Minister Bogdan Ivan launched the inter-ministerial consultations aimed at creating the national framework for the development of digital skills

On Thursday, May 23, 2024, at the headquarters of the World Bank in Bucharest, Bogdan Ivan, the Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitization launched the inter-ministerial consultations on the National Digital Skills Framework (DigCompRo), a crucial element in Romania’s digitization process. The working version of DigCompRo, carried out with the support of the World Bank, aims to support the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization (MCID) in strengthening the capacity to implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) for the development of the digital skills of all Romanians.

“Digital transformation brings real benefits through the development of digital skills. DigCompRo is an ambitious initiative, which will become the national framework for the development of digital skills for all Romanian citizens. The development of this framework is part of investment 17 of Component 7 – Digital Transformation of PNRR, with a budget of 37 million euros. By the end of next year, hundreds of thousands of Romanians from cities, municipalities and villages will acquire basic digital skills in more than 1000 libraries transformed into digital skills development hubs”, said Bogdan Ivan, Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitization. “We are at the point where digital literacy has become as important as literacy and numeracy. Digital literacy is a transversal effort – every teacher, regardless of the discipline they teach, must be able to build digital skills through the way they use the technology they have and have available in their classrooms and labs “, said Ligia Deca, Minister of Education.

In order for the Romanian economy to progress on the path of digital transition, the development of citizens’ digital skills is an essential direction of investment. Training the digital skills of Romanian citizens will allow Romania to: – improving results on the labor market, including by stimulating participation and by improving/retraining, – better civic participation, through the adoption and use of digital government services, – improving the results regarding the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), calculated annually by the European Commission. Considering the rapid evolution of the digital landscape, it is necessary and opportune for Romania to develop and facilitate the widespread adoption of a national framework dedicated to digital skills for Romanian citizens, adapted to local specifics, starting from the reference framework DigComp 2.2, developed by The European Commission.

This initiative will ensure the conditions for Romania to remain competitive in the digital age and will allow Romania to comprehensively assess and develop digital skills among citizens. The event was attended by Bogdan Ivan, Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitization, Anna Akhalkatsi, Country Manager for Romania and Hungary of the World Bank, Ligia Deca, Minister of Education, Dragoș Vlad, President of the Authority for Digitization of Romania, Claudia Niculescu, Secretary General of ANFP and Ana-Maria Bușoniu, the general director of the Intermediate Organization for the Promotion of the Information Society.