Smart City Highlights 2026 brought together 226 participants on 7 October at the Central Library of the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest. The second edition was organised by POLITEHNICA Bucharest together with UNCJR, AMR, AOR, ACoR and CITI Cluster.
The event gathered public administration, companies, universities and sector organisations at the same table, for open dialogue and solutions that can be applied in local communities. More than 140 institutions and organisations were represented, including 40 city halls and county councils from across the country and 12 central administration institutions. The programme included 11 workshops and panels, and the exhibition area hosted 7 stands of CITI Cluster members.
Who took part
Local public administration was the largest group, with 69 participants (31%), followed by companies with 67 (30%). The event also welcomed 32 representatives of the academic community, 26 from NGOs, associations and clusters, 17 from central public administration, and 5 each from research institutes, the press and other categories.
Central administration was represented by the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of European Investments and Projects, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, the Ministry of Finance, the Court of Accounts, IGSU, UEFISCDI, INS, CNAIR and ANC. Local administration was represented by the county councils of Botoșani, Brăila, Călărași, Prahova, Teleorman and Vrancea, and by the city halls of Galați, Brăila, Buzău, Sibiu, Tulcea, Focșani, Roman, Hunedoara, Caracal, Alexandria and Sector 6, among many others.
Eight speakers took the stage at the official opening: Mihnea Costoiu, Rector of POLITEHNICA Bucharest and President of CITI Cluster; Roxana Pîntea, Philip Morris Romania; Paul Moldovan, Mayor of Sector 6 and Vice-President of CITI Cluster; Cosmin Soare-Filatov, Presidential Counsellor; Valeriu Iftime, President of Botoșani County Council, for UNCJR; Ionuț-Florin Pucheanu, Mayor of Galați, for AMR; Alina-Ioana Georgescu, Mayor of Călinești (Argeș), for ACoR; and Sorin Lazar, Counsellor at the Romanian Court of Accounts.
Programme
The day had five parts: the official opening, five practical workshops led by CITI Cluster members, a conference with six panels, the conclusions of the day and networking, alongside the exhibition area.
Workshops
- Are we using AI and AI agents in public administration?
- Digitalisation solutions through the lens of funding axes
- From plan to reality: how choosing the right materials builds more sustainable cities
- Cyber Resilience & Human Risk Management
- The Access Alliance – Closing the food access gap
Panels
- Responsible artificial intelligence in public administration: skills, administrative language and digital infrastructure
- On-Device Local AI: possibilities with Microsoft and Copilot+ PC
- Smart urban mobility: priorities, regulations and solutions for cities
- Autonomous robots for communities: what is realistic today and how we build a responsible pilot project together
- Integrated waste management in Smart Cities: from strategy to implementable technologies
- Smart hybrid systems used in building climate control
Conclusions of the day
Artificial intelligence, data and partnerships are already working tools for public administration. The recommendations made during the day:
- responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, with quality data and trained people;
- digital projects designed together with their funding source, from the start;
- people-centred cybersecurity, with constant training;
- small, measurable pilot projects: audit, pilot, scale;
- digital twins for decisions tested before investment;
- partnerships with the universities and companies of CITI Cluster.
Smart City Highlights in the press and online
The press monitoring report recorded 53 media appearances between 20 August and 19 October 2026, across 27 distinct publications, stations and institutions, with no negative coverage. The day of the event brought 26 of the appearances, and the press release of 6 October, distributed through AGERPRES, opened the main wave of coverage with 9 items on the same day, including in English.
Euronews România, the media partner of the edition, provided the largest video exposure, with live appearances, a report and broadcasts; the YouTube broadcasts passed 4,100 views by 19 October. The event also featured on Radio România Actualități, Radio România Cultural and București FM.
On social media, the CITI Cluster and POLITEHNICA Bucharest pages totalled 529,860 views and 6,121 interactions through 78 posts and 48 stories. Four sessions were streamed live on Facebook and YouTube, with 12,828 views. The advertising campaign on Meta and LinkedIn reached more than 42,000 unique people, with 163,774 impressions.
What comes next and the full reports
CITI Cluster and POLITEHNICA Bucharest are preparing the third edition, together with pilot projects with local authorities in artificial intelligence, robotics, waste, mobility and energy. Also planned are support for preparing digital projects eligible for European and national funding, training for civil servants in digital skills, responsible AI and cybersecurity, and the growth of the CITI Cluster network with new members and partners.
The reports (in Romanian) can be consulted here:
Photos from the event are available in the full photo gallery, and details about the edition on the event page.
