New lab procurement brings AI, VR and AR into engineering teaching, signalling a shift from basic IT upgrades to specialised digital labs across the public sector.
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Published on 10th December 2025, a new contract notice from Universitatea Dunărea de Jos in Galați sets out plans to equip its Electromechanical Automation Laboratory with artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. The acquisition of equipment and software licences is part of the university’s wider digitalisation project, and underlines how higher education is moving from basic IT upgrades towards immersive, specialised teaching environments.
The contract notice covers the acquisition of equipment and software licences to modernise the university’s Electromechanical Automation Laboratory with VR, AR and AI technologies. The work sits at the junction of automation engineering and immersive tools, bringing digital environments directly into a lab that has traditionally focused on physical electromechanical systems.
The summary does not spell out detailed specifications, but the combined reference to equipment and licences points to a requirement for a complete working environment rather than isolated pieces of kit. By placing VR, AR and AI explicitly within an automation laboratory, the buyer is positioning these technologies as part of everyday teaching and research activity, not just as occasional demonstration tools.
For suppliers, the focus on a defined laboratory rather than a general IT suite is notable. It highlights opportunities for vendors whose hardware and software are designed for experiment‑driven teaching spaces and can sit alongside existing electromechanical equipment. Providers working with VR, AR and AI for simulation, visualisation or intelligent control will recognise a close fit between their offer and the broad direction set out in the notice, even though no specific platforms are named.
The Galați laboratory upgrade is one of a series of higher‑education procurements in 2025 that move beyond simple computer refreshes towards technology‑rich, discipline‑specific spaces.
In June 2025, the University of Arts in Târgu Mureș launched a digitalisation contract to equip its departments with IT hardware and software for online education and to prepare students for careers in the creative industries. That contract is divided into multiple lots for different types of equipment, reflecting varied needs across departments.
The same month, the Polytechnic University of Timișoara published a notice for its DigiUPT project, seeking digital, multimedia, communications, robotics and IoT equipment. That procurement ranges from Wi‑Fi and routing infrastructure to portable computers, autonomous flying vehicles, educational robots and facilities for IoT and Industry 4.0 laboratories, underlining how engineering faculties are investing in whole ecosystems around automation and connectivity.
Other universities have used 2025 tenders to refresh and specialise their teaching infrastructure. In September 2025, Universitatea Aurel Vlaicu din Arad sought educational equipment and software funded under the West Regional Programme, aimed at improving access to quality education and training services. Another contract from July 2025 at Universitatea "Babeș‑Bolyai" covers machinery, equipment and intangible assets for its Reșița centre, including laptops, multifunctional devices and software licences.
Immersive and extended‑reality technologies are gaining particular traction. In October 2025, the University of Bucharest set out plans to procure hardware and software tools, including VR glasses, tools for creating educational resources and interactive learning platforms, to strengthen teaching competences under its EDIS PED project. In November 2025, Universitatea Tehnica Gheorghe Asachi din Iasi went a step further with a tender for advanced industrial IT solutions for 3D simulation and offline programming to support an eXtended Reality Innovation Center as part of its own digital transformation project.
Laboratory‑focused projects are also visible elsewhere. In August 2025, UNIVERSITATEA CONSTANTN BRANCUSI TIRGU JIU launched a contract to deliver, install and configure equipment and software licences for a Multimedia Systems and Applications laboratory, bundled with staff training and warranty services. And in October 2025, another university tender seeks an automotive mechatronics educational system to support teaching in that specialism.
Seen against this backdrop, the Electromechanical Automation Laboratory project in Galați is part of a clear pattern: universities are using public procurement to build specialised, digitally enhanced environments where students work with sector‑specific equipment underpinned by advanced software.
Alongside campus‑based investments, 2025 has also produced tenders aimed at boosting digital skills in public libraries and local communities, indicating that laboratory modernisation is one strand of a wider digital skills agenda.
In July 2025, Comuna Valea Călugărească issued a contract for the delivery, installation and commissioning of IT&C equipment, licences and software to support digital skills training in 23 libraries. The project combines the renovation of one rural library with the modernisation of 22 others.
