1. Assessment and recommendations

Abstract

This chapter presents the assessment of the state of digital government in Romania, based on the analysis undertaken as part of this review. It includes policy recommendations to support Romania in the digital transformation of the public sector. The assessment and recommendations are structured around four areas: 1) the governance for digital government; 2) public sector capabilities for digital government; 3) data-driven public sector; and 4) service design and delivery in the digital age.

    

Governance for digital government

Contextual factors

A government’s political and administrative cultures play a pivotal role in shaping the governance of digital government and need to be taken into account in the development and implementation of digital government strategies. In addition, understanding the broader socio-economic and technological context is crucial for effectively governing the digital transformation of the public sector. Considering the economic conditions, existing levels of digital maturity across society, demographics and technological advancements enables the alignment of strategic decisions on digital government with a country’s unique needs and opportunities.

In recent years, Romania has shown notable economic growth, reaching 4.8% in 2022 driven by robust private consumption and increased investments. However, underlying structural vulnerabilities such as persistent poverty, economic disparities, gender gaps in workforce participation, and institutional constraints have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical events such as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Additionally, high disparities across the country, particularly between the capital and other regions, have been identified as key vulnerabilities impacting labour productivity, investment, and employment. Demographic shifts in Romania have also presented challenges. The population has declined, mainly due to emigration, with approximately 5.7 million Romanians residing abroad, as well as aging demographics with a notable increase in the proportion of individuals aged 65 and older.

Regarding the technological context, Romania has made important efforts to enhance its telecommunication infrastructure and digital connectivity, ranking among the fastest-growing countries for fixed broadband. Moreover, the country’s thriving start-up landscape, fuelled by a growing ICT workforce in the private sector, has positioned it as an emerging innovation hub in central and eastern Europe. Nevertheless, persistent challenges remain in narrowing the digital divide, particularly between urban and rural areas, and attracting and retaining digital talents in the public sector.

Institutional set-up

In recent years, Romania has grappled with maintaining a strategic and consistent approach to the digital transformation of the public sector due to frequent changes in government decisions and practices around the governance arrangements for digital government. The responsibility of leading the digital transformation efforts has shifted among various government organisations. This has impacted continuity of digital government initiatives and undermined the overall digital government agenda.

Established in 2020, the Authority for Digitalization of Romania (ADR), under the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization (MCID), assumed the role of leading organisation for digital government. The ADR aims to expedite the nation's digital transformation and foster the growth of the information society. Government directives entrusted the ADR with strategical planning, policy development and implementation of digital government initiative across the public sector, closely collaborating with the General Secretariat of the Government (GSG). Its core functions involve coordinating and managing information systems that facilitate eGovernment services, such as the eGovernment Portal and the Electronic System for Public Procurement. The ADR is also tasked with streamlining administrative procedures for service providers and achieving interoperability at both national and European levels.

Despite its mandate outlined in the government directives, the ADR faces challenges in gaining legitimacy and authority with public sector institutions, with limited attention from higher leadership. Its existing objectives and functions fall shy of decision-making and co-ordination responsibilities. They are primarily centred around providing technical support to other government entities in their digital pursuits, rather than driving transformative changes across the public sector. Consequently, this limits the ADR’s ability to achieve horizontal co-ordination with public sector institutions and alignment with subnational governments, which has resulted in fragmented efforts, duplicated initiatives, and a disconnect among national, institutional, and subnational priorities. The ADR's limited mandate have also contributed to weakened oversight and accountability, potentially resulting in resource misallocation and the persistence of underperforming initiatives.

Co-ordination and co-operation

Despite being recognised across the public sector, the co-ordination mechanism for digital transformation requires effectiveness in promoting inter-ministerial communication and collaboration. In Romania, the Committee for e-governance and red tape reduction (CERB) co-ordinates the implementation of the digital transformation of the public sector with the support of the GSG, based on the government decision no.331. The Committee led by the prime minister is composed of high-level representatives from 27 public institutions. The Committee is mandated to ensure coherence in the implementation, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of “e-government” policies; to facilitate inter-ministerial co-ordination for implementing, administering, and operating electronic public services; and to provide a compliance framework for common technical standards and regulations in this domain. It is supported by the Technical-Economic Committee for the Information Society (CTE). The CTE is led by the president of the ADR, and serves as a technical committee that offers support in the development and monitoring of the national policy for digital government transformation.

