PROJECT

Futures of Innovation and Technology EDIH (2022–2025) – Catalyzing Digital Transformation in Centru, Romania

Context and Challenges in the Centru Region

Romania’s Centru Region faced a significant digitalization gap in the early 2020s. The region, one of the country’s less developed areas, had a GDP per capita around two-thirds of the EU average and ranked among Europe’s weakest innovation performers (235th out of 240 regions in 2021).

Most small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) in Centru were slow to adopt new technologies – only about 5–8% used advanced digital tools like IoT, cloud platforms or even basic ERP software.

Many businesses remained unaware of how digital solutions could benefit their operations. Digital skills were lacking as well: just 35% of local firms even required basic computer skills when hiring. In the public sector, local administrations offered fragmented e-government services, and there was limited interaction between authorities, citizens, and businesses online. For example, out of 57 cities in Centru, only 7 had implemented any “smart city” solutions by 2021.

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Critical needs like smart waste management were identified by local companies as top priorities, yet virtually no municipalities had such services in place. These gaps highlighted a clear challenge: Centru’s SMEs and public organizations needed support to catch up in digital transformation, improve efficiency, and align with emerging green and digital standards after the COVID-19 pandemic.

To address these challenges, the Futures of Innovation and Technology European Digital Innovation Hub (FIT EDIH) was launched in 2022 as the official digital innovation hub for the Centru Region.

The FIT EDIH Initiative – Strategy and Focus Areas

Backed by the EU’s Digital Europe Programme, FIT EDIH brought together a consortium of 12 trusted public and private organizations – the result of merging two successful regional DIH initiatives into one strong partnership.

Iceberg Plus (Iceberg+), an innovation and tech transfer company based in Brașov, took the helm as coordinator. Iceberg+ had a proven track record in the region’s innovation ecosystem (having co-founded one of Romania’s first digital hubs in 2017), making it well-suited to orchestrate the hub’s activities.

Strategic goals

FIT EDIH’s mission centered on boosting the digital maturity of local organizations and fostering innovation capacity. Over the 2022–2025 implementation, the hub aimed to support at least 131 SMEs and public service organizations (PSOs) in their digital transformation journeys.

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The hub focused on three key application domains that align with both regional needs and smart specializations: Smart City, Manufacturing, and eHealth.

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These domains were chosen to correspond with eight priority sectors identified in Centru’s Regional Smart Specialization Strategy, ensuring that FIT EDIH’s work was grounded in local economic development goals. Notably, the consortium’s technological specializations were in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data as well as other Key Enabling Technologies – capabilities that could be applied across those domains to drive innovation.

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By concentrating expertise in AI, data analytics, and advanced tech solutions, FIT EDIH sought to bridge the gap between cutting-edge digital tools and the traditional industries or public services in Centru.

Consortium composition

The FIT EDIH consortium united universities, industry clusters, SMEs associations, and technology providers under one umbrella.

Key partners included

A leading medical university (for eHealth expertise), a major technical university and an Industry 4.0 cluster (for manufacturing and smart factory know-how), regional development agencies and Smart City associations, and private tech companies.

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This diverse team provided complementary expertise and local reach across five of the region’s six counties.

Four Pillars of Services

A 360° Support Model

To achieve its goals, FIT EDIH delivered a suite of four core services that together cover the full innovation lifecycle. These pillars – offered free of charge to regional beneficiaries – formed a 360° support model for digital transformation.

Innovation Ecosystem Building

Connecting and growing the regional innovation network. Iceberg+ and partners organized community events, matchmaking sessions, and living lab collaborations to bring together startups, SMEs, corporations, researchers, and public officials.

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By nurturing this ecosystem, FIT EDIH helped spread best practices and spark partnerships. For instance, the hub initiated the SmartER Cities 2gether (SRC2G) corridor with other European hubs to exchange Smart City solutions, and linked Centru’s stakeholders into EU networks like the EIT Digital and Enterprise Europe Network.

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These efforts ensured that local innovators had access to a much broader pool of knowledge, technologies, and potential clients or investors than they would on their own.

Test Before Invest (Technology Experimentation)

Providing facilities and expertise for piloting new technologies without risk. Through this service, SMEs and public entities could assess their digital maturity and then experiment with advanced solutions in a controlled environment before fully investing.

