Romania: a snapshot of digital skills
Introduction
Romania is the lowest-ranking (27th) EU Member State the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). The country is struggling in the human capital dimension, with a very low level of basic digital skills compared to the EU average but maintaining high rankings in the proportion of female ICT specialists in employment (ranking 2nd) and ICT graduates (ranking 4th). To meet the Digital Decade target on basic digital skills and ICT specialists, Romania urgently needs to accelerate its digital skills readiness.
Despite performing comparatively well in connectivity, the country's low level of digitalization and relatively slow progress is preventing the Romanian economy from fully exploiting the opportunities presented by digital technologies. Additionally, the very low level of digital public services for both citizens and businesses is further aggravating the situation. The COVID-19 pandemic's ongoing impact and frequent changes in government (five in the last 4 years) pose significant challenges for Romania. Nonetheless, digitalization remains a top priority for the current government in power since November 25, 2021.
Microsoft's Digital Futures Index measures the digitalization level of 16 European countries, including Romania. The Index provides information on the current state of a country's digitalization and identifies both the areas where it has been most successful and those where there is still work to be done to speed up the digital transformation process. The level of digitalization is measured across five categories of digital development: Digital Business, Digital Government and Public Sector, Digital Infrastructure, Digital Sector, and Human Capital. The overall score of Romania’s digital development is 92, while CEE average is 100.
Romanian National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs “The Skills4IT Coalition” was established in 2015, following the establishment of the European Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition in 2013. The Skills4IT Coalition is an open platform that brings together different partners representing educational institutions, ITC companies, training companies, professional and non-governmental organizations. The platform addresses everyone, form beginners to experts: employees, entrepreneurs, CEOs, students, pupils, and everyone interested in digitalisation.
Overview of state strategies and national initiatives
State strategies
Developed by the Ministry for Information Society, the Strategy for the Digital Agenda of Romania 2020 was established with the support of other government agencies and public institutions, including agencies from the Romanian Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport. The Strategy was adopted in 2014, and its implementation ended in 2020.
In 2020, The Strategic Initiative for Digitization of Education in Romania SMART-Edu 2021-2027 was developed and went into the public consultation stage. The objective of the Strategic Initiative is to reduce digital gap and increase socio-economic integration by enhancing digital skills and internet usage among the general public and disadvantaged groups. This will be achieved by organising training sessions tailored to the needs of the community. More information can be found here.
National initiatives
Romania has developed a Recovery and Resilience Plan aimed at facilitating a robust recuperation and preparing the country for the future. The RRP consists of 107 investment measures and 64 reforms, which will help Romania become more sustainable, resilient, and adaptable to the challenges and opportunities posed by the green and digital transitions. The plan is supported by an estimated €14.24 billion in grants and €14.94 billion in loans. 41% of the plan will contribute to the green transition, while 20.5% of it will support the digital transition.
The Digital Skills and Jobs Romania website offers a list of events on digital skills, various resources and training opportunities, a collection of good practices showcasing successful strategies, initiatives and projects with a strong local impact and potential, and a news section which shared the latest initiatives, projects, innovations and job offers related to digital skills at local and international level. The platform serves as a hub for information resources from Romania and the European Union, aimed at enhancing the digital skills of Romanian citizens. It also promotes career training opportunities in the ITC sector, scholarships, project financing, and spreads awareness about cybersecurity measures. The platform further encourages collaboration between the academic environment and the ITC industry in Romania.
In October 2022, The Romanian Association for Artificial Intelligence (ARIA) and the Union of Informatics Teachers in Romania (UPIR) organised the first pre-university artificial intelligence course in Romania. The course is designed and instructed by experts from Bitdefender, professors from the National College "Mircea cel Bătrân" Râmnicu Vâlcea, and specialists from Google DeepMind UK. The course is a milestone in the AI project for schools and high schools in Romania launched in 2019 by researchers from DeepMind Google through the organisation ARIA (Romanian Association for Artificial Intelligence).
Funding opportunities
Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in the 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 but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of the Romania’s National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and in the article on the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.
