Digital Economy and Society Index 1 2015 2 Country Profile has an overall 3 of 0.49 and s 12 th out of the 28 Member States. During the past year, has improved its performance in all areas measured by DESI. In particular, is increasing its performance in connectivity, as fast broadband networks are being deployed (65% of households have access to fast broadband), although with gaps among regions. In general, is weak on the demand side, with low levels of digital skills (only 58% of Spaniards have basic digital skills) and Internet use, but strong on the supply side by companies (SMEs selling online and using einvoice are increasing significantly) and public services (digital public services is the area in which performs best; progress in this field is mostly due to a significant increase in the active users of egovernment, thanks to an improved offer of egovernment services). falls into the cluster of medium-performance 4 countries, where it performs at average. DESI 2015 12 0.49 0.51 0.47 DESI 2014 15 0.44 0.47 0.44 1 The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is a composite index developed by the European Commission (DG CNECT) to assess the development of countries towards a digital economy and society. It aggregates a set of relevant indicators structured around 5 dimensions: Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet, Integration of Digital Technology and Digital Public Services. For more information about the DESI please refer to http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/digital-agenda-board 2 The DESI 2015 is constructed from indicators referring mostly to the calendar year 2014 (except when data is not available for that calendar year, in which case the latest prior data was used). 3 DESI s range from 0 to 1, the higher the the better the country performance. 4 In the DESI 2015, the medium-performance cluster of countries comprises Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta,, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
1 Connectivity 1 Connectivity DESI 2015 17 0.53 0.6 0.55 DESI 2014 18 0.46 0.54 0.51 Regarding connectivity, is increasing its performance rapidly, albeit from a relatively low level. Mobile broadband and fast fixed broadband are the two motors of this improvement. 1a1 Fixed BB Coverage % households 1a2 Fixed BB Take-up % households 1b1 Mobile BB Take-up Subscribers per 100 people 1b2 Spectrum % of the target for spectrum to be harmonised at level 1c1 NGA Coverage % households, out of all households 1c2 Subscriptions to Fast BB % of subscriptions >= 30Mbps, out of fixed BB subscriptions 1d1 Fixed BB Price % individual gross income spent for the cheapest standalone Fixed Broadband subscription (lower values are better) value value value 97% 65% 72 76% 65% 19% 1.4% 19!! 8 " 11 20! 19! 11 97% 63% 58 76% 65% 12% 2.5% 19 13 12 20 22 25 97% 70% 67 70% 62% 22% 1.3% High-speed fixed and mobile broadband deployment has been accelerated also in the context of the adoption of the Digital Agenda for in 2013. As a result has relatively good coverage, but a focused effort is necessary to reduce the substantial differences between regions (Comunidades Autónomas): from 94% of broadband coverage at 30 Mbps and 92% of broadband coverage at 100 Mbps in the País Vasco to 22% and 4.8% respectively in Extremadura. In addition, inside the regions, differences are also important between urban and rural areas. Beyond coverage, there is also a clear need to reinforce uptake and regular use: broadband subscriptions continue to lag behind, with the gap between and the average actually slightly widening over the last couple of years. One contributing factor is that broadband connections were until recently still significantly more expensive than in the average. DESI 2015 Country Profile Romania Page 2 of 6
2 Human Capital 2 Human Capital DESI 2015 0.5 0.57 0.54 DESI 2014 17 0.47 0.54 0.52 With a Human Capital of 0.5, s in the lower half of countries, although it performs slightly better than in the previous year (0.47). 2a1 Internet Users % individuals (aged -74) 2a2 Basic Digital Skills % individuals (aged -74) 2b1 ICT Specialists % employed individuals 2b2 STEM Graduates Graduates in STEM per 1000 individuals (aged 20 to 29) value value value 71% 58% 2.5%! 17! 14 " 17 66% 55% 2.5% 19 15 17 75% 59% 2.8% 17 In order to fully develop its digital society, needs to engage more of its citizens to use the Internet and to acquire digital skills. While there is some progress from year to year, so far this progress has been too slow to catch up with the more advanced member states. However, Internet use has recently accelerated, including an increasing number of people without basic digital skills starting to get connected. Insufficient levels of digital skills also limit the exploitation of economic benefits of investments in ICT by companies and public authorities. Although is not faring too badly compared to other countries, in absolute levels the problem remains large. The problem has been recognised and measures have been proposed in the Digital Agenda for, but it is too early to tell how successful they are. DESI 2015 Country Profile Romania Page 3 of 6
