How would Romania’s proposed integrated digital governance law change the way public information, systems and digital procurement are managed?
A single-request principle would shape public services
The government programme submitted to Parliament commits the Luca Niculescu government to adopting a Law on Integrated Digital Governance. Its central rule is the “once-only” principle: the state would not ask people or businesses for information it already holds. The plan also calls for mandatory interoperability using open European standards, alongside common interface and user-experience standards for public services. For procurement, this moves the focus beyond buying an individual application. New systems would be expected to exchange information with existing registers and use shared technical rules, making compatibility a requirement of the wider public-service architecture.
Standards would become a condition for public funding
The programme says the government will adopt the reference classifications of basic registers and operationalise the National Interoperability Platform under Law No. 242/2022. It also proposes common technical rules for architecture, interoperability and data, together with a public library of reusable software components. Digital projects that do not meet national standards would no longer receive funding from the national budget or European funds. That is a procurement-relevant mechanism: compliance would be tested not only at contract award, but also through eligibility for public financing. A public register of IT applications, including artificial-intelligence systems used in administration, is also planned.
The government cloud would become the default hosting route
Within the first 100 days, the programme says the process will begin under which every new IT system, or major modernisation in central administration, is hosted by default in the Government Private Cloud. Exceptions would require an approved technical justification. Existing systems would migrate in stages according to their criticality and equipment life cycle, with acceleration based on a quarterly plan whose milestones are published and monitored by the government. The programme records that 9 of 41 applications had migrated by March 2026. It also promises resource-consumption audits, institutional quotas, security assessments and remediation plans, with the platform prepared for renewal without interrupting services.
Centralised AI buying would sit alongside new safeguards
The programme also commits the government to applying the European AI Act through common rules for selecting, testing, procuring and using artificial-intelligence solutions in public administration. The Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania would develop computing infrastructure for administrative AI models and establish a public-sector AI engineers’ corps. Generative AI tools for civil servants would be procured centrally, with a common usage guide and strict rules for personal data, official secrets and classified information. The plan further includes a controlled testing environment for digital identity, AI and secure data exchange, while cyber-resilience measures and NIS2 implementation are presented as safeguards for the expanded sharing of public information.
IN NUMBERS
The programme links digital governance to a common technical environment: shared registers, open standards, reusable components, central hosting and coordinated purchasing. Its practical effect will depend on the law, technical rules, funding decisions and migration plans that follow. For suppliers, the stated direction is towards interoperable solutions that can operate within national standards and the Government Private Cloud, while for contracting authorities it creates a framework for assessing compatibility, security, data protection and reuse before systems are funded or bought.
Reported from economica.net, 2026-10-16. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
