The OECD.AI Policy Navigator

The Competencies in Advanced Technologies for SMEs project, initiated by the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania (ADR) in 2022, aims to enhance the digital skills of employees in Romanian SMEs. Funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Component 7, Investment 19, the project will support the digital transformation of a minimum of 2,000 SMEs by providing fully financed training programs. The project is set to conclude on December 16, 2025

In the 2022–2023 school year, Romania introduced the optional subject “Introduction to Machine Learning” in upper secondary education (grades 11 and 12). This initiative, approved by the Ministry of Education through Order no. 4049/2022, aims to equip students with foundational digital skills essential for future careers. The curriculum was developed by a team of experts, including Dr. Viorica Păliucean, Dr. Răzvan Pașcanu, and others.

Romania participates in the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). The Romanian partner is the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest. Such capacity is primarily used for scientific and research purposes, and the demand for AI-specific uses has grown particularly in recent years and this infrastructure could be further leveraged to support AI start-ups and SMEs.

The objective of this investment in the context of Component 9 RRF: Business Support, Research, Development and Innovation is to support the development of microelectronics field in Romania.

A National Platform of Technologies and Semiconductors has been launched in December 2024 as a priority project aiming to bring together and consolidate the R&D capacities in the area of semiconductors.

This programme helps people gain digital and green skills needed for today’s jobs. It supports new or updated vocational training standards and trains teachers to keep up with technology. The aim is to prepare workers for careers in areas like AI, robotics, and sustainable development.

The main objective of this investment is to deploy government cloud infrastructure, using secure and energy efficient technologies to ensure the safe, interoperable and standardised public date, in order to provide higher quality public services. By centralising and modernising IT systems, the project seeks to improve data protection, enable seamless communication between government agencies, and reduce operational expenses.

This initiative supports the digital transformation of higher education in Romania. It helps students, teachers, researchers, and IT professionals by improving digital infrastructure and offering digital skills training. The goal is to modernize education and boost Romania’s competitiveness in emerging technologies.

All high schools in Romania are being equipped with intelligent laboratories (smart labs), with the Ministry of Education ensuring the funding of 1120 projects through the NRRP. Smart labs offer students the opportunity to personalise learning based on topics of interest and to reflect on their own learning process through the use of AI.

At ISCED level 2, the integrated optional subject “Robotics and Life” aims to train skills in transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary use of concepts acquired in Physics, Mathematics, Informatics and ICT, to develop research and technical creative skills. It includes designing and assembling models of robots and developing driving algorithms and programmes in simulated working environments.

The newly formed Romanian Committee for AI includes the establishment of the AI Education Council, facilitating input and guidance on issues related to Romanian AI skills development, education and training.

Romania's National Action Plan on the Digital Decade for Romania (2024–2030) aims to enhance the country's digital infrastructure and services. A key objective is to increase the number of edge nodes from 11 in 2024 to 113 by 2030, aligning with the EU's target of 10,000 climate-neutral, highly secure edge nodes. This expansion is part of Romania's broader strategy to improve digital connectivity and services nationwide.

The main objective of this investment is to upgrade the technologies used in public institutions so that they become cloud ready, while also developing new cloud native applications for cloud migration.

The Romanian National HPC Competence Center (RoNCC) creates a network of skills in High Performance Computing (HPC) and functions as an interface to facilitate access to resources and capabilities in this field, both in Romania and in Europe, through the EuroCC network, as the national contact point for providing support in training activities, technical expertise, access to HPC resources, consulting services and coordination of HPC activities at national level.

Two local communities have introduced 'virtual civil servants'. The creation of this 'civil servant,' based on artificial intelligence, is part of the digitisation process of procedures in the local public administration in Cluj. Galați City Hall also launched a virtual civil servant based on artificial intelligence. The virtual assistant is currently being trained and tested but will soon be able to provide information to citizens on town planning, taxes, fees, and other local revenues.

Lunit INSIGHT MMG is an AI solution for mammography that has been implemented with the private health sector to improve the detection of breast cancer.

The initiative aims to create an integrated approach to genomic medical research.

Romania is working towards a national genome data infrastructure to contribute to the 1+ MG project and share its available genome data.

In Romania, the EU4Health programme supports the creation of a National Health Data Observatory to improve how health information is collected and used for policymaking. It also backs the development of an integrated e-health system, linking hospitals and digital health records across the country. A further strand strengthens the digital literacy of medical staff, helping them use e-health tools and data securely in daily practice.

The objective of this investment (under the RRP) is to increase the advanced digital skills of the civil servants, aiming to support the digitalisation of the public services by improving the availability of a qualified workforce for internal IT&C operations. The investment consists of training for advanced digital skills (database management, system management, business analysis, data analysis, programming) for 32,500 civil servants (out of which 2,500 seniors).