These two prominent committees are widely acknowledged by almost all public sector institutions. Nonetheless, various stakeholders share doubts regarding their actual effectiveness, particularly concerning the inter-ministerial co-ordination mechanism. The CERB has not been effective enough to facilitate communication and collaboration across the public sector, thereby lacking the institutional alignment and coherence necessary for a successful digital transformation across the public sector. The waning influence of the committee has led to the subsequent decline in active engagement from its members. To harness the potential of the existing coordination mechanism, the government can consider implementing concrete measures to strengthen existing processes to ensure a coherent and sustainable digital transformation across the public sector.

Strategy and plan

The absence of a comprehensive digital government strategy hinders the digital transformation of the Romanian public sector. In 2020, the GSG and the ADR jointly published eRomania – A Public Policy in eGovernment, officially endorsed by the government in June 2021. The primary objective of this policy is to bolster the quantity and quality of e-government services in Romania by empowering public institutions to advance and implement them. The policy details roadmap to advance e-government services around 36 key life events impacting citizens and businesses and a set of actions to amplify the range of electronic services and enhance the digital competencies of public servants by 2030. Yet, the policy falls short as the digital government strategy that transcends e-government services and can guide digital transformation at the whole of government level.

Proposals for action In light of the key assessments elaborated above, which draw on the main findings and analysis included in Chapter 2 of this review, the Romanian government could consider implementing the following policy recommendations:
1. Empower the Authority for Digitalization of Romania (ADR) as the organisation-in-charge of driving the digital government agenda across the public sector. The following actions can be considered: a. Position the ADR within the General Secretariat of the Government (GSG) for a greater political support and legitimacy to set a shared whole-of-government vision. b. Create an interdisciplinary team with representatives from the ADR and GSG to create synergies on the cross-cutting policy areas, including open government and de-bureaucratisation.
2. Strengthen the co-ordination and collaboration mechanism to secure engagement of all relevant stakeholders across the public sector. The following actions can be considered: a. Take concrete measures (e.g., enhancing communication channels, setting measurable targets) to strengthen processes under the Committee for e-governance and red tape reduction (CERB) and the Technical-Economic Committee for the Information Society (CTE) to ensure coherence and sustainability of the digital transformation agenda. b. Establish a platform to allow practitioners at the technical level from different public sector institutions to promote knowledge sharing, institutional learning and building trust among institutions. c. Enhance the ADR’s monitoring and impact assessment functions to ensure the effective implementation of the digital government agenda. d. Establish organised and regular co-ordination meetings with digital leaders of the subnational governments to extend the impact of digital transformation to the subnational level.
3. Develop a dedicated digital government strategy proposing a vision to facilitate the transition from e-government to digital government. The following actions can be considered: a. Leverage the CERB and the CTE to set an ambitious vision and clear priorities at the whole-of-government level, taking into consideration specific institutional needs. b. Align the digital government strategy with other sectoral and thematic strategies to ensure coherence and gain support from the wider public sector. c. Ensure that the digital government strategy is accompanied by a detailed action plan and a long-term investment plan along with responsible actors for each action item. d. Engage key stakeholders from public, private sectors and civil society from the formulation stage of the strategy and ensure ongoing co-ordination throughout implementation. e. Continue to track and monitor the progress made by all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the strategy remains relevant and on course.

Public sector capacities for the digital transformation of government

Management of digital government investments

In Romania, planning related to digital government is the result of the collaboration between the Committee for e-Governance and Red-Tape (CERB), under the Prime Minister's Office, and the ADR under the co-ordination of the MCID. This governance arrangement presents challenges in terms of clarity of roles and effective co-ordination with other public sector institutions for the implementation of the digital government policy and projects in the country. This impacts the government's capability to cohesively manage investments in digital government. The ADR, primarily focused on the provision of technical assistance, assesses and approves investments through the CTE. However, the CTE often operates under limited co-ordination with the CERB, leading to possible duplicated efforts and reduced inter-institutional collaboration. This is particularly relevant in the context of increased availability of EU funds for the digital transformation of governments which are managed and co-ordinated directly by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIEP).

