Romania has a huge potential in Central and Eastern Europe to develop mobility via satellite industry and mobile communications, German investors said in a press conference on Monday.
According to Sebastian Metz, General Manager AHK Romania – Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Europe over 30,000 applications based on satellite network are currently functional, services which have become indispensable in daily life. Technologies based on Copernicus and Galileo satellites generate an annual turnover of EUR 124 billion and until 2020, the annual turnover of satellite-based services is expected to reach EUR 240 billion.
Romania has already the adequate research infrastructure to tackle European and international space exploration programs.
Romania’s strengths are those over 80,000 engineers working in IT and telecommunications sector, the human resource and industrial capacity in the high technology which can be fully used, German businessmen stressed. Over 5,000 innovative companies are also present here and the government programs stimulating business environment will increase their number.
In this context, during the press conference, two European initiatives were presented: European Mobile & Mobility Industries Alliance – Policy Learning Platform (EMMIA PLP) and SUNRISE.
EMMIA follows the innovation policy frame set by the European Commission’s EInnovation Union flagship and is a strategic initiative bringing together policy makers and industry representatives as announced in An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era flagship. Galileo and EGNOS, European own Global Navigation Satellite Systems which are currently European biggest joint technology projects will help to support the accuracy, the reliability and variety of location-based services offered worldwide, services that are at the centre of the European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance.
Regarding SUNRISE, the European Union is promoting the development and take-up of satellite navigation technologies and funds projects and initiatives developing applications based on the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems (E-GNSS). The SUNRISE Roadshow in Bucharest presents solutions for intelligent transport systems as well as location-based services (LBS), explaining how satellite navigation can contribute and add value to new products and services. Special focus is on innovative small and medium-sized enterprises helping to create modern knowledge intensive jobs.