Vodafone-led consortium wins EUR 100 mln contract to build cloud for Romania's Govt.

Vodafone, as the leader of a broader consortium, will implement under a EUR 100 million contract a component of the government cloud platform in Romania, which would be the basis of digital interaction between the state and citizens and companies, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Based on this IT system, citizens and companies are supposed to be able to digitally interact with public institutions in 2025.

An indirect winner of the contract is Microsoft, whose technology will be used in the construction of the cloud platform. Microsoft did not participate directly in the contract but through partners.

"By signing this contract today, all public services offered by the institutions will be in one place, and Romanians will be able to access all digital public services with a click on the phone or computer. And most importantly, all institutions will speak the same language and work in the same computer system, in a secure way, to the highest global standards. This means the disappearance of the bureaucracy, the queues at the counters, the useless stuff on the roads that we are used to", commented prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, attending the signing of the contract.

It is not the first time that such promises come from the government, though, as Ziarul Financiar noted. In 2009, prime minister Emil Boc announced the launch of the eRomânia platform, a project that, in the meanwhile, failed.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)