The technical nature of the CTE also impedes a holistic and strategic approach to digital investments, e.g., it limits the government’s capacity to leverage evidence to monitor investments from planning through benefits realisation. The current system largely emphasises technical aspects (such as technical requirements and standards for development), does not provide a strategic analysis of the benefits of digital projects, and does not align investment decisions with broader policy frameworks. Similarly, there is limited clarity on the criteria used to prioritise ICT projects. Almost all projects get approved, but the basis for approval remains unclear for most of the interviewed public sector institutions. Also, collaboration with the National Agency for Public Procurement (NAPP) is limited. This situation impacts the existing culture and capacities to effectively source ICT/digital goods and services from the private sector in sustainable ways. This includes the involvement of govtech start-ups to promote collaboration, innovation, and cost-effective digital solutions.

Despite the legal mandate for the ADR to monitor and evaluate digital policies, there is no comprehensive system to track the implementation of ICT/digital projects and associated investments, e.g., set of key performance indicators or specific monitoring framework for key and cross-organisational investments. The ADR publishes regular updates and reports online, but these do not offer an in-depth look into the progress of digital investments, as they rather focus on communicating key events and milestones of related projects. Monitoring of EU funds is managed by the MIEP, and the ADR is only involved in projects within its immediate scope. Romania could leverage existing platforms such as MySMIS and Fonduri-EU.RO to develop a broader monitoring framework to track progresses achieved in terms of digital transformation, using key performance indicators.

Digital talent and skills in the public sector

The ADR is responsible for fostering digital talent and skills within the Romanian public sector, as per their mandate outlined by law. Upon this remit, the ADR is expected to design and implement a national plan to enhance digital skills across the central government. This responsibility coincides with the mandate of the National Agency for Civil Servants (NACS), which oversees civil service policy, recruitment, and talent development. However, a noticeably limited co-ordination between the ADR and NACS has caused ambiguity about the authoritative body responsible for the development of digital talent in the Romanian public sector.

Despite the development of digital talent and skills being a high priority for numerous institutions, the peer review process evidenced that Romania does not have yet a clear strategy to address the attraction, promotion, and retention of digital talent in the public sector. No authoritative entity is identified for defining and communicating digital skills profiles, leading to inconsistent standards across the Romanian government. Additionally, Romania's public sector confronts structural challenges to attract and retain digital talent, especially compared to the more competitive conditions offered by the IT sector. In this context, Romania is not tapping on complementary and out-of-the-box solutions that would create better conditions for digital talent in the public sector, including flexible working arrangements or teleworking.

In the absence of a common strategy and vision for digital talent in the Romanian government and due to a strongly legalistic and technology-led approach to the digital transformation, public sector organisations still work largely in siloes and do not often collaborate in the implementation of joint digital transformation initiatives. Furthermore, there is no clear baseline to assess the digital talent needs in the public sector in a comprehensive and holistic way. Ongoing initiatives such as the training programme led by NACS with EU funds, or Together in a Digital Romania run by the non-for-profit Romanian sector are contributing to strengthening public sector capacities for government digital transformation in the country. Nevertheless, the efforts require to go beyond technical skills to secure a comprehensive set of digital competencies that includes leadership, strategy, and service design skills at horizontal and vertical levels within the government.

Proposals for action In light of the key assessments elaborated above, which draw on the main findings and analysis included in Chapter 3 of this review, the Romanian government could consider implementing the following policy recommendations:
4. Establish a comprehensive and end-to-end framework for managing investments on digital government. The following actions can be considered: a. Set governance mechanisms for strategic decisions on investments which are clear, agreed upon by the Romanian digital government ecosystem and binding (e.g., a high-level committee for investment prioritisation) aligning the mandate of the ADR and CERB as well as integrating key stakeholders such as MIEP and ANAP. b. Revisit the Technical-Economic Committee’s value proposition model and approval process to transform them into a strategic assessment mechanism, securing clear alignment with policy goals and criteria for prioritising and approving investments. c. Define an IT portfolio system that integrates value proposition (strategic and technical), prioritisation, funding approval and monitoring of investments, in co-ordination with MIEP, GSG and MCID. d. Leverage existing processes to apply for and monitor EU funds in digital transformation within the recommended government IT portfolio. e. Create dedicated guidelines for ICT procurement to leverage existing procurement mechanisms for digital transformation beyond regular open tendering processes. f. Explore options to develop a dedicated digital marketplace to support sourcing of digital goods and services. g. Consider the implementation of a dedicated GovTech initiative that supports a culture of innovation, experimentation, and collaboration within the public sector through collaborations with the ecosystem of innovators and entrepreneurs. h. Develop a dedicated monitoring system for investments that provides strategic information for ADR and the public sector about the implementation of investments, leveraging processes and standards for existing systems to obtain EU funding. i. Advance in the implementation of a user satisfaction system that effectively captures the experience of users with the public sector to inform policymaking and service design and delivery as part of the efforts to monitor impact of investments.
5. Strengthen government capacities to attract, retain and develop digital talent and skills in the public sector. The following actions can be considered: a. Improve the co-ordination between the ADR and NACS regarding digital talent and skills in the public sector, articulating their roles and mandates into a dedicated governance structure. b. Establish a dedicated digital skills framework for the Romanian public sector, including the definition of job families, profiles and a roadmap for talent needs in the short, medium, and long term. c. Set a government-wide and comprehensive measurement instrument to assess digital talent and skills needs in the public sector, complementing NACS’s existing efforts. d. Explore the use of out-of-the-box and flexible solutions to increase incentives to attract and retain digital talent and skills in the public sector, including the use of teleworking arrangements, flexible working hours, promotion schemes and microlearning. e. Leverage the experience of more digitally mature public sector institutions to promote digital talent and skills and consider actions to expand their applicability. f. Define dedicated training, upskilling methods and communities of practice for flagship digital government initiatives such as the government cloud and interoperability framework that help close existing capacity gap among public sector institutions.