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FIT EDIH’s partners offered access to labs and testbeds – from a Smart City Living Lab in Brașov to manufacturing demo lines and software sandboxes for AI or digital twins. Companies could bring a problem or idea and receive expert consulting to prototype a solution, be it an IoT sensor network, a data analytics tool, or an automation upgrade. This hands-on approach gave local actors the confidence and evidence needed to adopt innovations.

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(One early EU pilot that inspired this approach was DigitaliseSME, where Iceberg+ helped match SMEs with digital experts to implement pilot projects.)

Digital Skills and Training

Building human capital for the digital era. Recognizing that technology is only as effective as the people who use it, FIT EDIH devoted a work package to skills development.

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The hub created three learning “Curriculum Tracks” tailored to its focus domains – Smart City, Manufacturing, eHealth – each offering both basic digital literacy and more advanced, specialized training content.

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From 2022–2025, the consortium delivered workshops, courses, and hands-on training sessions to upskill the region’s workforce and public servants in areas such as data analysis, AI fundamentals, cybersecurity, and process automation. University partners contributed their academic knowledge, while industry experts provided practical insights.

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This blend ensured participants could not only learn about new technologies but also practice applying them in real-world scenarios. Graduates of these programs went on to lead digital initiatives in their organizations, creating a multiplier effect for the region’s digital readiness.

Access to Finance and Investment

Unlocking funding for innovation. A critical barrier for many SMEs was the lack of resources to invest in digital transformation. FIT EDIH tackled this by guiding businesses and local authorities to appropriate funding sources and improving their investment readiness.

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The hub’s finance experts held clinics on how to navigate European and national funding programs for digitalization (from the Recovery and Resilience Facility to regional operational programmes). They helped demystify grant applications, connected companies with potential investors, and even engaged in policy advocacy – feeding local needs into new funding calls.

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One tangible outcome was a regional digitalization funding scheme launched with FIT EDIH support: a €4 million program to aid 124 SMEs and 17 municipalities in Centru, providing grants for adopting digital solutions.

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By the end of 2025, the hub had also prepared several startups and SMEs to pitch to venture capital and had increased awareness of financing opportunities among hundreds of entrepreneurs in the region. This financial facilitation ensures that promising digital projects can secure the capital they need to scale up.

Together, these four pillars created a comprehensive support structure. An organization could enter FIT EDIH at any stage – whether just learning about digital tools or ready to test an AI application – and find a pathway forward. Iceberg Plus, as coordinator, managed these service streams holistically, tailoring assistance to each client’s maturity level.

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The hub even defined three “client journey” levels (Awareness, Basic, Advanced Transformation) to customize support, ensuring that both tech newcomers and more advanced innovators benefited appropriately.

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This client-centric approach was key to FIT EDIH’s effectiveness in driving change.

2022 - 2025

Impact Highlights and Success Stories

Over its three-year implementation, FIT EDIH made a measurable impact on the Centru region’s digital landscape. The hub engaged with hundreds of stakeholders – from small family firms and IT startups to city halls and hospitals – providing them with assessments, training, pilot opportunities, and expert guidance.

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This section highlights a few representative examples of how FIT EDIH’s work translated into real-world outcomes

Smart City Solutions in Action

Through FIT EDIH’s ecosystem and testing support, the City of Brașov piloted a novel cargo-bike sharing system to improve last-mile logistics in its historic center. Iceberg+ facilitated this project in 2024 by matching Brașov’s municipal challenge with an innovative startup (Rastel.io) that provided smart cargo-bicycles and a secure parking platform.

The result was a successful pilot that reduced delivery van traffic and pollution in the city’s old town, illustrating how digital innovation (in this case, IoT-connected bikes and an online sharing service) can advance Green Deal goals at the local level.
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Another smart city pilot supported by the hub involved a small café in Brașov – Book Coffee Shop – which wanted to optimize customer flow. Using the hub’s Smart City Living Lab resources, Iceberg+ helped install IoT sensors to track foot traffic and dwell times, streaming real-time data to an open analytics platform (Snap4City).

The café gained data-driven insights via custom dashboards, allowing it to reduce wait times and improve service based on peak hour patterns.This pilot not only solved the café’s immediate challenge but also created a showcase for how any local retailer could leverage smart city infrastructure and data to become more efficient.

Innovating Manufacturing and Industry 4.0

In the manufacturing sector, FIT EDIH spurred both the adoption of advanced technologies and the push for sustainability. A standout initiative was the “Green Manufacturing” Pre-Acceleration Programme, an annual startup mentorship program led by Iceberg+ in collaboration with EIT Manufacturing and industry partners.

