230 participants from Romania and the Republic of Moldova at Tech Gala PIN Awards 2024
The regional tech industry designated its winners of the year, during the PIN AWARDS 2024 Gala, which took place on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
The event enjoyed a massive presence from local entrepreneurship that carries out part of its operations in Iași, but also by the presence of companies from the region of Moldova.
230 people attended the awarding of the trophies awarded by the PIN Ecosystem, which includes PIN Magazine, FabLab Iași, PIN Map Iași, People of Tech and People of Design Iași.
For the 14 awards offered at the gala, the organizers received over 90 nominations. The awards were given in three categories (Companies, Projects, People), in a total of 12 sections. In addition to these, a Special Jury Prize and a Prize for the entire activity were also awarded. The jury appointed to decide the winners was made up of 25 members, representatives of the technical university environment in Iasi, mass media, architecture, but also entrepreneurs from the tech industry.
The host of the event held at Agora was, once again, the singer of the Fără Zahar band, Bobi Dumitraș.
The awards were given to People, Companies and Projects in the TECH industry who, in the opinion of the PIN Awards jury, achieved the best results this year.
After the start of the event, the PIN TALK guests took the stage: Irina Butnaru, Romania Country Lead & General Manager Wipro, opened the series of inspirational speeches: “We need to move more towards consulting and innovation. (…) It would be ideal that after such events we create new events, new common objectives.”
Marius Lupu – Transformational engineer, BBW Solutions invited the audience to an introspection about change and what it means in our personal and professional lives.
Gabriel Manole – CEO of Endego Romania: “I am proud that I chose to stay in Iasi.” The PIN talk series was concluded by Nicoleta Azoiței – Assistant Vice President, HR Business Partners Lead for Romania, GENPACT: “Here, in Iași, I learned what it means to be an active member in the community.(…) Nicoleta also marked in her speech the importance of deepening the human connection, despite the possibilities offered by current technological means and the need to adapt to transformations based on generative AI.
The winners of the three categories of the Gala are:
PROJECTS
Education Initiative of the Year – Scoala informala de IT
The winning initiative is the first and largest alternative IT school in Romania, which – for a decade – has managed to change the classical learning paradigm.
The mentors of this initiative practice technology professions every day and choose to pass on the knowledge gained in their successful careers. After 10 years of activity, it has reached 15,000 graduates and is still dedicated to creating relevant experiences that contribute to the professional and personal development of students.
Top Employer Branding Initiative – NESS Romania
The winning company in the Top Employer Branding Initiative section has a multifaceted approach to marketing and employer branding that generates positive impact in attracting and retaining talent. Employer branding strategy integrates organizational values and culture into every point of contact with potential employees, from marketing and social media campaigns to the recruitment and onboarding process. Using augmented reality, social media platforms in unconventional ways, and creating engaging video content are just a few examples of how they caught the attention of candidates. Their newest employer branding campaign is “Expect more than great engineering”.
Best Tech Initiative in Moldova – Class of the Future
This revolutionary initiative from the Republic of Moldova that won the Best Tech Initiative in Moldova award redefines the educational paradigm. By integrating STEAM concepts in 123 schools, the winning initiative created a positive educational impact for thousands of students. This innovative movement towards digital and interdisciplinary education addresses the immediate needs of modern education and prepares future generations of people by training critical and innovative thinking. The winning initiative is a model of success in promoting STEAM approaches.
Award for the Impact in Community – Genpact
In the heart of Iași, where innovation and community intertwine, a collaboration hub emerges, where the winning company opens its doors, not only as a place for innovation and transformative work, but also as a catalyst for positive change in the local community. In a short time, this collaborative hub became a fulcrum for local educational initiatives. As of November 2023, they have made a lasting impression on over 350 participants from the local community. Through the partnership with Teach for Romania, they hosted the organization’s 10-year anniversary event, celebrating their incredible achievements in transforming education.
