The Emerging Technologies: The Drivers for Digital Transformation in Business and Education

Abstract Emerging technologies, including Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT), whether utilized individually or in combinations such as AIoT and IIoT, possess a disruptive nature that is poised to fundamentally reshape the functioning of specific industries, education, and society at large. These technologies act as catalysts for digital transformation, fostering the emergence of novel business models and opportunities for development. Launched as an initiative of the Cluj IT cluster and supported by the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, Sibiu Innovation Days (SID) represented a necessity for Sibiu, for the university, for companies in the area, in the idea of bringing together of all decision makers that acts around the concepts of digitalization, innovation and knowledge transfer to a smarter society and a better life for its members. Emerging technologies can exploit Romania’s connectivity and broadband capabilities, where Romania is above the European average, bringing it into line with and keeping pace with developed countries in terms of the digitalization of industry, agriculture and society as a whole. In this regard, we believe that no effort is useless to increase Romania’s innovation performance, and through the activities carried out at Sibiu Innovation Days 2024, solutions to some of these challenges were addressed and proposed.