Romania is last in EU’s Digital Economy and Society Index

Romania ranks last out of the EU-28 in the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2018, despite an improved performance in four of the five DESI dimensions. DESI is a composite index that summarises some 30 relevant indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the evolution of EU Member States, across five main dimensions: Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet, Integration of Digital Technology, Digital Public Services. Romania’s ranking remained unchanged over the previous year, although its score increased from 33,7 in 2017 to 37,5 in 2018. However, the overall progress was slow and the country failed to catch up, the report on Romania revealed. “Digitisation of the economy and digital skills in the population is low and hinders progress in most of the DESI dimensions,” reads the report. However, on the other hand, 44% of Romanian homes subscribe to ultrafast broadband (which is the 2nd highest in the EU). “ICT contributes 6-7% to Romania’s GDP and the digital sector is growing, with two major hubs in Bucharest and Cluj as well as significant ICT investments in other cities.” The full report on Romania is available here. Overall, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands have the most advanced digital economies in the EU, followed by Luxembourg, Ireland, the UK, Belgium and Estonia. Young Romanians, confident about future in digital economy Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com