Competitiveness Operational Programme

Programme description

Main objectives

The Competitiveness Operational Programme (COP) will address the challenges stemming from the low support for research, development and innovation (RDI) and the under-developed information and communication technologies (ICT) services and infrastructure. By investing in these areas, the COP aims to contribute to bolster the competitiveness of the Romanian economy.

The main direction of investment in RDI is to build a more compact and modern R&D environment that focuses on the businesses' needs. It will reinforce the RDI capacity of the country (resources and infrastructure), boost private investments in RDI, develop centres of excellence, strengthen the links between businesses and research institutions, and stimulate the creation of networks and clusters for developing new products and services.

In the area of ICT, the programme covers four main areas for development: a) e-government, interoperability, cyber-security, cloud computing and social networks, b) use of ICT in education, health, social inclusion and culture c) e-commerce, clusters and developing innovation through ICT and d) further deployment of the broadband infrastructure for the whole country.

Funding priorities

The Programme will focus on two main priorities:

• A1. Research, development and innovation supporting economic competitiveness and the development of businesses (total budget € 952.57 million);
• A2. Information and communication technologies for a competitive digital economy (total budget € 630.2 million).

Expected impact by 2023

• Increased private RDI expenditure (target: 80% of private investments compared to 66% in 2012),
• Increased collaboration between innovative SMEs and research organisations (target: 6.6% of total SMEs cooperating),
• Increase in the NGA household coverage (target: 80% of households covered),
• Increase of the ICT Gross Value Added generated by the ICT sector (target: 5% of GDP),
• Increase of the use of e-governing services by citizens (target: 35% of Romanian population using public electronic services),
• Increased Internet usage especially in disadvantaged communities (target: 60% of population using internet).

Funds

Regional Development Fund (ERDF): 2.379.787.234,00 €

Thematic priorities

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Financial information

Total OP budget: 2.806.574.448,00 €

Total EU contribution: 2.379.787.234,00 €

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