Bulgaria - National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

The Bulgarian strategic roadmap for the Digital Decade developed by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria sets out the strategic goals to be achieved by 2030, monitoring their achievement, and the target paths and key measures have been developed.  

The report uses the data in the Digital Decade Report 2023 on the National Base Value of the Digital Decade Targets, the EU baseline value for Digital Decade Targets in 2023 and the EU target value for 2030. 

Bulgaria is contributing only moderately to the Digital Decade target in digital skills. Only 31% of people have at least basic digital skills, which is below the EU average of 54% and the lowest in the EU which is a risk for the collective Member States’ achievement of the EU 2030 targets. The gap with the EU average is also very high when it comes to people with above basic digital skills (8% compared to 26% at EU level). A good indicator which can lead to a wider use of technology in the country, is the rise of ICT trainings offered by enterprises, which is starting to increase compared to previous years. The country also scores low in people with at least basic digital content creation skills (44% compared to 66% at EU level).  

The Roadmap for Bulgaria consists of 4 chapters:

• Digital Skills
• Digital Infrastructure
• Digital Transformation of Enterprises
• Digital Governance

Priorities for the development of digital skills

Bulgaria is working together with other Member States of the region to foster cross-border collaboration to enhance the EU 2030 targets in digital skills and is currently implementing several measures that can contribute to increase the level of basic digital skills targeting professionals and the education system. 

The grant scheme ‘Joint actions for social partners for the development of digital skills’ helps various professionals acquiring digital skills. The educational programme ‘Education for tomorrow’, focused on ICT training, has been established for educators and students to strengthen their digital skills. Programme ‘Rails Girls’ has been adopted to support women in basic digital skills. The ‘Hello Space’ festival is hosted by many organisations for embracing youth in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). 

Measures contributing to the achievement of the target

The "Digital skills " direction of the Roadmap includes 15 measures covering the following main topics:

• Curriculum and Pedagogy

• Digital Skills and Competencies

• Industry and Education Collaboration

• Knowledge Sharing and Infrastructure

Key challenges to overcome

• Large gaps in digital skills and literacy and internet use among the population, especially in rural areas and among the elderly. 
• Lack of awareness about online safety and cyber security. 
• Shortage of skilled IT workforce at all management and business levels.
• Lack of ICT training and skill enhancement in organizations sector, especially at the regional level.