Romania stands at a critical juncture in its digital government journey, grappling with fragmentation and uneven execution despite foundational digital assets. A newly published Digital Governance Framework by Edge Institute reveals key insights and a strategic path forward to address these challenges and build a cohesive, future-ready digital state.
Current State: Fragmentation and a Vacuum in Strategic Governance
Romania’s digital maturity scores approximately 3.1 out of 10, reflecting strong infrastructure—such as near-universal broadband and digital ID frameworks, but weak public digital services and fragmented governance. Many key building blocks exist on paper, including eID, interoperability mandates, and government cloud legislation; however, they are underused or isolated within specific institutions.
The core issue is the absence of comprehensive, coordinated leadership and accountability. Digital governance remains fragmented amid siloed ministries, limited enforcement capability, and short political tenures. Citizens experience inconsistent, low-quality digital services, while digital skills deficiencies among civil servants hinder transformation efforts.
Key Challenges Identified
- Digital strategies remain fragmented, lacking a unified national vision to guide ministries and agencies.
- Legislative processes lack a mandatory digital impact check aligned with transformation goals.
- Funding decisions often overlook cross-government coherence, prioritising technical compliance over measurable user value.
- Digital skills training is project-based, unsystematic, and poorly integrated into civil service management.
- Adoption of shared platforms and national interoperability is either voluntary or inconsistent, which hampers user-centric service delivery.
- Development capacity is decentralised and lacks standardisation, resulting in duplicated efforts and siloed systems.
- Delivery approaches prioritise technical execution over redesigning government services to meet citizen needs.
Proposed Governance Model: Four Interconnected Layers
To overcome fragmentation and accelerate digital transformation, the report proposes a governance model with four layers:
- Highest-Level Political Leadership: A Vice Prime Minister dedicated to digital transformation would ensure political prioritisation, cross-ministerial cooperation, and public advocacy. This position would chair the Digital Council, elevating digital transformation to the top of the government agenda.
- Strategic Coordination: Government CIO (GCIO) Office: Led by a professional, apolitical GCIO at the Secretary-General level, this office would define national digital strategy, set standards for interoperability, architecture, data, and services, and oversee implementation alignment. The GCIO would also enforce digital impact checks on legislation and coordinate ministry-level CIOs.
- Digital Council: An upgraded high-level body including relevant ministries, government agencies, the private sector, academia, and civil society. The council would make binding decisions on priorities, investments, and standards, enhancing transparency and cross-sector collaboration.
- Implementation Agency: A dynamic agency responsible for delivering shared platforms (eID, interoperability, cloud), providing onboarding support to ministries, and enabling agile, user-centric digital service delivery. This agency must have technical expertise and institutional stability to execute the vision.
Strategic Levers for Transformation
The framework highlights critical levers essential for progress within a two-year horizon:
- Unified Strategy: Develop a focused, results-oriented national digital strategy aligned with socio-economic goals, including clear KPIs and budget integration across ministries.
- Legislative Alignment: Institutionalise mandatory digital checks in policy-making to ensure new laws enable interoperability and reduce administrative burden.
- Coherent Funding: Centralise oversight of IT investments, linking funding to compliance with national standards and reuse of common platforms.
- Digital Skills & Leadership: Create a national digital competence framework, mandate CIO roles in ministries, and launch leadership accelerator programs to build a digitally capable civil service.
- Platform Adoption: Mandate the use of foundational platforms combined with incentives, ensuring seamless identity verification, data exchange, and cloud services.
- Delivery Excellence: Reframe transformation as government operations redesign centred on citizen needs, supported by centralised service design labs and expert „SWAT teams.”
Vision for a Future-Proof Digital State
The report envisions a digital government that is „digital by default, human by design,” with services orchestrated end-to-end around life events, inclusive, accessible, and proactive. Data is treated as a shared national asset, underpinned by base registries and secure exchange platforms, reinforcing transparency and trust.
Leadership continuity is ensured by embedding digital governance at the highest political level, paired with professional expertise and institutional frameworks designed to survive political cycles. Funding and policy decisions prioritise shared infrastructure, reuse, and measurable public value, steering Romania toward a resilient, cohesive digital future.
Romania’s digital governance framework underscores a clear choice: continue fragmented initiatives trapped in political and structural silos or implement a robust governance model that guarantees accountability, consistent leadership, and actionable delivery. Realising this vision demands dismantling political fortresses, advancing digital skills, enforcing standards, and delivering tangible citizen-centric services. The pathway from promise to reality lies in decisive action beginning now, positioning Romania for an integrated, transparent, and efficient digital state.
