In the summer of 2018, Piatra Neamț City App has become the first Civic Tech platform in Moldova, the North-Eastern region of Romania.

The mayor of the city, Dragoș Chitic, stated “… We will implement the most modern, efficient and simple solutions to ensure transparency and smooth communication with our citizens. Piatra-Neamț City Hall aims to implement smart city solutions to ensure a higher level of comfort to our citizens.” Piatra Neamț City App, available free of charge in Google Play and AppStore, covers this need and is dedicated to both locals, and visitors.

The mayor invited the community to contribute to the content on the app, as the platform Piatra Neamț City App is collaborative and allows for external operators to manage pages. Tourism operators, event organizers and the hospitality industry, as well as local stores, can create and manage their own pages. At the same time, they can publish their events and stay in touch with the audience via automatic notifications. Another way for users to connect is via reviews of the places they visited through Piatra Neamț City App.

The app’s visual identity

The Eventya team also designed the app’s visual identity, based on the city’s tourist symbols: the Pietricica Hill, the cable car and the Tower of Stephen the Great.

Piatra Neamț has the only cable car in Romania that crosses a city and reaches a mountain. Built in the 15th century, the Tower of Stephen the Great is one of the city’s main tourist attractions and a place of legends and real stories. Pietricica Hill towers over the city and offers a fascinating bird’s eye view over the region.

The platform’s main components

1. Digital tourist guide

The digital tourist guide available in both Romanian, and English supports tourists visiting the city with a plethora of useful information about the sights, tourist routes and trails, accommodation, services and leisure activities.

Moreover, in the app, tourists can find recommendations on what to do during their stay in Piatra Neamț, must-see events throughout the year, details on traditional cuisine or drinks, winter or summer activities in the city and around it and many other ideas.

2. Local services and businesses

Tourism businesses, the hospitality industry or event organizers can also use a centralized, free promotion tool to present their service offer and update their information in real time. All those visiting the city can leave a review via the dedicated pages within the mobile app.

3. The city’s schedule of events

A highly successful feature of the city app is the city’s monthly agenda of events, where one can find cultural, sports, and gastronomic events, festivals, theatres, films and anything else that may be of interest for tourists and local people.

4. Report Issues Module

Locals can report issues in various categories, such as street and lighting, waste and vandalism, traffic, traffic signs, parking places, environment, water and sewage, public transport, various buildings and others.

Any user who wishes to report an issues in their city must authenticate and validate their telephone number; then they can access an overview of the reports submitted. For each issue reported in the app, one can follow the status and the City Hall’s response. The feature “Report Issue” is an open communication platform between local people and the various city hall departments.

5. City Hall News and Notifications

The platform Piatra Neamț City also provides local people with news and notifications published by the City Hall. The locals are thus informed about closed streets, times when water or electricity supply is cut because of works, and can access real time information about the inauguration of the newest parks or other projects happening in the city.

Those who downloaded the app to their phones will be notified about these news. During the pandemic, the locals receive updates on everything they need to know about restrictions and the support provided by the authorities.

Press mentions:

– Ager Pres
– Știri-Neamț.ro
– Stiripiatraneamt.ro
– Ziarul Evenimentul
– ZCH News