Marius Marinescu, CTO: the main culprit for dissatisfaction with digital services is the lack of interconnection between IT systems

Metaminds, a developer of technology solutions for digital services, will invest 3 million euros over the coming years to create and expand departments dedicated to the architecture, development and operationalization of new technology solutions, and also to strengthen expertise for teams specialized in areas such as computing, storage, virtualization, communications architecture and security, company representatives stated at an event held on Tuesday in Bucharest. The funds will also be directed toward an in-house academy intended to transform professional training in the technology field. "All these investments will enable Metaminds to develop and implement advanced solutions in the field of digital identity, to optimize and innovate in the management, analysis and use of large volumes of data, and to improve cybersecurity measures in order to protect the data and digital infrastructures of its clients."

The company, which reported for 2023 a 36% increase in turnover to 243 million lei (49 million euros) and a net profit of 7.4 million lei with an average of 43 employees, works predominantly with the public sector.

Metaminds invested in conducting a survey on the digitalization of public services in Romania, which was carried out by AtlasIntel, and whose results are far from surprising: according to the data, 52% of Romanians state that their interaction with the public digital services currently available has not improved their personal experience with them, and also that they would vote online if this were available; likewise, the main public service that Romanians want to see digitalized is healthcare.

Metaminds representatives said they commissioned this survey in order to have a basis for discussion about how digitalization is unfolding at the local level. "We want to start a conversation about Romania's digital future, but also about the future of our company. We chose to carry out this exercise in order to have a better understanding of the present and also to have greater predictability regarding future needs. We want to look together into this mirror that shows us what the perception of citizens is - who are, in fact, the beneficiaries of our work - regarding Romania's digitalization. This way we can better focus our efforts in the right direction," said Andrei Cruceru, co-founder and Chairman of the Management Board of Metaminds.

"All these perceptions and responses from people only confirm that the strategic future plans we have committed to are in the right direction. Plans that will enable us to be 100% prepared for the challenges and problems that come bundled with digitalization. As you have seen, at the global level, digital transformation comes with a profound impact. Services are increasingly interconnected, and at the foundation of this interconnection lie digital identity and data. The level of satisfaction from interacting with digital services remains low (in Romania - editor's note), and the main culprit for this, in our opinion, is the lack of interconnection. Digital services largely operate in isolation and do not communicate efficiently with one another. This means that the technology behind them is not used optimally, but, much more importantly, it affects the user experience," said Marius Marinescu, CTO of Metaminds.

"How many of us have not wished that we no longer had to carry the same set of documents around to different institutions? More precisely, to get rid of exactly that bureaucracy which 70% of Romanians say is problematic. And this lack of interconnection leads to the results you have seen regarding the public's perception of digital services in Romania. We are effectively frustrated by having to navigate multiple platforms and repeatedly provide the same set of information. This is not only inefficient, but it makes Romania a completely unattractive country for investment and innovation. Starting from the premise that the future of digitalization in Romania will follow global trends, we are investing in developing new capabilities, competencies and technical resources so that we can respond to the challenges generated by the interconnection of digital services," said Marinescu.

"Our ambition is not small, it is achievable, as long as we execute our business plan in a disciplined manner. I think it has been almost 2 years since we began working under this new dualist management system, and at that time, when discussing with my colleagues I took on the role of coordinating the activity of the Supervisory Board, I saw a great opportunity: to accelerate the company's growth by implementing a system of rules and best practices that would complement the team's technical competencies," said Ovidiu Ghiman, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Metaminds.