ANIS announces ANIS International Summit 2026 and IT Industry Excellence Awards Gala – From growth to innovation: The stakes of Romania’s competitiveness

ANIS announces the organization of the ANIS International Summit 2026, which will take place on May 12, 2026, in Bucharest, under the title “From Scale to Innovation: Romania’s Next Competitive Edge”, followed by the IT Industry Excellence Awards Gala.

After a decade of accelerated growth, the Romanian IT industry is approaching an inflection point. Without a clear leap towards innovation, productivity and added value, the competitive advantage built in recent years risks being eroded.

Although the sector contributes over 7% of Romania’s GDP, in the national economy as a whole only 5% of companies use artificial intelligence, under 20% use cloud services, and less than a third of adults have advanced digital skills. These figures define the stakes of the next decade for the Romanian economy and are the basis of the ANIS International Summit 2026, in Bucharest.

The summit brings together IT industry leaders, government decision-makers and international experts, in a format oriented towards pragmatic conversations and decisions that can be translated into public policies, investments and concrete actions.

“Romania must decide whether to remain in an economic model based on volume and cost or move to an innovation-based model. This is the conversation that ANIS International Summit 2026 brings to the forefront: the transition from growth to innovation, for greater added value,” said Corina Vasile, ANIS Executive Director.

The Excellence Awards Gala complements the Summit, showing that the future of the industry is built on delivery, not intentions, and excellence must be recognized and promoted.

The Gala brings to the forefront measurable results, initiatives with real impact and organizations that actively contribute to the maturation of the industry. The awards are given in eight categories:
• ESG Program of the Year
• Innovation of the Year
• Education Program of the Year
• Startup of the Year
• R&D Project of the Year
• Software Project of the Year
• Software Product of the Year
• Company of the Year

Entries are open until March 15, 2026 here: https://anis.ro/en/events/gala-anis-2026/ and are addressed to companies from the entire IT&C ecosystem, being also open to companies that are not ANIS members.

The evaluation will be carried out by specialized juries and will follow the impact, sustainability and relevance of the results, beyond the size or notoriety of the participating companies.