Comprehensive evaluation of digitalization in Romania

Abstract

The need for digitalization is increasingly present among companies, public services and people's lives. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of digitalisation has led to a sharp and significant reduction in transport, production and consumption, and the increased use of digitalization technology has attenuated energy-intensive work practices and lifestyles. The article presents a method for monitoring across EU member states, both in terms of the current state of digitization and the pace of development. This is done with the help of indicators of the digital economy and society, and the country under analysis is Romania. Although the IT industry is booming throughout Europe, Romania is still in a lower position in the European ranking of digitization, ranking 26th out of 27 countries. It is found that the main causes of these poor results are: lack of investment in research and development and education, lack of strategies, specialists and government coherence, resilience of the bureaucratic apparatus, corruption and lack of interest in the private sector.