The field Research, technology, innovation mainly refers to the capacity of the social body to constantly enrich its knowledge, to generate new knowledge and innovation in technology and economic life. In terms of importance, this field is situated at the crossroads of development vectors, feeding the economy’s competitiveness sources and the changes that support an increase in social well-being. In the case of Romania, despite Romanian researchers’ remarkable potential, a fact proven by the medals and prizes obtained at international exhibitions of inventions, this field is marred by several vulnerabilities: weak coordination between research institutions and productive sectors, insufficient budget allocation, low investment in research by the private sector, as well as the small number of specialists employed in research. [read more]
The decrease in the number of human resources in research is linked to a variety of factors, among which the low level of research funds and the large number of students and specialists in various fields (doctors, engineers, IT specialists, etc.) departing for countries in Western Europe. This phenomenon is unprecedented in Romania’s history. Romania is thus systematically deprived of scientific and professional elites, that represent the most powerful factors of development.
Research is an important part of Europe 2020 Strategy, and one of the five major targets of this strategy is to have 3% of the EU’s GDP invested in R&D. Under the pressure of new development tendencies, the promotion of scientific research is expected to become a strategic priority in Romania, as well. In the aggregator, this field is segmented in three subfields, namely: Research-development, Technology and economic development, and Digital society.
Research-development 
Technology and economic development
Digital society
Research is considered the engine behind economic development and the creation of new jobs, with a major influence in all other spheres of development (trade, environment, education, health). At European level, research-development is a focal point of development strategies.
This subfield comprises three main indicators and six secondary indicators, that offer an illustrative image of research in Romania, regarding financing, human resources involved, and results obtained. Thus, the first main indicator refers to R&D expenditure (% of GDP); the second, to the percentage of full-time researchers by sectors of performance (% of total labour force), and the third, to the annual patent applications to the European Patent Office. [read more]
Some secondary indicators refer to the percentage of R&D expenditure from various sources (government, private sector, academic sector, NGOs) and, respectively, the structure of R&D expenditure by economic sectors. Other secondary indicators offer details about human resources in this sector: percentage of researchers of total labour force in R&D, full-time researchers by economic sectors, and the number of PhD graduates per 1000 inhabitants (they represent the talent pool for R&D employees).
The second subfield focuses on the size and competitiveness of crucial sectors in economy, namely the high technology sector and the knowledge-intensive sector (based primarily on the employees’ competences, abilities and experience), which are the main sectors using and promoting innovation, at the forefront of economic development. The main indicators refer to the most important aspects of this subfield: employment in high technology sectors and knowledge-intensive companies, by economic sectors and regions; high-tech exports (% of exports), percentage of innovative active firms by size, reflecting the vitality and consistency of economic development. The secondary indicators bring detailed information about the factors mentioned above: percentage of employees in knowledge-intensive sectors (% of total employment) and the mobility on the labour market in science and technology; number of firms in high-tech, by sectors of performance, and the capital invested in high-tech; product and process innovation (%), turnover from innovation (% of total turnover by economic sectors), percentage of innovative enterprises (% of total enterprises).
Digital society represents the result of revolutionary changes in the sphere of new technology and communication means. The assimilation and promotion of these new technologies represents a fundamental condition for a country’s development in the current context. In this respect, Europe 2020 Strategy proposes “a digital agenda for Europe.”
We have selected the following main indicators: households with Internet access, percentage of adult individuals who regularly use the internet and the use of internet by type of economic organisation and public institution. These indicators allow us to evaluate a society’s digitalization. An important indicator refers to the population’s digital competencies, which signals the capacity to adapt to the evolution of digital communication technologies. [read more]
Regarding the number of households with access to the internet, Romania has taken spectacular steps in recent years. 70% of households have access to the internet, a good level if limiting factors are taken into consideration (poor infrastructure, population size in rural areas, the population’s purchasing power, etc.). However, digital society develops slowly in Romania, compared to other European countries. We refer to organisations’ and institutions’ willingness to adapt to the demands of the digital society.
It is competence that makes the difference!
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