Available funding in Croatia

Background information  

Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in form of loans, grants and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026 most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility (RRF) but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of the Croatian National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.

When it comes to digital skills and digital transformation, the lines of action are outlined in the Digital Croatia Strategy, and related funding opportunities are channelled throughout EU schemes, the RRF and other National funding schemes.

Recovery and resilience facility 

The Croatian Recovery and Resilience Plan contribute to the digital transformation of Croatia’s society and economy with 20.4% of the plan’s total allocation. Measures include: increasing the efficiency and transparency of public sector bodies; establishing management and coordination structures to plan and implement of the digital transformation of society and the public administration and providing public administration tools and technologies needed to develop more efficient and high-quality digital services tailored to users' needs.

Croatia’s plan supports the digital transition with investments and reforms in the digitalisation of the public administration and higher education and digital connectivity of rural areas. The plan will invest €283 million in the digital transition of the public administration through digitalisation of the justice system, deployment of the Digital Identity Card and creation of a one-stop-shop for all public administration’s online services. Moreover, €130 million will be invested in increasing national broadband coverage with gigabit connectivity in rural areas and construction of electronic communications infrastructure for 5G network thereby increasing the digital connectivity of rural areas. In addition, the plan will support with €84 million in the digitalisation of higher education through investing in e-learning and digital teaching tools.

Several portals are being established to centralize information and calls available, you may find some of them on the web page: Croatia’s recovery and resilience – Supported projects: Nation-wide investment scheme. RRF Calls are published on the fondovieu information system webpage.

Increasing the national broadband coverage investment aims at increasing the availability of electronic communications networks in areas where there is no commercial interest by providing gigabit connectivity to households and companies, in line with the objectives of the European Gigabit Society. Broadband investments (EUR 133 million) will be deployed in fixed networks (VHCN) in the country, in rural and urban areas. These investments should grant support to 20 projects for developing broadband access infrastructure by September 2023 and cover at least 100,000 additional households in white NGA areas with broadband access of at least 100 Mbit/s for downloading (upgradable to 1 Giga) by June 2026.

The introduction of vouchers for developing green and digital skills investment aims to increase the employability of workers and better match labour market supply and demand by supporting lifelong learning and the acquisition of new skills, particularly green and digital skills. It finances participation exclusively in educational programmes developed on the basis of the Croatian Qualifications Framework (CROQF) and is implemented through accredited institutions in accordance with the new Adult Education Act. Vouchers are used by both employed and unemployed people, although a particular focus is placed on vulnerable groups (long-term unemployed, inactive or young people not in employment or education). 70% of the total EUR 40 million funding is allocated for programmes related to green skills, while 30% is allocated for programmes related to digital skills. Since the start of the scheme in April 2022, over 9000 applications have been approved and more than 4,200 beneficiaries are already in training. The goal is to award 30,000 vouchers to beneficiaries, of which at least 12,000 should be long-term unemployed, inactive, or young people not in employment or education, by end-June 2026.

National Funding

In December 2022, Digital Croatia Strategy for the period until 2032 was published with a vision of Croatia improved by digital transformation. Around EUR 286 million is planned for the realisation of the fourth strategic objective, Developed digital competences for working and living in a digital age, with EUR 93 million to be used for increasing the number of ICT specialists on the labour market, EUR 40 million for developing citizens’ digital competences for working and living in a digital age, with the help of ICT, and EUR 153 million for the digital transition supporting the development of the education and research system.

Supporting digitalisation in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

Competent authority: Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development
Estimated budget: EUR 250 million
Source of funding:
- National Recovery and Resilience Plan (2021-2026) (NRRP)
- Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, i.e. European Union budget for the 2021-2027 period
- Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion (2021-2027) (OPCC)
- State budget of the Republic of Croatia, sources of funding combined in the state budget and budgets that are part of the general government budget

Supporting digital innovation hubs

Competent authority: Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development; Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society
Estimated budget: EUR 20-40 million
Source of funding:
- National Recovery and Resilience Plan (20212026)
- Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion (2021-2027), within the Smarter Europe policy goal
- Digital Europe Programme (2021-2027)

Increasing the number of ICT specialists on the labour market

Competent authority: Ministry of Labour and Pension System, Family and Social Policy of the Republic of Croatia; Ministry of Science and Education; Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society
Estimated budget: EUR 93 million
Source of funding:
- Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union for the 2021-2027 period, including:
- programs funded by: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
- Recovery and Resilience Facility (areas defined in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026)
- State budget and all sources of funding combined in the state budget and budgets that are part of the general government budget

Developing citizens’ digital competences for working and living in a digital age, with the help of ICT

Competent authority: Ministry of Labour and Pension System, Family and Social Policy of the Republic of Croatia; Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development; Croatian Employment Service; Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society
Estimated budget: EUR 40 million
Source of funding:
- Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union for the 2021-2027 period, including:
- programs funded by: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
- Recovery and Resilience Facility (areas defined in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026)
- State budget and all sources of funding combined in the state budget and budgets that are part of the general government budget

Digital transition supporting the development of the education and research system

Competent authority: Ministry of Science and Education; Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society
Estimated budget: EUR 153 million
Source of funding:
- Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union for the 2021-2027 period, including:
- programs funded by: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
- Recovery and Resilience Facility (areas defined in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026)
- State budget and all sources of funding combined in the state budget and budgets that are part of the general government budget

Other funding options

The Google.org Impact Challenge: Tech for Social Good is an open call for European nonprofits, academic or research institutions, civic entities, and social enterprises in search of technical help and funding for projects focused on sustainability, economic opportunity, or cyber security. It provides up to six months of full-time support from a team of Google.org Fellows and up to €3M funding.

Different funding options are also available on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, you may find a listing for Croatia on this link.