The relationship between the Romanian state and its citizens abroad remains one of the major unresolved public policy issues. The relationship with digitalization is even more interesting.

Romania must launch the EUDI wallet by the end of 2026. Here, we look at the risks and solutions for implementation and adoption.

Romania's digital government maturity is no good. We propose five steps for the new government and explain why we can't wait any longer.

This working paper analyzes the concept of digital enabling state as a solution for the issue of electronic social services. Three use cases are presented in this regard: unitary pathways for unemployment management, disability management and family planning. Concrete solutions are presented for each use case, inspired both by international good practice models and reference studies, as well as by the realities present in Romania.

Romania is perpetually in the last (often last) places in the most important indicators of the European Union regarding innovation (27th out of 27), as well as in the most important indicators of the OECD's government digital transformation (27th out of 27) and similarly in the matter of most indicators of the general concept of "digitalization". We thus find ourselves in a world where technology and related regulations are advancing at a rapid pace, but in which the Romanian state assumes the identity of a passive observer.

If algorithms can rewrite democracy as they did in the 2024 and 2025 election seasons, institutions must be prepared to protect it. In order to combat digital disinformation and hybrid interference, however, we need a clear governance architecture: specific roles, courageous policies and good coordination between institutions. A country project of “digital resilience” and a “digital shield” for Romania are not built in silos, but through solid governance structures. Our model is a “whole-of-government to whole-of-society” one, segmented on three levels: the strategic level (a special department at the Presidential Administration), the operational level (Hub for Digital Resilience and Cognitive Defense at the Government), and the societal level.

In the context where improving public services requires the development of institutional capacity and assuming that the patronage-client system cannot be eliminated overnight, the realistic short-term solution is to capitalize on the already existing, but uncollected, fiscal potential. Digital becomes a key tool in this process, playing an essential role in facilitating the relationship between the state and the fiscal authority and in consolidating processes, from reducing evasion to increasing efficiency, by rebuilding trust and transparency in the "fiscal contract" of our society.

At the end of an electoral season in Europe marked by hybrid turbulence, the digital space has become the battleground for the future of our democracies. In Romania, the 2024 elections showed us that, without real digital protection, the ballot boxes can be overturned by algorithms. In the context of the adoption of the National Defense Strategy 2025-2030, the question is not whether we will have elections under the assault of hybrid interference in about 30 months, but how prepared we will be to defend them. In this study, we analyze the phenomenon of disinformation in the context of the 2024 and 2025 elections, also proposing solutions for a country project of “digital resilience”, through institutions with clear responsibilities, innovative policies and a civic resilience trained for democracy rewritten in algorithms.

The birth of a child and the associated events (registration, obtaining child-rearing allowance, granting the incentive for the mother to return to work, and granting the state allowance) involve a large number of institutions: from the medical unit that issues the medical certificate, to local authorities through population registration structures and structures responsible for granting financial benefits. Each of these institutions operates on the basis of distinct procedures and documentary requirements, producing a non-unitary path, in which the responsibility for integrating information falls disproportionately on the shoulders of the new parents, an aspect that could be addressed by digital transformation of the procedures.

Today's children are no longer just "users" of technology. From the earliest stages of their education, they assume the role of main actors in a world where digital skills determine the chances of education, work and civic participation. Early digital literacy thus becomes the key to an inclusive and competitive Romania. This policy paper investigates lessons that Romania can take from good European practices and what steps are possible for our school to support its "digital natives", through an innovative public policy framework, curricular innovation and a transformation of the current pedagogical model.