Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania are below the European average when it comes to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), accounting for only 2.78% of the total, compared to 13.48% at the European Union (EU) level, according to a report by the European Commission (EC), cited in an analysis by ECDL Romania, a leader in digital skills certification in the country.

'Romania faces a worrying digital divide among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), despite its solid connectivity infrastructure. According to the European Commission (EC) report Digital Decade 2025 - Country Report: Romania, only 2.78% of Romanian SMEs use artificial intelligence applications, compared to the EU average of 13.48%. At the same time, only 14.8% of SMEs use cloud services, and 21% use data analysis in their activities,' the expert analysis shows.

According to the cited source, as a direct response to this gap, ECDL Romania - ICDL Certification and the Romania's Business People Association (AOAR) have launched the GhidAI.ro platform, which supports Romanian entrepreneurs and managers with concrete solutions for digital transformation: a set of free, practical resources tailored to the reality of SMEs, to understand and apply emerging technologies - starting with AI.

The European Commission's report data clearly shows that Romania ranks well below the EU average in emerging technologies. Thus, 14.8% of SMEs use cloud services (EU average: 39%); 21% of SMEs use data analysis technologies (EU: 33%); 28.7% of Romanian companies use at least one of the three technologies (AI, cloud, or data analysis), compared to the EU average of 54.7%; 69.1% of SMEs achieve at least a basic level of digital intensity (EU: 72.91%), but only 27.7% of citizens have such essential digital skills (EU: 55.6%).

'Although the gap has narrowed by 14.7% compared to the previous year, limited access to finance, bureaucracy, and lack of internal resources continue to slow down the digital transformation process among SMEs in Romania. The EC report recommends that Romania improve SMEs' access to training, financing, and digital innovation hubs (EDIH) in order to accelerate the adoption of new technologies. The GhidAI.ro platform complements these efforts by providing SMEs with a concrete and accessible starting point for understanding and integrating AI and digital solutions into their current activities. From streamlining operations and reducing costs to faster and more informed decisions, Artificial Intelligence can become the growth engine for Romanian SMEs,' says ECDL Romania.

According to the digital skills certifier, the new GhidAI. ro provides clear explanations on how AI works and how it can be integrated into the daily activities of SMEs, concrete examples and tech solutions adapted to the local market, which demonstrate the positive impact of AI, as well as a digital self-assessment questionnaire, which helps companies understand their current level of digitization and their real needs for the next step.

Interested companies can also receive personalized recommendations to take the first steps in adopting AI responsibly and efficiently.

Access to GhidAI.ro is 100% online and free of charge.

The EU has imposed clear requirements for AI literacy through the AI Act. Starting February 2, 2025, all organizations that develop or use artificial intelligence systems must ensure that their employees have the necessary skills to work efficiently and responsibly with these technologies.

ECDL Romania - the leader in digital skills certification at the national level - and AOAR have created GhidAI.ro to support the digital transformation of SMEs in Romania. The project is part of a broad effort to promote digital literacy and AI literacy, with useful and applicable tools. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)