Romanians see digitalization less as a buzzword and more as a basic service standard the state keeps failing to meet. The main benefit, cited overwhelmingly in an Edge Institute study, is the ability to submit requests and solve issues with public institutions entirely online, without ever queueing at a physical counter.
Almost half of respondents also highlight the convenience of having all key documents stored on their phone in a usable digital format (43.8%), and of no longer acting as couriers between institutions (43.1%).
For 79.1% of people, the top gain is time saved, as 60.4% of respondents point to faster access to information and services, and another 54.9 percent to reduced bureaucracy in state institutions.
How Romanians already use digital public services
The study shows most Romanians have interacted with online public services in the past year: 60.2% paid taxes or fees online, 49.6% used online booking systems for documents or transport, 32.6% booked appointments at public hospitals, and almost 30% obtained documents digitally from the town hall, tax office (ANAF) or other institutions.
Asked what needs urgent digitalization, respondents rank three priorities at the top: a single app containing all personal documents, usable with both public institutions and private companies (53.7%), online hospital appointments and access to the medical record (50.3%), and electronic issuance of personal documents (37.8%).
Access to online prescriptions, medical certificates and referrals also scores 37.8%, reinforcing health and identity as the core use cases. For roughly one in two Romanians, the absolute priority is a unified interface for dealing with the state and the private sector.
A state stuck in slow motion
The sharpest verdict in the study targets speed: 86.6% of respondents describe the current pace of state digitalization as slow or very slow. This confirms a deep mismatch between what citizens expect and what institutions deliver.
When evaluating the current level of digitalization, 83.4% say Romania is only “slightly digitalized” or “partially digitalized,” while just 8.4% see it as “quite” or “highly” digitalized.
