public partnerships
• Increase the number of highly skilled human resources by strengthening the collaboration with educational institutions and achieve higher Return on investment for training activities
• Increase the involvement of Cluj IT member companies in large international projects by expanding the network of partners

What are the benefits that the Cluster is bringing to its members?

Our key activities are driven by our thematic Working Groups (WG) through which we are able to provide an ecosystem where organizations and individuals with interests in a certain area come together and develop common projects. Therefore diversity in the range of activities, an innovative approach and focus on collaboration are the concepts which steer group activities. With interests ranging from business development, professional reconversion or long life learning, to entrepreneurship or close collaboration between the IT industry and other industries, the current working groups which operate under the Cluj IT Cluster umbrella are:  

• Working  Group  for  Human  Resources  – supports / enhances efforts to improve the availability and quality of human resource in IT;  
• Working  Group  for  Smart  City  - identifies, experiments and implements smart city solutions with the contribution of business and research capacities within the local R&D system;
• Working  Group  for  Business  Projects  –  creates a platform for joint large scale business projects developed by members of Cluj IT;
• Working Group on Marketing - uses Cluj IT as platform to market various services and solutions for an increased impact

Why have we joined Cyberwatching?

Cluj IT Cluster has identified 4 areas of smart specialization where companies and organizations in our region could have an impact. These are: smart city solutions, bio-informatics, smart agriculture, but also cybersecurity. Our strategy is based on building on the existing endowments: advanced technological skills and infrastructure and interdisciplinary knowledge area within reach. With an aligned cross-sectoral collaboration, we could create the competences needed in this areas. Cyberwatching is the type of project that builds a community and this is the greatest added value generated through this initiative. It builds a community in an area of technological expertise that becomes more and more important, not just in Europe, but worldwide. Equally important, the project gives voice to small and medium size companies by creating the platform where they can bring forward their innovations in cybersecurity.

Andrei Kelemen

Throughout his professional career Andrei has held various management positions in private and public outfits where he managed numerous projects worth tens of millions of Euros. In particular, he acted as management consultant for Babes-Bolyai University, the largest public university in the country. Prior to that he has lead the Information Compartment in an EU structural funds management structure of the Ministry of Labor. Since 2013 he is the Executive Director of Cluj IT Cluster where he oversees all operational aspects of an organization that represents the interests of one of the most prominent industries in Cluj. Andrei is also contributing to defining the strategy and objectives of the cluster initiative alongside the Board of Directors and the General Assembly. Andrei holds a bachelor in Administration and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.