MAPPING THE PRODUCT COMMUNITY THAT MAKES THE CITY TICK

Timișoara. Industrial center, student city, the upcoming European Capital of Culture. Walk along the bank of the Bega river and you’re about to set on an adventure in architecture and nature. Go north and you can experience the city centre. Go south and you can get lost in the quaint Fabric, Elizabetin, or Iosefin neighbourhoods, all attesting to the city’s imperial heritage. 

No matter where the river takes you, Timișoara is riddled with businesses, communities, and initiatives that seek to make sure that products see the light of day. As such, the way into the city’s product community is paved with a belief in the power of technology and its ability to bring people together to improve the way the city works and lives.

Many people know so little about the city’s product scene, and Timișoara keeps its secrets well. But we’re here to put the product community on the map and zoom in on the product builders that make the city tick.

Timișoara is committed to technology. And the tightly-knit tech communities emerging throughout the city are a solid proof of that. These small clusters energize the city and prepare future generations to embrace the world of tech.

The Timișoara Agile Software Meetup Group brings us Agile Talks, which are monthly meetings aiming to bring together people who are passionate about software development and agile methods. The 50-minute talks are usually followed by an Open Space slot and a group retrospective. These sessions are a great opportunity to learn from other people's experiences and share your own knowledge and insights.

revo.js describes itself as Technology-focused. Community driven. JavaScript conference. And it’s not just another JavaScript conference. These guys identified a need within the local community and wanted to bring it closer to note-worthy speakers contributing to the JS ecosystem. So they brought the speakers to Timișoara. The event is not-for-profit and any proceeds would be donated to various causes, invested in a future edition, or directed to improve the local JavaScript meetup.

Where are the product people at? ProductTank Timișora seeks to answer this question by organizing informal meetups that bring together product managers, designers, or developers to share their experience working in the product world. ProductTank is in fact a global initiative and Timișoara is a fresh destination on its product map, with the first event going live in May 2021. To many more to come, don’t you think?

Digital product design has a home in the city through Design Club Timișoara. They organize monthly events for anyone passionate about design and eager to learn more about UX, UI, interaction design, design thinking, design sprints and more. The structure of the meetups consists of a presentation, followed by an open discussion and practical exercises (if possible). Want to learn more? Join their Facebook Group and browse through the topics.

Have you ever imagined socializing over Google's developer technology? Well, Google Developer Groups Timişoara are making it happen. Everything from the Android, App Engine, and Google Chrome platforms, to product APIs like the Maps API, YouTube API and Google Calendar API. Yes, everything! Curious about their upcoming event? Join their community platform and stay tuned!

Preparing the next generation of builders is no easy feat. It implies starting early and taking a consistent path towards continuous learning. Luckily, these educational programs are well on their way to inspire belief in the power of technology and gear up future generations for what’s to come. 

You must have heard this before: about 90% of startups fail. Well, Startup Survivor aims to turn that around by preparing young adults to deal with the business challenges associated with the product world. This educational program is for anyone between 18 and 27 years of age, passionate about starting their own business and thriving in the product space.

For young graduates seeking to turn their tech vision into reality, Innovation Labs is the place to be to get the product off the ground. This is a learning-by-doing space for students and graduates from technical universities and from communication, business, and creative fields. By the end of the program, participants will develop their product on various dimensions and create their own entrepreneurial mindset.

Driven by the need to inspire the tech community to do better, Prow takes a holistic approach to the world of product with its annual tech conference and ongoing workshops that aim to inform as well as inspire. Mapping the customer discovery journey, empowering autonomous teams, optimizing user experience — these are just a few topics that Prow seeks to address through its useful and information-packed agenda.

For those looking for online forms that are as easy as 1, 2, 3… well, 123 Form Builder has just the solution. This product allows you to build the form you want, connect it to the relevant tools, and collect the data when needed. 123 Form Builder was founded in 2008 and they’ve had 200 million form submissions until now. At this rate, it’s no wonder that Inc magazine called them one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe.

Unifiedpost believes that administrative and financial processes should be simple and smart. And who doesn’t agree? Well, their secure, cloud-based platform makes it happen.

It provides streamlined, automated business functions, from e-invoicing and payments processing to working capital financing, e-identity solutions and more. With this range, they have acquired over 5 million digital users from 26 countries. That’s quite the reach!

