Romania supports public-private partnerships as a tool to accelerate innovation and economic growth and promotes dialogue between the public and private sectors in key areas such as technology or infrastructure, underlined the Minister for Research, Innovation and Digitalization, Bogdan Ivan, in a wide-ranging interview for CaleaEuropeană.ro on Romania’s actions and positions on the big digital and technology dossiers at European level such as the Interoperable Europe Act, the future of European competitiveness, cyber security and the future of the telecommunications industry.
Interoperable Europe. Romania’s vision and commitment
In his view, companies play a key role as ”providers of the technology that the administration wants to use to modernise Romania”.
So ”the state and the private sector can only evolve together for the modernisation of Romania”, Ivan replied to a question about the role private companies could play in innovation in the context of the Interoperable Europe Act.
The Romanian official also described the act as ”the European interoperability platform – this act is a Schengen agreement in IT, where borders disappear and technological solutions circulate freely in Europe”.
”This cross-border approach is even more relevant in cybersecurity because cyberspace has no borders and cyber attacks do not require visas. The Interoperable Europe Act targets both the public and private sectors: annual cost savings as a result of achieving cross-border interoperability range from €5.5 to €6.3 million for citizens and €5.7 to €19.2 billion for businesses, according to the European Commission. The forecast for business is that it could save up to 30 billion working hours per year. But the main benefits of the Act are for European citizens. Citizens could save up to 24 million hours (lost in queues and traffic) every year. Public institutions at local, regional and national level will have improved IT systems and administrative processes, so they will offer more efficient and accessible services to citizens. Interoperability will make it easier for EU Member States to work together across borders,” explained the Minister for Research, Innovation and Digitalization.
Bogdan Ivan added that ”the Act will promote a more favorable framework for public-private partnerships through a more efficient exchange of resources, expertise and technologies between the public and private sectors, with direct benefits in the development and implementation of innovative technological solutions in public administration”.
Asked about the measures adopted by our country to digitalize and improve the efficiency of public services through public administration modernisation projects, the Romanian official mentioned the NRRP projects, worth €6 billion, which have a final implementation deadline of 2026.
He also listed the main projects underway: the government cloud and the National Interoperability Platform.
”It is a paradigm shift for the way the citizen interacts with the administration and it is an internal revolution, of the administration itself. We already have an architecture in place for the future digital administration: Romania has an e-government strategy, a road-map with clear targets. We are working on a National Catalogue of Public Services in the central administration – in this catalogue, of the almost 3000 services inventoried, more than 50% are already digitized or partially digitized. We have the legal framework for big, decisive reform projects – the government cloud, interoperability: I personally participated in the drafting of the Interoperability Law and I know how relevant the impact of this law is for the efficient functioning of the Romanian state and for the well-being of every single Romanian”, said Ivan.
Competitiveness in Europe. Romania supports public-private partnerships to accelerate innovation and growth
Switching to another facet of the European Union, the competitive one, the Minister for Research, Innovation and Digitalization stressed that, in terms of regulation, ”Romania is balancing the need to ensure a robust regulatory framework that protects citizens with the need to maintain a flexible and innovative business environment”.
In his view, ”smart regulation is needed, which does not unnecessarily burden the private sector, but ensures compliance with a coherent legal framework and the protection of citizens’ data”.
”In the EU debates, Romania can contribute with proposals that reflect its national interests, but also those of the EU as a whole: promoting cohesion policy and supporting sustainable economic growth. We actively promote policies that encourage innovation and competitiveness, including through investments in digital education, research and development and innovation, and thus contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the Romanian economy, but also of the EU as a whole, on the global stage”, elaborated Bogdan Ivan.
Romania’s approach to the future of the telecom industry in Europe
In order to achieve the ambitious goals of the Digital Decade, as well as those of the European Green Deal, Romania has elevated connectivity to the status of a strategic sector.
”Rapid technological progress in priority areas for the EU, such as Cloud, Edge, AI, 5G, implies major investments in developing a high-performance and sustainable digital infrastructure, but also in strengthening cyber security. In addition, investments are needed in network capacity, implementation of next generation infrastructures, access to large amounts of reliable data, computing resources”, detailed Bogdan Ivan.
In addition, he stressed that “an integrated European approach could improve coverage across national border areas and support the EU in cases of harmful interference by third countries at external borders”.
”Removing obstacles, in particular diverse and difficult sectoral regulations, can facilitate the strengthening of cross-border cooperation. We have concrete, permanent contacts with the institutions at European level, we collaborate excellently with the competent institutions in Romania and we coordinate in defining Romania’s strategic objectives and in the tactical implementation of practical measures”, the Romanian official believes.
On how Romania is addressing the challenges of European regulation in the context of rapidly evolving technology, Bogdan Ivan said that ”for the Romanian Government, digital transformation is a country project”.
”Legislation must reflect the evolution of technology and European principles, which put the citizen at the centre and shape Europe as a global player with a decisive role in the promotion and development of technology,” says the Minister.
Cybersecurity: ”A strengthened cybersecurity legislation in Romania is an imperative for the digital systems of public institutions”
And because the digitalization of public institutions cannot be possible without cybersecurity, ”cybersecurity cooperation is not a luxury but a necessity in our digital age”, said Bogdan Ivan.
He called for ”a clear legislative framework, with short deadlines, which would provide a basis for rapid and effective action by the relevant institutions”.
”We have a National Cyber Strategy, which we updated on 31 January. We have strong institutions protecting our critical infrastructure. We have dedicated experts working tirelessly to counter cyber threats. IT experts recommend cloud solutions for public data infrastructure – these are considered to be the best protected against cyber threats. Romania has chosen the safest solution for cyber security – the government cloud. This 3rd millennium infrastructure helps to increase the security of Romania, located at the border of the EU and NATO. The government cloud is, according to our world-renowned cyber experts, Romania’s next line of defence”, he concluded.
