More than 200 participants from Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine at the PIN 2023 Regional Tech Gala Awards

The regional IT & O industry designated its winners of the year, as part of the PIN AWARDS 2023 Gala, which took place on Thursday, May 11, 2023. The event enjoyed a massive presence from local entrepreneurship that carries out part of its operations in Iasi , but also by the presence of companies from the region of Moldova.

More than 200 people attended the awarding of the trophies awarded by the PIN Ecosystem, which includes PIN Magazine, FabLab Iași, PIN Map Iași and PIN Magazine Debates. For the 16 awards offered at the gala, the organizers received 77 nominations.

The awards were given in three categories (Companies, Projects, People), each category being divided in turn into 14 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 15 members, representatives of the technical university environment in Iași and entrepreneurs from the IT&O industry.

The host of the event held at Agora was, once again, the soloist of the band Fără Zahar, Bobi Dumitraș. As he himself noted, this year’s PIN awards gala brought together “the critical mass of the region’s intelligence”. After an intense networking session, the event started with the speech of the organizers Dan Zaharia and Dan Radu. 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.

The PIN TALK guests took the stage – “a kind of TED talk, but better” – as Bobi Dumitraș pointed out. Liviu Gherghescu – Head of Architecture BCR told the guests about the George application and how it serves entrepreneurs. Then, Cristian Pațachia-Sultănoiu – Development & Innovation Manager ORANGE told about the 5G Lab project and the digitization potential of this technology. The speech was continued by Paul Soare – Vice President – Operations, Healthcare & Life Sciences GENPACT, from whom we discovered more about the purpose and actions of the company he represents.

In this PIN awards 2023 edition, People of TECH, the community dedicated to all technology enthusiasts, was also launched. Its representatives, Cristi Grăunte, Mircea Tăune and Adrian Mironescu, invited all the participants to co-participate in the actions of this new initiative. During the event, PIN FORUM also took place, where the guests Răzvan Rughiniș and Cristian Pațachia openly debated with students and other representatives of the local community in the field of education topics such as AI, digitalization, 5G technology.

PROJECTS

1. Education Initiative of the Year: TUIASI – 5G LAB The winner of the Education Initiative of the Year section represents an international initiative that brings together economic actors and researchers in discovering the value, utility and opportunities brought by the 5G universe. This collaboration makes a considerable contribution to the development of solutions that will make a difference in a digital economy of Iași, a city of the future.
2. Top Employer Branding Initiative: NESS

The winning company in the Top Employer Branding Initiative section created the 10-year anniversary campaign “The Sound of Success” which brought a fulminant positive impact to both employees and the public. The song, created in collaboration with artist Spike, has had over 315,000 organic views on YouTube and great feedback from listeners.

3. Best ITO Initiative in the Republic of Moldova: Tekwill in Every School

The winning initiative in this section is the largest and most revolutionary educational project in the Republic of Moldova. The project developed eight courses for future professions in Romanian and Russian. The courses are taught by more than 1,000 teachers in 333 schools across the country as optional subjects. Thanks to this program, more than 50,000 students have developed digital, entrepreneurial, creative and social skills.

4. Prize for the Impact in Community: Digital Innovation Zone

The winner of this section is the only digital innovation center of European level, in the North-East Region, created as a non-profit initiative in 2019, by organizations, universities and local actors in the innovation ecosystem of the region. This initiative helps SMEs, public institutions and innovative enterprises in the digitization process through new, transformational solutions.

5. CSR Initiative of the Year: Visma
   The winning company in this section realized two projects with a particular impact this year: the Open Air Science Museum – an interactive playground and learning place for children and the Airplane Simulator, where the little ones can live the simulated experience of flight in a model of plane, right in the international departures area of the airport in Iași. Both projects involved employees contributing to the development of the city by supporting future generations in the discovery and use of technology.
6. Office Development of the Year: Amazon Iasi
   The winners of this section created a new headquarters for employees in Iași with a total area of approximately 33,000 usable square meters, where more than 2,000 people will work. The concept of the project was “A day trip through Iași”, translated into reality through a campus-type headquarters. As users walk through the campus, they will have an experience similar to a journey of discovery, close to the experience that the city of Iași itself offers.