See everything, change anything! This is the promise Everseen lives by. How? Through its category-defining Visual AI™ platform that seeks to transform the way people do business by providing a single source of truth into its operations. With its application builder and the power of AI, Everseen brings to life previously unseen or unmeasurable problems. And when the unseen becomes everseen, it’s no wonder that this business is trusted by the world’s leading companies.

Product solutions are complex, and the majority of customers require customized solutions. This adds greater variety to the product market and increases the breadth of expertise in the field. Curious to see which of Timișoara’s companies are contributing to the product ecosystem by outsourcing their solutions? Find out below.

Cognizant Softvision is committed to help businesses thrive in any environment. To deliver on this promise, their 30+ Virtual Pods help distributed teams stay engaged and work securely in any environment. In fact, the pod is more than a product solution — it acts as the cultural connective tissue that enables teams from different companies to create digital products that fuel growth. And their client stories are a testament to that.

Can you spot the coffee enthusiasts among the product contributors of Timișoara? That’s right, [e-spres-oh] delivers digital solutions, from bean to brew, as they like to call it. This app development company has been around since 2012, contributing to 20+ products that were so good it had clients coming back for more. Their energy code is work(out), time(out), and reach(out). If you feel like you can relate, reach out yourself and get a shot of [e-spres-oh].

Have you read the signs? Cobalt Sign is the go-to mobile app development company, helping clients develop apps on iOS, Android, and Windows — from idea to product launch. Opened in 2011, they believe that passion, hard work, pixel-perfect design, and organized communication are the assets that make a product great. And you guessed it, they have it all. Check out their portfolio to find out more.

Is DreamProduction the product company of dreams? Well, all evidence seems to point towards that; they help clients with strategic consulting, design, implementation, launch, and further development. And they’ve been doing this from 2021 onward. Even if they came a long way, they’re always on the lookout for the best solutions for tomorrow. Check out their projects and find out how they helped other clients grow.

Helping organizations engage customers and stay ahead of the curve is no easy feat. But Ness Digital Engineering is already doing this successfully by designing, building and integrating digital platforms and enterprise software. All this to generate business value for their customers and put them on the path to growth. And of course, make sure that innovative ideas are always front and centre in everything they do. In fact, their client portfolio can attest to that.

How would you like to achieve the impossible? Amdaris sets about this every single day by acting as agents of change in their clients’ digital transformation journeys. Founded in 2009, they’ve produced industry-leading software for their clients ever since. They are the problem-solvers that take software to the next level through proven solutions and creative new approaches. In short: when clients have a vision for their software, Amdaris lives and breathes it.

Endava doesn’t simply deliver projects. They seek to reimagine the relationship between people and technology. How you ask? By ideating and delivering dynamic platforms and intelligent digital experiences that fuel the clients’ journey towards digital transformation. Founded in 2000, Endava has always relied on their great people to achieve success. And it shows, as 80% of their clients would recommend them based on their experience working with Endava. In fact, these success stories speak for themselves.

The product scene of Timișoara does not live in a vacuum. It owes a lot to the spaces that put the product spirit at the centre of what they do and believe that there’s great potential in bringing people together to work, play, and help products see the light of day. Here are the nooks and crannies of the city where product ideas come to life through collaboration and ongoing learning.

If you thought that the name speaks for itself, you should know that Cowork Timișoara is more than a coworking space. It is the chief animator of the city’s product scene, a place that supports the local tech and startup community in every way — from useful events to great amenities, and of course, tasty coffee. It opened in 2017, but the team had been organizing running startup events since 2014. Check out what’s next on their agenda and pay them a visit. 

DevPlant Cowork is seeking to bring together like-minded individuals that are looking for a flexible working environment. They are a tech coworking space, event space, and community hub. In short: a place where productivity and social life thrive. Curious to see for yourself? Their one-day trials allow you to do this for free. See you there?

If you have a thing for physical products, FOR allows you to work and make in the same place. This is a former industrial space, rehabilitated to bring together innovators with a knack for experiments. Founded by architects, FOR understands how the spaces we live and work in can impact the quality of our lives. As such, its innovation platform relies on 4 main pillars — space, development, design, and architecture — each with its own goals and initiatives. Check out the space and see what’s in store.

We’ve said it before — Timișoara keeps its secrets well and the product community is constantly growing. At this rate, the next big product initiative could be just around the corner. In fact, we’re pretty sure that some busy builders are working hard as we speak to bring new products to market and improve the way we live and work.

In case we missed anything, reach out and let us know. And if you want to meet the product community in person, get your ticket to Prow 2021 and prepare yourself for a 2-day knowledge marathon. See you there?