CSR Initiative of the Year – Heaven Solutions
The initiative that receives the CSR Initiative of the Year recognition supported the CyLiis and Peppers robotics teams from the “Grigore Moisil” Informatics High School in Iasi, in accordance with the company’s guiding principles. This special support provided support to the brightest high school students of Iași and thus opened their wings to prepare for various competitions, the main event being the First Tech Challenge (FTC). The initiative has also helped promote STEM and robotics to more than 30,000 members of the local community and supported innovative solutions to create high-performance robots. The winners of the initiative also supported other local initiatives in the community, such as Casa Share, the Rotary Academica Scholarships and Proruralis.
Office Development of the Year – Continental Automotive Iasi
The winners of this section inaugurated in 2023 a new building in Iasi, which includes a testing area for car braking systems and an above-ground parking lot with 210 spaces for its employees.
The investment worth more than 8 million euros involved the construction of new testing laboratories, customized according to the requirements of the company’s business sectors. The test area is fully equipped with all the latest infrastructure. Approximately 150 engineers work in this space, equipped with the necessary to simulate the real working conditions of the products created by the company, with an impact on the safety of vehicles around the world.
COMPANIES
Start-Up of the Year – Apollo AI Technologies
The winning start-up specializes in the development of applications using advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Their first product, Diabeta, proved to be an instant hit in the medical community. This professional medical chatbot, aimed at diabetes doctors, provides complex and expert-validated information in an accessible and efficient way.
After the experience gained in the development of Diabeta, this startup later also launched Pharmachat, a professional medical chatbot that provides quick access to accurate and up-to-date drug information. With an impressive database of over 8,500 official documents and 1.7 million drug interactions, Pharmachat is already an essential resource for doctors and pharmacists.
New entrant of the Year – HTSS
The winning company in this section specializes in providing business software solutions. Founded in 2012, with offices in Bucharest and Iași, it has rapidly developed its client portfolio thanks to its concern for innovation, fast and quality support. Today, the company’s portfolio includes more than 1000 clients from 15 countries. Among the most sought after own solutions, we mention wisepharm, omnimedica, shiftin and mindclass. The company creates integrated ecosystems of software solutions, with a deep understanding of businesses in various industries, especially in healthcare and pharma.
IT Company of the Year – HCL tech
The winner of this recognition is a global technology company, employing more than 227,000 people in 60 countries. The company offers industry-leading capabilities focused on digital, engineering, cloud and AI, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. IT Company of the Year has significantly increased presence and competences in Romania in their key service areas. The percentage of clients served from Romania increased by 45% in industries such as banking, manufacturing, consumer goods. Here are some of the company’s achievements: leading the digital transformation process with services such as modernizing cloud applications and payment platforms for a leading European bank; establishing a nearshore center for e-commerce; supporting the manufacturing and automotive industries with mechanical design, Computer Aided Design detailing and statistical tolerance analysis for their clients.
Shared Services Center of the Year – Conduent Romania
With a solid presence on the Romanian market since 2003, the winning company has become a reference name in the Business Process Outsourcing industry. In 2012, they transformed the center in Romania into one of Excellence for services such as HR, Learning, Customer Experience, Finance & Accounting and Global Procurement. Thus, through their activity, they have dedicated themselves to continuous growth and evolution. The Center of Excellence in Iasi has over 850 employees and is a strategic location for the company’s corporate functions. Through the HR services, a large team of professionals in the country offers expertise and coordinates the integration process of clients, both from Romania and from Manila, Jamaica, the United States, Holland, Germany, Poland.
The clients served in Iasi include large audit, IT and pharma companies, and many of them have been with them for more than 10 years. For the third consecutive year, the company is on Newsweek’s list of the world’s most loved workplaces.