3 Use of Internet 3 Use of Internet DESI 2015 22 0.38 0.44 0.41 DESI 2014 23 0.34 0.42 0.39 In terms of the propensity of individuals to use Internet services, s 0.38 (up from 0.34 last year) and s 22 nd among countries. This is 's weakest dimension. 3a1 News 3a2 Music, Videos and Games 3a3 Video on Demand % households that have a TV 3a4 IPTV % households that have a TV 3b1 Video Calls 3b2 Social Networks 3c1 Banking 3c2 Shopping % individuals who used Internet in the last year (aged -74) value value value! 12 70% 18 67% 78% 52% 21% 4.3% 32% 67% 49% 48%! 13 49% 18 21% 22 4.3%! 25 28%! 9 64%! 18 46%! 18 43% 17 49% 17 39% 22 13% 24 37% 10 58% 19 57% 17 63% Spanish people are keen to engage in a variety of online activities, but the overall hides important differences across services. The band-hungry video applications (IPTV, video calls and to some extent video-on-demand) are much less used in than in the as a whole, probably reflecting the limited availability of sufficiently fast broadband networks and the use of alternative channels. On the other hand, those Spaniards that use the Internet are avid users of social networks, in common with a number of other countries from the low and medium-performance groups. For those applications requiring a good deal of trust in online security, i.e. online banking and online shopping, shows quite low levels of adoption, albeit not among the worst. In so far as these applications are among the key drivers of adoption of the Internet, their low level of adoption can partly explain why the overall Internet use in is relatively low. DESI 2015 Country Profile Romania Page 4 of 6
4 Integration of Digital Technology 4 Integration of Digital Technology DESI 2015 14 0.36 0.37 0.33 DESI 2014 15 0.32 0.34 0.3 In Integration of Digital Technology by businesses, s 0.36, better than most other dimensions and progressing more rapidly than the average. 4a1 Electronic Information Sharing 4a2 RFID 4a3 Social Media 4a4 einvoices 4a5 Cloud 4b1 SMEs Selling Online % SMEs (no financial sector, 10+ employees) 4b2 ecommerce Turnover % turnover of SMEs (no financial sector, 10-249 employees) 4b3 Selling Online Cross-border % SMEs (no financial sector, 10+ employees) value value value! 11 31% 13 31% 36% 6.5% 20% 8.8% 9.3% % 8.1% 4.5%! 3 4.3% (2011)! 9 18%! 18 6.8% 2 3.8% 6 14% 23 11% 15 n.a. - 11%! 10 12%! 14 7.4% 21 4.5% 14 15% 8.8% 21 6.5% Spanish businesses are increasingly making use of the new digital technologies. The share of SMEs selling online has recently made a jump, and the share of SMEs using einvoice is progressing rapidly, partly in response to the mandatory use of einvoice in interaction with the central government (see dimension Digital Public Services). On the other hand, the use of social media is growing only slowly, which is unusual for an economy with a very strong focus on tourism and accommodation services, and also contrasts with the enthusiastic adoption of social networks by Spanish residents. Spanish SMEs exploit the potential of cross-border sales only to a small extent, but this is fairly typical for large member states. DESI 2015 Country Profile Romania Page 5 of 6
5 Digital Public Services 5 Digital Public Services DESI 2015 6 0.65 0.49 0.47 DESI 2014 6 0.61 0.45 0.45 Digital Public Services is the dimension where performs best of all DESI 2015 dimensions: with a of 0.65, s 6 th among countries. Moreover, 's improved faster than the average. 5a1 egovernment Users % individuals returning filled forms, out of Internet users in the last year (aged -74) 5a2 Pre-filled Forms Score (0 to 100) 5a3 Online Service Completion Score (0 to 100) 5a4 Open Data Score (0 to 700) 5b1 Medical Data Exchange % General Practitioners 5b2 eprescription % General Practitioners value value value 37% 56 91 550 64% 53%! 12! 12 " 4 32% 54 91 13 12 3 2 n.a. - 5 8 64% 53% 5 8 33% 45 75 380 36% 27% Progress in the area of digital public services has come mostly from a significant increase in the active users of egovernment. This probably reflects an improved offer of egovernment services. Indeed, since the creation of the Commission to reform the public administrations (CORA) in October 2012, the digitalisation of public services has been an important element of 's administration reform and has been considered broadly positive by the OECD in 2014. As a result of a the Law on einvoicing and the creation of an accounting record of 2013, electronic invoicing has become obligatory for all suppliers dealing with the central public administration for more than 5000 as of 15 January 2015. This increases efficiency and reduces fraud. Many autonomous regions have already adhered to the central entry portal (FACe) or are putting a similar system in place. A new law on administrative procedure is scheduled for adoption early in 2015, with the objective of a paperless administration. As far as ehealth is concerned, is fairly advanced in comparison to the, but at quite some distance from the leading Nordics. There is this still considerable potential for further improvement. DESI 2015 Country Profile Romania Page 6 of 6