Mr. PROF Vasile BALTAC, president of ATIC, he was awarded THE EXCELLENCE AWARD for the entire activity during the gala DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GALA by COMUNICAțII Mobile 2021, 18th edition
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In the “Debate Show & VIP Forum” Prof. Dr. Vasile Baltac emphasized the fact that “Europe adopted the Digital Decade 2030 program, which aims to increase the number of IT specialists from 7 million to 20 million, but I don’t think that the authorities in Romania understood that this program represents a huge opportunity for our country”
We reproduce the entire speech below:
Vasile BALTAC, PRESIDENT of ATIC (Association for Information Technology and Communications from Romania) @ DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GALA by COMUNICAțII Mobile 2021, the 18th annual edition, organized by DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL, Mobile COMMUNICATIONS Magazine and TelecomTV.ro on December 10, 2021.
2021 took place under the sign of the pandemic, remote work favored the IT&C sector and economic results consolidated the share of this sector in the structure of the national economy, surpassing construction and approaching agriculture.
Remote work has favored the IT sector and this positive trend should continue in 2022, especially if the pandemic ends. But there are a number of signals that I consider worrisome for the medium-term development.
The pandemic has created a new phenomenon, of digital nomads, who can work from attractive locations from a price point of view and who have a good IT infrastructure, as we actually have in Romania. Unfortunately, the authorities have not done anything to attract these digital nomads and develop appropriate economic activities here, in our country.
Yesterday, I attended a conference and learned from a parliamentary expert that there is legislation in preparation on this subject, but if this future legislation is only at the level of a parliamentary expert, the phenomenon may cease before it comes into force. I hope things move one way or another.
Related to the cancellation of facilities in the IT field, a topic that has also been talked about in previous years, I think such statements have caused concern among investors in the field. There is a possibility that, in the event of the cancellation of these facilities, Romanian IT specialists will be employed by entities from other states, where the legislation is favorable, and pay taxes and duties there.
Europe is facing a crisis of IT specialists, the unmet demand in this field being one million people. In the context of the digital transformation, which requires well-trained people, the demand will increase and Romania may face an acute lack of specialists.
DESI was discussed a lot, where we are wrong in many chapters. However, we have a good IT infrastructure, achieved predominantly through private effort, and we are better in that ranking.
Europe has adopted a program called Digital Decade 2030, which aims to increase the number of IT specialists from 7 million to 20 million, of which 50% are women. I don’t think that the authorities in Romania understood that this program represents a huge chance for our country.
The number of profile graduates is increasing, reaching 10,000, from 5-7,000 some time ago. However, the share of IT professionals in the total workforce is just over 2%, compared to the EU average of 3.2%.
My conclusion for 2022 is that it could be a turning point for the IT industry in Romania, but there are quite weak signs that it could be so.
To solve the problem of the lack of specialists, you have to solve the digital divide problem, divided into four points.
The first point is access. Romania is doing well here. The second point is related to affordability, meaning that people can afford access. We still have very big problems here, and the authorities should get involved, especially in disadvantaged areas. Another point is that of skills. Here, major investments should be made in the field of professionals, even if the phenomenon of departures outside the country manifests itself. The last point is the content, which has started to grow.
Personally, I like it gisheul.ro, which has made great strides forward.
I don’t know which digitization projects were included in the PNRR, but, in my opinion, Romania’s digital transformation requires many billions of euros.