Towards a data-driven public sector

Data governance

Currently, Romania does not have a central focal point driving the Data-Driven Public Sector (DDPS) agenda, with partial responsibilities falling on the ADR and the MCID. Open government data initiatives are overseen by the GSG, which operates the open data platform data.gov.ro, while the Special Telecommunication Service plays a role in data infrastructure. The absence of clear leadership has negative implications for accountability in promoting a DDPS. Furthermore, as there is also no formal data strategy for the public sector, this is resulting in fragmented efforts and varying levels of data management maturity across institutions.

Recent developments in Romania have focused on compliance with EU directives and frameworks, including the adoption of Law 242/2022, regarding data exchange between IT systems and the creation of the National Interoperability Platform, and the transposition of the EU Open Data Directive with Law 179/2022. While public institutions find the legal framework for data gathering and sharing to be well-suited to their needs, the availability of guidelines and standards to support implementation is perceived as insufficient. Moreover, a shortage of data professionals within the public sector has created a dependency on external contractors and the absence of a data-driven culture and culture of collaboration pose significant challenges to data sharing.

Romania will invest significantly in data infrastructure projects, notably the government cloud initiative. However, concerns have arisen regarding data privacy and trust in the government regarding handling sensitive personal data, as overall public trust in government remains low. Finally, while Romania has made progress towards interoperability including through the national interoperability law, successful implementation will require improved leadership, governance, and support from the central government.

Open government data

In recent years, Romania has made notable progress in open government data (OGD), primarily driven by its open government agenda. The country’s 2020-2022 OGP action plan included a dedicated action for open data, which led to advancements in the publication of datasets, fostered engagement between government and civil society institutions, and facilitated the transposition of the EU Open Data Directive. However, the GSG, who is responsible for Romania’s open government data policy, has identified several key limitations to data publication, including insufficient dedicated resources at the institutional level, organisational changes within government institutions affecting the sustainability of efforts, the need for a clearer normative framework, and the low priority given to open data publication both politically and technically.

An evident gap is that Romania does not have a formal strategy for OGD, resulting in an uncoordinated approach across public sector institutions. Government awareness and capacity for this policy area are limited and responsibilities within ministries are often unclear, as it can be assigned to civil servants working on very different areas, including IT management or access to information. Consequently, open data efforts are missing elements to bring coherence and alignment across the public sector.

Romania can also progress in making more high-value open data available and accessible to the public. Currently, there are relatively few datasets in high value categories, as defined by the OECD, that are available in open data format (around 20%). While Romania performs well in some high-value data categories, like statistics, in others, including geospatial data, mobility, and government finances, very few datasets are available as open data. The challenge for Romania also lies in maintaining high-quality metadata, timeliness, and access to data through APIs. Promoting data reuse within and outside the government remains underdeveloped, despite new commitments such as workshops and events in the new OGP action plan. Sustainable engagement with stakeholders and monitoring open data’s impact are essential steps to drive Romania's open data initiatives forward and ensure their lasting value.

