“Timi” offers 24/7 multilingual support through the city’s unified account platform, streamlining access to municipal information and services
Timișoara City Hall has introduced an AI-based virtual assistance service designed to simplify how residents interact with local government. The digital assistant, named “Timi,” is integrated into the Single Account platform currently used by over 141,000 Timișoara residents, providing round-the-clock information simply and efficiently without requiring users to navigate through multiple pages or documents.
The assistant supports communication in any language and includes a system for submitting questions and receiving responses in audio format. Unlike other AI tools, the municipality’s service does not provide opinions and does not access external internet sources.
Designed Around Citizen Needs
“The digitalization of Timișoara City Hall started from the need of residents and businesses to quickly find an answer, information, or an appointment, without wasting time navigating complicated menus or bulky documents,” explains Mayor Dominic Fritz. “We designed all digital services with a simple question in mind: how can citizens reach what they need as easily as possible? For that, information must be easy to find, not at the end of a bureaucratic labyrinth.“
Fritz describes the virtual assistant as a natural step in this direction—a tool that searches on behalf of users and synthesizes information based on their specific needs. “It’s an assistant that tells you what you need to do if you want to build a house in Timișoara or if you’ve lost your ID card, for example,” he says.
How Timi Works
The assistant formulates responses based on information published on the primariatm.ro website. For certain services, such as registry functions, Timi can utilize data available in internal platforms, but only with the explicit consent of the account holder. When accessed through the Single Account, the assistant can consider the citizen’s history of interactions with local administration, including previously submitted requests, complaints, or appointments.
The Population Records Directorate is integrated into the new service, enabling Timi to make online appointments in real-time directly through the chat window. After verifying available data, the appointment is automatically sent to the citizen via SMS. Additionally, Timi can receive complaints from residents and automatically redirect them to the responsible departments, eliminating the need for citizens to identify the correct department themselves.
Testing Phase and Future Development
To allow as many users as possible to test the service, the municipality is offering a limited-time test version accessible on the primariatm.ro website. This version operates without authentication, does not identify users, and has no access to personal data or citizen context.
Timi is conceived as an evolving system that will be continuously improved through the completion and updating of official information. The service complements traditional communication methods with citizens, including the complaints platform, email correspondence services, and direct interaction.
The virtual assistant can be accessed from any page on the City Hall website or from any page of the Single Account with a single click on the chat icon in the bottom right corner.
