Daniela Florea
Geo Strategies SA, Sibiu, Romania

GEOEurope: What got you into the industry and motivated you to start Geo Strategies?

Daniela Florea: My geography background got me into the industry. In 1991 after finishing my first year of teaching, I organised a trip to the UK with my 10 best students. I had an invitation from David Rhind to use Ordnance Survey maps, which is how I got in touch with modern mapping. About one year later, I went to Cambridge for three months and learned about map- ping and GIS through Laser-Scan. That was my first contact with digital map- ping and the realisation that geography is a tool, which was a turning point for me. In 1993, Bill Metcalf and 1 organised together the very first GIS show in Romania. That was the moment when we realised that the market was very immature, and that was the determining factor in creating Geo Strategies. Twenty-four hours after the conference, Bill and 1 conceived the idea of Geo Strategies on the plane from Bucharest to Sibiu. We wrote a mission statement, our values and what we would like to achieve. That statement hasn't changed. It's taken us to where we are today.

GE: What wore the first yours like?

DF: The first year was very difficult. We wanted to offer consultant services. But we realised after one year that that was not going to work because the market was totally immature. People were not prepared to pay for consulting services because, coming from a Communist background, they had not been involved in problem-solving or decision- making. They had always been told what to do. So why should they pay someone to come and to ask them what their needs are? That was a huge handicap, and it still is. So at the start of 1994, we shifted our company to a production approach to create local products. Our first break came in September that year when we signed our first substantial contract to produce a digital plan for our city at 1:1,000 scale. Through that project, Sibiu became the first town in Romania to be digitally mapped. Now the situation is changing again. We have educated a market and we've educated it well, and now the market wants professional services. It's not the technology that makes it today. It's the solution.

GE: Who are your clients?

DF: About 65 per cent of our business is international. Customers come from both the commercial side and the governmental side. The profile of our customers is typical of the Fortune 500 companies. We serve large GSM companies, petrochemical companies, multinationals like Coca-Cola and Rank Xerox and McDonalds. These companies appreciate how the technology can help them make decisions, and that it's not just about IT. Some people find it quite difficult to cope with that.

GE: What are and users saying about industry changes?

DF: We detect a significant change in the industry. Historically, everything has been driven by technology and by technical development. But I see a major realignment to data and solutions. All GIS systems deliver similar functionality, and customers are now getting wise to this fact. So we find that. people want packaged solutions, including the data, which is something very new. They are increasingly not interested in the underlying technology, which is real progress

GE: What particular issues are presently facing the Romanian end-user community?

DF: In Romania, there is a widespread lack of understanding about what GIS and mapping can provide. They are totally confused by it. They think they can buy a GIS and they'll have everything they'll need. This has resulted in a divided market, the private sector which is result-oriented, and the public sector which is technology-oriented. The public sector is being befriended by the major software vendors, which is very dangerous in a market where Communism is still deep-rooted. The people in the public sector are about on the same position of the learning curve as the west was 15 years ago, which makes it very easy to sell technology to them because they're only interested in the ultimate toys they can have - they're being seduced by the technology itself rather than how it can be applied. This results in a host of inappropriate investment decisions, and potentially good systems gather dust. As a loyal Romanian, this saddens me to see people manipulated like that.

GE: Where do you see the industry moving?

DF: I predict the focus will remain on data solutions. Fundamentally, users don't want to have to acquire all sorts of technology and software to try to achieve a certain end. They want to be given a package. And I think the major software houses have begun to recognise this and now are either feverishly buying other companies or forming strategic alliances. The software houses don t really under stand the dynamics of the data industry, but they have all the clout. I also think the middleware companies - companies like Oracle will become a dominant force. They will truly amalgamate software and data to provide comprehensive mapping solutions directed towards individual market segments, which require minimum localisation.

GE: Has it been difficult being a woman in the industry or a business owner in Romania?

DF: It has indeed been difficult as a woman business owner in Romania, but it could've been a lot worse if I had allowed myself to be intimidated easily. But in the international arena, being a woman hasn't been a problem, and in fact, I find it an advantage. In Romania, however, where the decision-making has been dominated by men, it's different. I come from Transylvania and our culture is different from that of the south of the country We are very Germanic and organised and have high ethical standards. That creates problems for me when I do business in the south, including in Bucharest, because our approaches are different.

GE: You attracted the attention of Prince Charles recently. How did the Royal visit come about?

DF: Prince Charles habitually meets with international students studying at Cambridge. When I was a student there, I was introduced to him at a reception. I told him I had started an interesting activity and invited him to come and see it. Four years later, he did. We were the only Romanian company he visited.

GE: How do you hope to contribute to IMTA as its first woman board member and Eastern European?

DF: I am very proud to be part of IMTA. My objective is to help IMTA grow in Europe. IMTA at the moment is still known as the "mapping people" so it hasn't yet come of age to offer the right environment for data solutions, mapping and applications. I hope to make the data provider presence in the organisation a stronger influence.

GE: What do you like about your job?

DF: I like that I've demonstrated that geography is important. Before our revolution, geography was a marginal subject. The most important disciplines at school were mathematics and physics. But I studied geography because 1 didn't want to do anything else. This job has given me the chance to grow and learn a lot. And I like working with and managing people. We have grown a company out of nothing in a very challenging environment. And, strangely, the extreme negativism we have encountered -bordering on hostility on more than a few occasions - has made us even more resolute. Overall, I suspect it's the challenge I enjoy.

GE: Is there anything you'd like to change about the job?

DF: The greatest satisfaction I have from my job is when I see my employees empowering themselves or their colleagues. But I'd like them to learn how to do that faster. This is hugely difficult in our environment because, even today, our culture is based on punishment so people take decisions with the utmost reluctance. We are putting a huge effort into training but, unfortunately, this change has to come from within.

GE: How can you escape from work?

DF: I have two young children who are responsible for my non-Geo Strategies work. I do escape, but I don't give myself enough opportunity to do it. The company takes 110 per cent of my time. Perhaps the new millennium will bring some respite, but I doubt it.

GeoEurope No 8, June 1999