On 1st August 2025, Judetul Neamț followed with a procurement for IT&C equipment, licences and software solutions devoted to a digital skills project in libraries, organised into lots for digital media lab licences and operating system licences. Later, in October 2025, Consiliul Județean Maramureș advertised a larger‑scale initiative to purchase IT equipment and software solutions to modernise 1,030 libraries under the MaraHUB project, aiming to strengthen digital skills for around 100,000 citizens from disadvantaged communities.
These notices show local authorities using procurement to turn libraries into digital skills hubs. Against that trend, the Galați laboratory upgrade can be seen as the higher‑education counterpart: an investment that deepens digital capability inside a specialist teaching environment, while other contracts extend access to digital tools in public spaces.
The focus on AI within the Electromechanical Automation Laboratory also mirrors a broader set of technology procurements in public administration and healthcare.
In July 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched two significant tenders. One, run through Direcția Generală de Protecție Internă, seeks framework agreements for high‑performance hardware and software, including AI technology, to modernise infrastructure and support the use of electronic identity cards and public electronic services. Another covers software and hardware for the SIMIEOP platform supporting the 112 Emergency Service, underlining how digital platforms underpin critical public safety operations.
Specialist AI applications are also emerging. An August 2025 procurement by Softtehnica SRL focuses on equipment for SignAll, an AI‑driven platform for sign language communication. And in October 2025, Nexus Media SRL advertised the purchase of hardware for the PIONIER AI project, including servers, PCs, laptops and multifunctional equipment to build the underlying IT infrastructure.
In the health sector, several buyers are running digitalisation projects that echo the Galați university’s ambitions, albeit in clinical rather than educational settings. In July 2025, Direcția de Sănătate Publică Gorj launched a tender for IT equipment and software licences to support its digitalisation project, financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. September 2025 brought a procurement from Serviciul de Ambulanță Județean Galați for IT hardware and software under its Digitalization SAJ Galati initiative, while the Marius Nasta Pneumonology Institute has advertised a project to acquire software and hardware for digitisation, contingent on budget allocation, to enhance healthcare services and modernise its IT systems. A November 2025 notice at Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgență Craiova focuses on software licences for a computer system and MySQL database to support its own digitalisation.
Together, these projects demonstrate that AI‑ready infrastructure, advanced software and immersive tools are no longer confined to specialised research centres. They are being written into requirements for emergency services, identity systems, hospitals, libraries and, as in Galați, automation laboratories.
The Electromechanical Automation Laboratory procurement stands out for weaving AI, VR and AR into a single lab‑focused upgrade. Compared with broader campus projects, this points to a more concentrated use of technology, aimed at a defined group of students and researchers who work with electromechanical systems.
For suppliers, several features of the notice are worth attention:
For students, projects of this kind have the potential to change what “laboratory work” means. Instead of interacting only with physical equipment, cohorts in electromechanical disciplines may encounter lab sessions that also involve immersive environments and AI‑enabled tools. Though the notice does not detail pedagogical models, placing these technologies in a laboratory setting points towards more blended practical work, with physical experiments complemented by digital representations and analysis.
The tender also illustrates how service components are starting to be woven into digital education procurements. At UNIVERSITATEA CONSTANTN BRANCUSI TIRGU JIU, for example, the multimedia laboratory contract explicitly includes installation, configuration, training and warranty. At Universitatea din Petroșani, a December 2025 procedure seeks ICT equipment, software, installation services and training to support educational and research activities. By contrast, the Galați automation lab summary focuses on equipment and licences, leaving open how training and support will be organised around the new tools.
The December 2025 notice from Universitatea Dunărea de Jos confirms that AI, VR and AR are now part of mainstream lab planning in higher education, not just experimental add‑ons. Combined with parallel investments in digital skills hubs, emergency platforms and hospital systems, it suggests that buyers across sectors are thinking about how immersive and intelligent technologies fit into their core operations.
For the procurement community, the next questions will revolve around integration and outcomes: how new lab environments such as the Electromechanical Automation Laboratory in Galați connect to broader institutional systems, and how they translate into changes in teaching, research and local skills pipelines. Future notices from the same digitalisation programme, and from other universities embarking on similar journeys, will offer further clues.
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