Proposals for action In light of the key assessments elaborated above, which draw on the main findings and analysis included in Chapter 4 of this review, the Romanian government could consider implementing the following policy recommendations:
6. Enhance data governance in the public sector. The following actions can be considered: a. Define clear leadership for the data-driven public sector agenda. b. Develop a data strategy for the public sector through an open and participatory process. c. Ensure access to guidelines to support data management and compliance with new rules across the public sector. d. Invest in the recruitment, training, and career development for data professionals within the public sector to reduce dependence on external contractors and enhance internal capacity. e. Prioritise trainings on data literacy and foster collaboration among agencies to create a culture where data is valued for improving public services and policymaking. f. Facilitate the practical implementation of the new law on interoperability and data exchange, especially concerning governance and co-ordination of base registry data.
7. Improve the approach to open government data. The following actions can be considered: a. Develop an action-oriented open government data strategy as a sub-set of a broader data strategy to better link the two policy areas. b. Continue to raise awareness about open government data at both political and technical levels. Make sure these efforts are integrated into broader data literacy trainings. c. Promote better resource management for OGD policies and consider establishing specific roles responsible for overseeing data management and open data within individual organisations – such as data stewards. d. Develop user-friendly guidelines for public officials on how to publish open data while complying with existing rules. e. Focus on advancing the availability of open government data in high-value data categories defined by the OECD, in particular education, crime and justice, but also earth observation and environment, government finances and accountability, and geospatial and mobility data. f. Work to improve metadata quality and timeliness of data publication and invest in the provision of APIs as part of an upgrade of Romania’s data infrastructure. g. Establish engagement mechanisms with potential data re-users in the ecosystem through formal partnerships with civil society organisations or industry associations. h. Monitor the use and impact of the publication of open government data taking into consideration costs and benefits in different categories (e.g., social benefits, economic benefits, public sector performance) that are both tangible and intangible, direct and indirect, short-term and long-term. Prioritise targeted assessments of high-value data categories as a first step.

Service design and delivery in the digital age

Philosophy of service design and delivery

The philosophy and culture of service design and delivery are key to creating a sustainable environment where inclusive digital transformation and quality services thrive. Effective user experiences are those that are straightforward, date-driven to anticipate and proactively manage processes that previously required additional steps. This begins with designing services that consider the needs of all users of society, especially those in vulnerable groups requiring additional support. Achieving this involves having the right leadership and vision that facilitates collaboration across the public sector and stakeholders to fully comprehend challenges and create end-to-end user experiences.

Currently, Romania lacks centralised leadership capable of articulating a shared vision and strategic approach to designing and delivering user-driven, proactive and inclusive public services suitable for the digital age. While the ADR under co-ordination of the MCID spearheads digital transformation of the public sector, its mandate primarily focuses on managing information systems facilitating online service provision. This leadership gap presents a hurdle in designing and delivering public services tailored to diverse user needs.

A central challenge in transforming the design and delivery of public services stems from the wide array of institutions within the Romanian public sector, each at varying levels of digital maturity. Without a shared vision and strategic oversight, this disparity among the public sector institutions can further cause inconsistencies in how services are designed, delivered and experienced by users. In this fragmented service landscape, establishing a standardised and intuitive user journey becomes even more challenging. Moreover, varying digital maturity levels often indicate a lack of data governance, impeding efforts to adopt a cohesive and integrated approach to service design and delivery across the public sector.

In the absence of leadership and a shared vision, in Romania, like in all parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic expedited the shift from in-person service provision to remote basis, favouring a “digital by default” approach. Nevertheless, face-to-face interactions at government offices remain to be the most used service channel, followed by the institutional or sector-specific websites and phone communications. Additionally, more traditional forms of written communication such as letters and printed forms are still preferred by users.

Setting an enabling environment for the digital transformation of public services

Uniform guidelines and standards as well as digital public infrastructure are vital for ensuring a consistent approach to the digitalisation of government services, helping design and provide services that enable a cohesive experience for users. In Romania, the ADR is responsible for supporting service providers in their digitalisation journey through the implementation of a Government as a Platform approach, however this role is not fully leveraged for the issuance of supporting guidelines and standards to enable a coherent digital transformation of the government.

The absence of a common vision and strategy for service design and delivery results in a limited availability of common guidelines and standards for the public sector. Given the dominant legalistic culture in the Romanian public sector, regulatory frameworks play a significant role in shaping policy operationalisation and are not often complemented by actionable guidelines and standards that equip service teams to implement them. In the context of the implementation of EU funds and ambitions to design a new digital government strategy, the existing remit of the ADR do not fully acknowledge this entity's role in issuing supporting guidance to service teams.

