CAT (Centrul de Afaceri Transilvania/Transilvania Business Center), a non-profit, non-government, non-political, independent association founded in 1992.  It’s mission is to help SMEs with the period of transition to the market economy and promote-implement the mobile business e-tools.

CAT represents the unique business centre for the membership of the area of Transilvania in Romania. Within the previous years, its initial objective has been successful in attracting members and networking various businesses in Transilvania region. This business centre has more than 950 regular members, 
guests and observers associated to its activities. These founders and members cover all fields needed for a business centre. Some of these activities include: production and construction, banking and insurance, commodities exchange and trade, communications and media services, consulting and advertising, training and cultural life, sport and entertainment.

CAT IT infrastructure already available, has an internet solution based on Windows 2000 that allow the connection among the different major sites spread on the territory. In all the sites the PCs have internet connection by means of a server NT. The co-ordination among sites and task forces is made by phone, fax and GSM. On internet has been activate just a web page for presentation of the organisation http://e-cat.ro

CAT groups together a significant number of business links, SMEs, and industrial representatives. 

CAT has four departments to help the SMEs: The Research&Development Department is responsible for the creation of development projects to benefit the SMEs ( ViVa, ENERGIA, EWEN, LIRIC...) and co-ordinates the internships programme. The Relations Departments organises international economic 
missions and co-ordinates the business-links (Bureau de Rapprochement des Enterprises - BRE) programme. The Training & Consulting Department helps troubled SMEs to find foreign consulting and training experts through programmes (such as the Netherlands Management Co-operation Programme - NMCP and Senior Experts Services - SES).  The Administration Department is in charge of daily business functions, such as accounting.

The project key person will be:
Prof. Dr. Radu-Adrian Mlesnita: Managing Director and Economic Expert.  Founder and President of the Transilvania Business Centre CAT, he graduated at University of Cluj-Napoca and PHD at Academy of Economics Bucharest in International Relations and Cooperation. From 1990 to 1992 he held the 
position of Counsellor of the Secretary of State and General Manager at Romanian Development Agency – Bucharest. From 1980 to 1990 he was Economic Secretary at Romanian Ministry of Trade.

CAT participation to the implementation of the LIRIC tools will give the 
opportunity to:

• Improve the overall territorial marketing process, 
• Gain savings with respect to the usual processes,
• Improve the management of the information,
• Improve the efficiency of the marketplace for support actions, and gaining substantial returns from the project investment,
• Increase of the productivity and mobility,
• Reduce of time and effort need to respond to customers,
• Experimenting the security/privacy tool,
• Experimenting the mobile collaboration tool,
• Develop the Virtual Industrial Agency/Mobile Business Center - mCAT.

• Increasing the co-ordination activity using internet connection;
• Developing the m-tools: eBL, e-bursa, OLDBase, OLC ...;
• Introducing the mK-4-mB (mobile knowledge-for-mobile business); 
• Reducing up to 20% the intervention time;
• Increasing the company promotion process up to 30%;
• Reducing the management cost up to 15%.

WP1 - User Requirements Analysis
CAT is acting in Tasks:
T1.1 –“as is” company certification and accreditation process analysis, aimed at understanding the functioning of the process in CAT;
T1.2 – “as is” direct support process analysis, aimed at understanding the functioning of the process in CAT; 
T1.3 – “as is” promotional process analysis, aimed at understanding the functioning of the process in CAT;
T1.4 – observer group creation to enlarge the knowledge and practices to the other non-profit sectors.

WP 5 – Field Trials
CAT will set up one of the five Agencies Pilot Field Trial: the company direct support process and company promotional process will be analyzed for the CAT.
T5.4 – managed by INGIBI will support the activities at the CAT premises- Liric prototype at CAT.

WP 6 – Evaluation (Self-Assessment) and refinement
CAT will take part in: 
T6.1 – Definition of the assessment system,
T6.2 – Evaluation of the performances of the LIRIC toolset in practices, 
T6.3 – LIRIC toolset refinement and consolidated the LIRIC methodology for reorganising the core territorial marketing processes in Industrial Agencies.

WP 7 - Project Management, Quality Assurance, Exploitation and Dissemination of results
CAT will participate to: 
T7.1 - Project Management and Quality Assurance 
T7.2 - Exploitation of Results 
T7.3 – Dissemination of Results 

CAT is making the links between:

- VIVA that provides small-sized enterprises in a rapid growth phase with online services that support them in their early years with respect to Strategy, Financing, Marketing & Commercial Policies, and Human Resource management in order to evolve from an entrepreneurial atmosphere to more  "managed" operations. VIVA online services rely on the ASP model to deliver 
(a)Corporate applications (ERP, CRM and e-Business), 
(b) Community development and services,
(c) Online consulting (diagnostic analysis, business plan...). 

- ENERGIA  - Extended Network to Eastern Regions involving Government authorities, Industries and academia - aims to promote and disseminate Electronic Commerce applications in the context of International Co-operation while preparing the conditions for a better convergence of views, infrastructures and practices between EC and CEEC actors at all levels: political, industrial, technical, professional as well as academic and therefore bridge the gap between Eastern and Western European countries. For 
that purpose the approach consists of the involvement of the actors through specific activities, identifying and exploiting the best collaboration fields leading to focused awareness actions and co-operative projects incubated by the project. 

- EWEN - East West Economic Network, the basic platform for the development of trans-european co-operation.

- SEEbiz - the place for co-operation with S-E European countries, direct linked with the Stability Pact.

CAT - Industrial Agencies search and promote mobile knowledge management for mobile business (mKM-4-mB) 

Not to much developed the m-knowledge e-tools for:

• company best practices on business management;
• company technological innovations;
• company legal, contractual and economical matters;
• training and consultancy expertise;
• companies certification and accreditation process;
• company selection, evaluation, monitoring, direct support, promotion; 
• project financing links and information;
• Knowledge Warehousing (tools such: semantic integrator)
• Mobile Collaboration, Co-ordination planning, Security / Privacy Tools

• links with governmental organisations and other relevant organisations working on the territory;
• project financing links and information;
• seeking companies to be associated and getting relevant information;

CAT will: 
- develop the Romanian language web page http://e-cat.ro/liric.html with links to the future site of LIRIC project; 
- print new CAT – folders, envelopes, papers, and liflets…including LIRIC logo, presentation; 
- organize seminars, workshops, lectures with businessman, academicians, students, local authorities, politicians for promotion of LIRIC products; 
- participate to trade fairs, conferences, seminars, reunions and meeting in/outside  Romania; 
- translate in Romanian and disseminate LIRIC brochure; 
- circulate every month by direct mail the CAT newsletters with information regarding 
LIRIC project; 
- organize direct mail campaigns in Transilvania/Romania for dissemination of LIRIC products to 5-6000 SMEs; 
- organize quarterly field promotion mission in Transilvanian towns for meetings and discussions with local business communities and local authorities; 
- two large Banners with CAT-LIRIC logo-ClujNapoca will be displayed at the best places of the city: Central Market and Stadium; 
- realize interviews and articles to local press, TV and radio stations ; 
- other dissemination and promotion activities.

Prof. Dr. Radu-Adrian Mlesnita