Romania: a snapshot of digital skills

Introduction

According to the Digital Decade report 2026, Romania is at 31.84% of individuals aged 16-74 in Romania with at least basic digital skills, an increase of 7.2% in 2025 compared to 2024.

Romania is at 2.7% of ICT specialists in total employment after a decrease of -3.6% in 2025, well below the EU average of 5.0%. The share of women ICT specialists in Romania reached 27.8%, standing above the EU average of 19.50%. In Romania, 52.62% of individuals reported having at least basic digital safety skills in 2025, which is lower than the EU average of 74.63%. Regarding the use of generative AI, 17.76% of people in Romania used generative AI in 2025 for all purposes, which is lower than the EU average of 32.66%.  

2026 Digital Decade Eurobarometer report for Romania reflects Romanian citizens' attitudes, priorities, and concerns regarding digital rights, AI, and the EU's digital policy goals based on research conducted between February and March 2026. Romania is one of the leaders in terms of fixed connectivity infrastructure and has taken important steps to strengthen its position in semiconductors and AI.  

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.