The limited availability of guidelines and standards on agile management, ICT procurement, service design and user research may deepen the digital gap within the Romanian public sector where disparities exist in terms of digital government maturity (e.g., challenges to attract and retain digital talent, to use EU funds for the digital transformation).

Similar challenges are observed in the development of common digital tools for the digitalisation of government services. Romania is advancing with the implementation of core digital government infrastructure, notably the Government Cloud initiative, the National Interoperability Framework, and the national digital identity system in line with EU eIDAS, all under the responsibility of the ADR. Altogether, these initiatives aim to establish an ecosystem of common tools to equip service teams to transform government services and deliver results that are more proactive and driven by user needs. However, more robust governance models and supporting guidance are needed to make sure that technology developments realise their benefits and contribute to a human-centric and coherent digital transformation in the whole government. Additionally, Romania is giving less attention to other key pieces of digital public infrastructure that are critical for a seamless and convenient experience of users with service delivery, including digital notifications and payments.

Proposals for action In light of the key assessments elaborated above, which draw on the main findings and analysis included in Chapter 5 of this review, the Romanian government could consider implementing the following policy recommendations:
8. Establish a shared vision and strategic approach to public service design and delivery across the public sector. The following actions can be considered: a. Strengthen the mandate of the ADR and the MCID together with the GSG to ensure coherent and sustainable public service design and delivery in Romania. b. Develop a comprehensive strategic document on service design and delivery, emphasising shared vision, objectives and concrete actions to ensure a coherent approach across the public sector in line with the dedicated digital government strategy. c. Involve diverse stakeholders, including public and private sectors, as well as civil society representatives, in the development and implementation process to ensure the approach is inclusive and representative of a wide array of perspectives. d. Conduct capacity-building programmes and awareness campaigns to enhance the importance of coherent service design and delivery. e. Facilitate collaboration across the public sector through inter-ministerial co-ordination carried out by the GSG to align efforts and synchronise actions towards the common goal of coherent and sustainable service design and delivery. f. Create a community of practices to encourage knowledge sharing, peer learning and re-use of best practices.
9. Promote an omnichannel approach to ensure a seamless public service experience for service users. The following priorities can be considered: a. Embed an inclusive “digital by design” approach to service design and delivery in a future digital government strategy to resist the exclusive adoption of a “digital by default” approach. b. Engage users through surveys, public consultations and feedback mechanisms to understand their preferences for service channels and incorporate their feedback into the policymaking cycle. c. Organise design thinking workshops involving relevant stakeholders to co-develop a service design approach that streamlines the entire service cycle, by eliminating barriers and encouraging a data-driven approach.
10. Secure the development and use of common guidelines and standards to support service design and delivery. The following actions can be considered: a. Expand the mandate of the ADR including provisions to secure the quality, convenience and user-centricity of government services, such as issuance of practical guidance and standard setting. b. Develop an ecosystem of guidelines and standards to equip public service providers in the implementation of digital government regulatory frameworks such as those related to government cloud, interoperability and digital identity. c. Co-develop a dedicated service standard to establish common principles and procedures across the public sector and actively promote its adoption and use by public sector institutions. d. Leverage the expertise and experience of more mature public sector institutions to develop supporting guidance instruments in key areas such as user research, service design, ICT procurement and agile management. e. Implement a communication plan with activities aimed to secure that enabling guidelines and supporting guidance for service transformation are well communicated across the Romanian public sector.
11. Promote the development of a robust and sustainable ecosystem of digital government infrastructure. The following actions can be considered: a. Intensify ongoing efforts for the implementation of core digital government infrastructure, including government cloud, interoperability framework and digital identity. b. Secure a robust and collaborative governance framework for the government cloud initiative, including binding co-ordination mechanisms across policy sectors. c. Articulate the implementation of the government cloud initiative with broader policy goals in Romania to secure internal buy-in and legitimacy among public and private stakeholders. d. Leverage the policy window of the implementation of the government cloud and the interoperability framework to introduce reforms to other digital government enablers such as ICT procurement. e. Strengthen the co-ordination for and governance of digital identity between the ADR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to secure that digital identity solutions are consistent, human-centric, and interoperable. f. Consider the development of other critical digital government infrastructure such as a digital notification system for the Romanian public sector, tapping on international collaboration and existing global digital public goods.