Of the total budget of 2.2 billion euros available to the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Program 2021 - 2027, 811 million euros are allocated to the digitalization of public administration and 1.3 billion euros to research and innovation.
The program will bring funding for the development of advanced technological solutions for the digitalization of major public services, with a direct impact on approximately 3 million Romanians, announces the Ministry of Investments and European Projects.
By the end of this year, 17 calls for projects worth a total of 1.82 billion euros will be launched through the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Program 2021 - 2027.
Of these, 11 calls target the field of digitalization, and the other 6 will finance the research, development and innovation system.
3 million users of new and optimized public digital services, products and processes, at the end of the period
The Smart Growth, Digitalisation and Financial Instruments Programme will finance 3 investment priorities:
- Supporting and promoting an attractive and competitive research, development and innovation system;
- Digitalization in central public administration and the business environment;
- Digital transformation and improved service delivery in the cultural sector.
Among the projects that PCDIF will bring are investments in the area of robotics, industrial automation and IT, investments in technological solutions for hydrogen-based energy supply, investments for more efficient use of uranium resources and investments in future technologies (nanotechnologies, microelectronics, photonics, advanced materials and manufacturing technologies).
Regarding digitalization of major public services, the interventions aim to ensure the necessary IT systems for central public institutions to operationalize electronic public services, the creation, development, implementation of electronic public services, as well as the improvement of existing electronic public services from the perspective of the interaction of citizens, representatives of the private business environment with public institutions and authorities.
It is being watched. extensive digitalization of all administrative interactions with citizens, legal entities for the establishment of full e-government and from which citizens will benefit regardless of the type of public service they access, regardless of residency or the type of institution or public authority with which they interact.
PCIDIF also aims to develop school management through integrated digital platforms. This process includes developing unified databases necessary for the educational system, creation of the electronic catalog at national level, organizing/conducting national competitions/exams in pre-university education, identifying/centralizing the needs at the level of each pre-university education institution from the perspective of school management.
Expected results at the end of the period
- 2,923,943 users of new and optimized public digital services, products and processes;
- 3,992 users of new digital products, services and applications developed by enterprises;
- 624 businesses reaching a high level of digital intensity;
- Increased turnover for 615 enterprises;
- 635 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) introducing innovations in products or processes, marketing or organisation;
- 5,000 people benefiting from actions to develop the capacity to valorize heritage;
- 1912 employees from SMEs completing skills training programs for smart specialization, industrial transition and entrepreneurship (by type of skills: technical, management, entrepreneurship, environmental, others).
Categories of beneficiaries of projects financed through the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Program 2021 – 2027
They will benefit from funding allocated through PCIDIF:
- SMEs (for which the durability period is 3 years); research organizations (higher education institutions/institutes/research centers), consortia, large enterprises (only as partners of SMEs); start-ups and scale-ups; public or private start-up and scale-up support organizations; ROStart-up Association; SMEs in the IT sector (SMEs for which the durability period is 3 years);
- Beneficiaries of public services already provided online; individuals (e.g. birth registration), private legal entities (e.g. company registration), public administration employees, the population of Romania; the population (services performed in the educational field), pupils/students, teachers; the Ministry of Culture, the business environment, the population that benefits from digitized cultural products and performed services, in a broad sense the entire population that can become a user-consumer of culture – in its various forms – made available to citizens through digitization and in a specific sense all professionals in the cultural sector and complementary sectors (e.g. education, youth and sports, environmental protection, research, communication and business, etc.); EDIH, SMEs with a low degree of digitization whose digital maturity is very low and need support throughout the digitization process (SMEs for which the durability period is 3 years);
- Cultural operators organized as NGOs or SCs, public institutions in the cultural sector, religious institutions organized according to Law 486/2006, the Romanian Academy and the general public that benefit from digitized cultural products and performed services.
More details about PCIDIF can be found here: https://bit.ly/3K2iXj3
The calendar of calls for European funds for 2023 can be consulted here: https://bit.ly/3Z9sqtG