PEOPLE
Manager of the Year – Daniel Groza, Continental Automotive Romania He won this distinction took over in 2023 the management position of the research and development center of the headquarters in Iași. He has been working in the company since 2006 when he started working as a Test Engineer, and after two years he advanced to the position of Team Leader. In 2011, he took on a new management position, with the title of Group Leader. Between 2018 and 2020, he took on a global role in testing and since then he coordinates the local teams within the current Architecture and Networking division, a position he maintains in parallel with the role of director of the location in Iași. The local team has grown to over 2,500 employees, as has the significant role its specialists play in the development of automotive technologies with a global impact.
Tech Woman of the Year – Irina Butnaru, Wipro County Manager
The winner of Tech Woman of the Year recognition has over two decades of experience in business management, with a specialized focus on Human Resources and Services Transformation. His pioneering efforts in Outsourcing created a lasting impact in Iasi, where he developed and mentored over 3,000 professionals. Beyond her professional endeavors, the award winner is deeply involved in the community, particularly in the field of education. For six years, he enriched the academic world as an associate professor at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (UAIC). He is currently continuing his academic activities and working on a PhD on “Human touch in technology”, about how organizations can choose the most effective technology tools for their employees.
SPECIAL AWARDS
Special Jury Award – People of Design & People of Tech
This special award is won by the most active local communities of 2023 dedicated to entrepreneurship, design and technology enthusiasts. The first community was founded 10 years ago by brand designer Adrian Mironescu, and its main pillars are inspiration, education, connection and action. With over 30 events organized in 2023 and 2024 and more than 50 invited professionals, these two partner entities have expansion plans in other cities, such as Bacau and Suceava. Through their efforts to connect and activate the Iași public, they brought together 900 physical participants, but also hundreds of followers of the events broadcast online.
Award for the Entire Activity – The robotics teams from the “Grigore Moisil” Informatics High School Iași
The track record of the winning teams is full of special activities and events at the local, county and national level. Over the course of this year, the team coordinated activities where students from a variety of elementary, middle, and high school backgrounds learned more about robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. They launched the “Donate a robot” campaign, through which they gave away robotics kits and initiated an online mathematics, computer science and physics competition to stimulate performance enthusiasts from over 53 locations in Romania. The two teams have qualified for MTI 2024, one of the strongest international robotics competitions, and will go to Maryland, United States of America at the end of June.
The Gala also presented the robotics teams CyLiis and Peppers that took the stage sparked the applause of all participants and the excitement of the young people who individually gave a speech of thanks for the award and recognition received. In addition to the trophies, the participants also enjoyed other surprises: the PIN Book and the personalized wine of the gala, provided by Gramma Wines. Also, this year’s winners received invitations from the Sensoria organizers to the June 1 concert.
PIN Magazine is the magazine of the regional IT & Outsourcing industry, printed in a print run of 1,000 color copies (> 40 pages) with targeted distribution to IT companies and the relevant academic environment. The magazine features editorials, interviews and articles on employer branding, trends and analysis, technology, education, real estate, living offices, events and IT communities.
The PIN Magazine debates
Fab Lab Iași is part of a global network of laboratories created with the aim of facilitating innovation and digital manufacturing. PIN Map Iași is a map of modern offices in Iași that will also contain initiatives that matter for the IT & Outsourcing industry (airport, start-up hubs, conference rooms, electric car charging stations), as well as locations of future projects of green office buildings.
The PIN Awards Gala is an annual event and aims to reward solid firms and companies, innovative start-ups, brave entrepreneurship in the region, relevant community events as well as sustainable academic projects.
Event sponsors: BCR, Orange, Conduent, Genpact, HCL Tech, htss, Tremend Software Consulting, Forvia HELLA, Globant, Zafit, School of Money Media partners: Ziarul de Iasi, Radio HIT Iasi, PIN Magazine, TVR Iasi, How to Web, Rubik hub
Educational partners: “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University Iași, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University Iași
Other Partners: Extind, Optimism works, Acolad Dental, Sigmatic, Promer group, Wink Public Multimedia, Scoala informala de IT, Moldova economic, PIN map Iași, Gramma, Workit