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Through this program (run in 2022, 2023, and 2024), dozens of aspiring tech entrepreneurs and local SMEs received coaching to develop solutions for energy efficiency, circular economy, and smart supply chains in manufacturing.

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The pre-accelerator provided workshops with experts from companies like Siemens and helped participants validate their ideas in real factory settings. It led to several green tech startups scaling up and forged new partnerships between innovators and established manufacturers.

Beyond startup support

FIT EDIH partners like Smart Factory Romania and NTT Data opened their Industry 4.0 labs to traditional SMEs, enabling demonstrations of robotics, digital twins, and IoT systems for local producers.

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For example, a furniture manufacturer in Sibiu was able to test a predictive maintenance IoT solution on a production line through the hub’s “test before invest” service, reducing downtime and building confidence to invest in the technology afterward.

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Such cases typify how FIT EDIH accelerated the digitization of manufacturing SMEs by lowering the barriers to experiment with new tech and by fostering a culture of continuous innovation.

Advancing eHealth and Public Services

With a major medical university (UMFST) in its consortium, FIT EDIH also championed digital innovation in healthcare. The hub organized training for healthcare professionals on telemedicine tools and data security, and supported local health tech startups working on solutions like AI-driven diagnostics. A key focus was helping regional hospitals and clinics align with European standards for electronic health records and telehealth. In practice, this meant guiding software providers and IT teams to implement interoperable e-health systems that meet EU specifications. Aligning local solutions with the European Electronic Health Record (EHR) exchange format was treated as a priority across the hub’s services.

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For instance, FIT EDIH experts ran an assessment at a county hospital to evaluate its patient data management systems and then recommended an upgrade path to ensure compatibility with upcoming national e-health platforms. By 2025, several public and private healthcare units in Centru had begun implementing these recommendations, setting the stage for better data sharing and more efficient patient care. This progress in eHealth not only improves regional healthcare delivery but also contributes to the EU’s broader goal of a digitally interconnected health system. Furthermore, the hub’s work with public authorities (through both Smart City and eHealth tracks) led to more digital public services for citizens – from online appointment systems to smart sensors for environmental monitoring – thus improving the everyday digital experience in the region.

Building the Innovation Ecosystem

Beyond individual projects, FIT EDIH strengthened the innovation ecosystem in Centru in lasting ways. The hub regularly convened multi-stakeholder meetups, such as Digital Transformation Days, where SMEs could meet tech providers, and public officials could learn from private sector case studies. It also actively participated in national and European networks, ensuring Centru’s voice was heard and its success stories were visible. For example, FIT EDIH joined the European Commission’s EDIH Network events and shared best practices on the EU Smart Cities Marketplace platform.

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It even spearheaded a cross-border collaboration by launching the “Smart Cities Together” corridor, partnering with other EDIHs interested in urban innovation.

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These ecosystem-building activities cultivated a culture of innovation and positioned the Centru region as an emerging hub for digital transformation. Stakeholders who engaged with FIT EDIH often continued collaborating outside of formal programs, leading to spin-off projects and additional investments. By knitting together academia, government, and business around common digital goals, FIT EDIH created momentum that will outlast the project itself.

Alignment with European and Regional Priorities

From its inception, FIT EDIH was designed to align closely with both European Union and regional policy priorities, ensuring that local actions contributed to broader strategic goals.

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As part of the EU’s Digital Europe Programme, the hub was one node in the Europe-wide network of EDIHs aimed at advancing the EU’s Digital Decade objectives.

Supporting the EU Digital Compass 2030

Concretely, FIT EDIH’s services supported the targets of the EU Digital Compass 2030: raising the population’s basic digital skills, increasing the number of businesses integrating digital technologies (like AI and big data), and expanding the availability of online public services.

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By providing digital skills training and enabling dozens of SMEs to adopt new tech, the hub directly contributed to boosting the percentage of citizens with digital skills and companies with high digital intensity – metrics the EU wants to substantially improve by 2030.

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Likewise, FIT EDIH’s work with local governments on eHealth and smart city solutions fed into the EU goal of 100% online key public services by 2030. Each successful pilot in Centru (be it a smart mobility app or a hospital IT upgrade) was a step toward those Europe-wide benchmarks.

Innovating Manufacturing and Industry 4.0

The hub also advanced the EU’s twin transition agenda by marrying digital innovation with sustainability, echoing the ideals of the European Green Deal.

