The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has recently announced its support for projects totaling $419,953 aimed at increasing information technology capabilities in Romania.
One project, announced in March during Traian Basescu’s first visit to Washington as Romania’s president, seeks to establish a computer-based urban planning development system at City Hall in Bucharest. The goal of the system is to allow for more efficient processing of applications for city services, according to USTDA.
During Basescu’s tenure as General Mayor of Bucharest, he focused on increasing the transparency of local government and providing more services to the general public, said USTDA Director Thelma J. Askey. “Now, as President, he is seeking to implement some of those same policies to improve the efficiency and transparency of the national government. USTDA is supportive of those efforts.”
For another project, USTDA awarded a $173,987 grant recently to Romania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, and Rural Development (MAPDR) to expand an ongoing USTDA-funded feasibility study on the development of modern national forestry and agricultural cadastre systems. Both systems will utilize the same GIS technology for each cadastre, according to USTDA.
The new system would improve the overall management of forestry and agricultural land in Romania by allowing for accurate measurements in the field. This would enable the creation of an inventory of forestry and agricultural lands and their owners, as well as updated master plans that incorporate all of the changes generated by the land restitution process in Romania.
The deployment of the cadastre systems is also essential in the Romanian Government’s efforts to rehabilitate irrigation systems, monitor and control contaminated soils, elaborate on soil protection policies, and manage and conserve forests.
