Iasi won the title of „Emerging City of the Year” at the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards Gala, which took place on 31st of January and 1st of February 2018 in the Polish capital, Warsaw.
Iasi competed with Debrecen (Hungary), Kaunas (Lithuania), Košice (Slovakia), Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Plovdiv (Bulgaria) in the category „City of the Year for IT and Outsourcing development in Central and Eastern Europe (outside Poland)”. The award was received by Mayor Mihai Chirica, him also being invited by the organizers to be a member of the jury and, in addition, to present in a separate session the arguments of the attractiveness of Iasi for the biggest players in the Outsourcing industry at European level.
„This award, which honors and gives us joy, is still a beautiful acknowledgment of a reality brought to light by several recent analyzes: Iasi is in the top of the most dynamic cities of Romania, with a sustained growth and prospects of a healthy development, and this is largely due to the spectacular development of the IT and Outsourcing industry in the recent years. On behalf of the Iasi community, I thank the organizers of the Gala and our local partners, but especially, I want to thank publicly to the thousands of IT and Outsourcing entrepreneurs and specialists who dared to invest and develop in Iasi. I also thank to the educational environment, schools and universities in Iasi for the constant effort to generate well-trained and competitive workforce that transforms our city into a recognized IT development center at a national level and even European. As mayor, I have always supported and will support the projects and initiatives that confirm and consolidate the status of Iaşi as a city of intelligence and creativity.” said Mihai CHIRICA, Mayor of IASI.
Iasi was represented as well at the Gala CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards by the CONDUENT Company (www.conduent.com), one of the largest employers in the region and was nominated in two categories “Outsourcing of the Year (BPO )” And „Best Marketing Initiatives in 2017” for the branches in Iasi (Romania) and Lodz (Poland), as well as the FAB LAB IASI project (www.fablabiasi.ro), nominated in the category „The best collaboration between business and university environment „.
„Recently, the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards Gala brought to Conduent Romania the nominations in the categories „Outsourcing of the Year (BPO)” and „Best Marketing Initiatives of 2017” for the Iasi (Romania) headquarters and Lodz (Poland) headquarters, nominations that honor us and make us responsible for maintaining the performance standards in what we intend to do in the future.
We congratulate the Iaşi City Hall for receiving the award „Emerging city of the Year” and its actions to create a socio-economic environment favorable to the development of creative and outsourcing industries. We are honored by the partnership with the representative institutions of the municipality and we have all the confidence that their support for the economic dynamics of the city will continue. Thanks to all of my colleagues from Conduent who made possible our nomination at the Warsaw Gala.” said Irina BUTNARU, CONDUENT Romania Country Lead & HRO Europe Operations
Also, PINmagazine, the publication of the regional IT & Outsourcing Industry (www.pinmagazine.ro), was the media partner of the event. Other nominations in Romania were Allianz Technology – Actuarial Support Center (which also won the category „The largest single service provider”) and SCC Heroes with operations in Romania, Poland and Hungary („Recruitment of the Year”).
„Iasi thus gains a well-deserved permanent place on the short list of any major player in the global IT & Outsourcing industry looking to expand its operations in Central and Eastern Europe. It is also a confirmation for the large companies already in IASI that they have made a good choice to develop the technology community in the region.” said Dan ZAHARIA, founder of FAB LAB IASI and co-founder of PINmagazine.
More than 300 industry leaders were present at the 6th edition of the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards with more than 50 companies interested in establishing or developing business in the service industry in Central Europe. The award ceremony was preceded by a half-day summit consisting of panels, in which the topic of „Shared Services and Outsourcing Sector” was discussed in specific data sessions in the field.
Presenting both local and international media, Gala CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing promotes Central and Eastern Europe as a world class service destination for global companies operating in Europe, North America and Asia.
Central and Eastern Europe is well established as a world class destination for shared service centers and BPO investments. With Poland recognized as the most powerful area in the region, other countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia are important investment destinations. Within the Gala, Shared Service Companies, Business Services Projects and Industry Professionals receive recognition awards from an industry independent jury for their contribution to the development of the business services sector in Central and Eastern Europe for the year previous.
More details about the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing 2018 Awards Gala can be found here: http://ceeoutsourcingawards.com/.