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For example, the focus on Smart City applications inherently promoted green objectives – smarter traffic management, energy-efficient buildings, and better waste management all help reduce emissions and pollution.

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FIT EDIH explicitly aligned its Smart City curriculum and projects with initiatives like Living-in.EU, which aims to foster smart, sustainable communities across Europe.

Digital & Green

By promoting solutions such as Brașov’s cargo bike sharing (sustainable mobility) and supporting climate-smart city planning, the hub contributed to the Green Deal’s vision of climate-neutral cities.

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In fact, Brașov became the first city in Romania selected for the EU’s 100 Climate-Neutral Cities Mission, and FIT EDIH has been involved in supporting its roadmap to decarbonization by 2050. Similarly, the “Green Manufacturing” program and other Industry 4.0 activities addressed the Green Deal’s call for circular, low-carbon industrial processes.

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Through such efforts, FIT EDIH ensured that digital transformation in Centru also meant green transformation, aligning local modernization with Europe’s sustainability goals.

Advancing eHealth and Public Services

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Regional Strategies

Regionally, FIT EDIH was in sync with Romania’s and Centru’s development strategies. Its objectives reinforced the Centru Regional Operational Programme 2021–2027, which dedicates a priority to digitalizing the economy and public services in the region.

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By working hand-in-hand with the Regional Development Agency and informing the design of regional funding calls, FIT EDIH helped translate policy into action on the ground. The hub’s domain focus also mirrored the region’s Smart Specialization Strategy, concentrating on areas where Centru had growth potential and stakeholders eager to innovate.

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This tight alignment meant that FIT EDIH acted as an instrument to implement policy goals: the activities (training people, helping firms invest in tech, improving e-government) delivered tangible progress on the very indicators that local and EU policymakers were targeting (such as SME competitiveness, innovation scores, and carbon reduction).

In summary

The FIT EDIH case exemplifies how a regional innovation hub can serve as a bridge between high-level strategic targets and on-the-ground change

Every digital skill taught or pilot project launched in Centru contributed to the larger mosaic of a digitally empowered, greener Europe.

2026 - 2029

Looking Ahead:
FIT EDIH 2.0

Riding on the momentum of its initial success, the FIT EDIH consortium is set to continue its mission beyond 2025. Plans for a “FIT EDIH 2.0” (2026–2029) are already in motion, aiming to build on the foundation laid in the first three years.

In this next phase, Iceberg Plus will again coordinate an expanded program that seeks to reach even more organizations and deepen the impact of digital transformation in Centru. Several ambitions drive FIT EDIH 2.0: increasing the number of SMEs and public entities served (potentially doubling the 131 beneficiary target), introducing new services around emerging technologies (such as AI-driven automation, advanced cybersecurity, or even European Digital Identity tools for citizens), and strengthening international partnerships initiated in the first phase. The four core service pillars will remain, but with enhancements learned from experience – for example, more specialized training tracks (including lessons learned during 2022–2025) and larger-scale test-before-invest experiments that involve multiple companies or cross-border collaboration.

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Crucially, FIT EDIH 2.0 will leverage the credibility and networks established in the initial project. Whereas early on the hub had to evangelize the benefits of digitalization, now there is a growing community of FIT “alumni” – companies, startups, and public offices that have seen success – who advocate for the hub’s services. This community will be key in the next phase, acting as mentors and early adopters for new initiatives. Moreover, the policy environment remains favorable: additional EU and national funds are being allocated for digital innovation hubs under the Digital Europe Programme’s extension, meaning FIT EDIH 2.0 can scale up with solid financial backing. The Centru region’s leadership has also incorporated the hub into its long-term economic plans, recognizing it as a catalyst for growth.

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In summary

The story of FIT EDIH is far from over

The 2022–2025 chapter demonstrated how a well-coordinated, multi-partner effort can accelerate a region’s digital transformation, yielding concrete improvements for businesses and communities. It also showed how aligning with EU objectives can amplify local impact.

The forthcoming FIT EDIH 2.0 will carry this story forward – an evolution rather than a reset – with Iceberg Plus and its partners pushing the boundaries of innovation even further.

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By 2029, the Centru region is expected not only to close much of its digitalization gap but to emerge as a model region of smart, sustainable development in Eastern Europe. The journey initiated by FIT EDIH is set to continue, inspiring other regions and solidifying Iceberg Plus’s role as a leader in driving digital and technological futures in Romania.