COMPANIES

7. Most Active ITO Company in Western Moldova (except Iasi): SCC Services Romania
   The winning company in this section provides IT services to more than 2,500 customers in more than 50 countries, with annual revenues of more than £2.2 million. The headquarters in Romania is the main service center, offering 24/7, 365-day support with more than 9 different customer interaction languages.
8. Start-Up of the Year: Dentflow
   The winners of the Start-Up of the Year section created a high-performance digital dental management system that offers dentists and dental clinic administrators to easily and efficiently manage their own clinic through a digital tool for the whole team. This startup has well prepared its ground to enter the market in 2023, ensuring that it has a strong brand and the necessary pillars to differentiate itself from the competition.
9. New entrant of the Year: Genpact
   The winning company in this section offers a diverse range of technology and business services that are built for the digital transformation, innovation and growth of the customers it serves. With over 4000 talented employees throughout Romania, its portfolio includes areas such as Customer Care, Finance, Accounting, Risk Management and Sustainability Services. In the next two years, the company aims to employ over 650 people in Iasi.
10. IT Company of the Year: Tremend Software Consulting
    Tremend Sofware Consulting has more than 1000 software engineers and is one of the most dynamic players in the global software development and consulting market. The company has over 17 years of advanced expertise in strategy and implementation for complex software projects, innovation programs and product management. One of the company’s main actions in 2023 is the launch of the ghiseu.ro mobile application. Among other considerations, the company entered the Financial Times 1000 list for the sixth time and was recognized as one of the best employers in Romania.
11. Transaction of the Year for a Local IT Company: Digitail Veterinary Software
    The company that won recognition in this section created a platform that automates the administrative work of veterinarians. This year, the startup received $11 million in Series A investment Atomico. Its founders aim to use the funds to expand in the United States and Canada, and later globally.
12. Outsourcing Company of the Year: Conduent Business Services
    The prize in this section goes to a company whose headquarters in Romania has been open for over 5 years and is considered one of excellence and innovation. They are present in the world in more than 80 locations, and 5 of them are considered major operational hubs. In Iași, the company differentiates itself through quality and teams that coordinate activities at a global level.

PEOPLE

13. Manager of the Year: Stefan Rusu – NESS
    The person who won the jury’s consideration in this section has built an exceptional career, actively participating for 24 years in the same company. He has witnessed and helped implement many positive changes for the company he represents. He wants to promote Romanian values and products, local events and is involved in the growth of the community through personal initiatives.
14. ITO Woman of the Year: Mirela Țibu – “Grigore Moisil” Theoretical High School Iasi

The person chosen by the jury for the award in the ITO Woman of the Year category is involved in many preparation activities for the high performance of students. He is an organizer of contests and events, coordinator of pedagogical practice, teacher and co-author of several specialized works in the field of informatics. Her outstanding contribution helps promote IT skills among all high school students, including girls, being an example of a technology leader herself.

SPECIAL

15. Special Jury Prize: IASI International Airport Team
    The special prize of the jury returns this year to a project with international impact, with a total value of over 447 million lei. Of this amount, 85% represents the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund, 13% is the contribution from the state budget, and the rest will be allocated from the institution’s budget.
    With this investment, we will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the development of the entire region of Moldova.
16. Prize for the Entire Activity: Adrian Iftene, dean of the Faculty of Informatics Iasi (FII) within the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University
    Professor for over 11 years at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, permanently involved in teaching activities and international research projects. He holds the title of doctor in informatics, graduated from the Master’s Degree in Computational Optimization of the Faculty of Informatics, UAIC, Iași. He is an expert in career counseling and guidance.

In addition to the received trophies, the organizers also offered other surprises to the guests: PIN Book, an impressive collection of over 200 pages with top 45 articles that have kept their relevance from the 7 years of publication of the PIN magazine magazine. Guests also tasted the gala’s custom wine, provided by Gramma Wine.

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 the 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.

The PIN Awards 2023 gala can be followed on the PIN Magazine Facebook page. We also invite you to visit www.pinawards.ro to keep up to date with our news.