Imagine Bulgaria in 2030 – a country with a modern administration, digital services and an economy where artificial intelligence, cloud technologies and data are part of the daily work of enterprises. This is the direction a national digital transformation strategy should lead.

The question is how ambitious this direction should be .

The draft Digital Transformation Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria 2026–2030 and the Roadmap for its implementation caused serious reserves among technological sector and employers' organizations . The Bulgarian association by informational technologies (BAIT), p the support on AIKB , BIA , BCCI and KRIB , insists the project yes be revised , before yes be imported for acceptance , and be subject to a new full public consultation.

The reason is not a disagreement with the need for a strategy. On the contrary, precisely because digital transformation is critical to the future of the economy, businesses believe that the document should be more ambitious.

When the 2030 target is lower than today's level

One of the most important issues lies in the indicators themselves.

15% of enterprises using cloud services by 2030. The problem is that the baseline for 2025 is already 15.7%.

When using large data sets, the situation is even more telling: the target for 2030 is 9%, with a baseline value of 27.1%.

That is, in some places the strategy does not envisage acceleration, but regression compared to what has already been achieved .

This is particularly problematic at a time when technological competition is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, companies are investing in automation, artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud infrastructure, and countries are competing for investment and highly skilled personnel.

In such an environment, a national strategy cannot be simply a list of administrative measures. It must set an upward trajectory .

Artificial Intelligence: Priority or Wish?

The gap between ambition and goal is most clearly seen in artificial intelligence.

11% of enterprises will use artificial intelligence technologies in 2030 , against a European target of 75%.

The difference is not just statistical.

It shows a different scale of the expected transformation.

Artificial intelligence is already transforming manufacturing, logistics, finance, marketing, customer service, and software development. For small and medium-sized businesses, access to AI can mean higher productivity and the ability to offset the constraints associated with a shortage of people.

If Bulgaria sets a target many times lower than the European one, there is a risk of not only falling behind technologically, but also of missing out on part of the next stage of industrial transformation .

There is no digital transformation without people

Technologies are only one side of the equation. The other is the people who create and use them. And here too, the project raises questions.

The target for the share of people with basic digital skills is 52% , compared to a European target of 80%. ICT specialists are expected to reach 5% of employment, while the European target is around 10%.

This is happening against the backdrop of a well-known problem – the shortage of personnel .

The analytical report accompanying the strategy itself acknowledges the deepening shortage of labor, including people with the right skills. The technology sector is particularly sensitive to this deficit, as its competitiveness directly depends on the availability of engineers, programmers, data specialists, cybersecurity and other highly qualified professionals.

Therefore, digital transformation cannot be reduced to purchasing software and building infrastructure.

True digitalization starts with skills.

Closer coordination between the state, the education system, and business is needed - with specific numerical goals, intermediate stages, and clear responsibility for implementation.

The IT sector is not just a contractor

The ICT sector creates 8.2% of Bulgaria's gross value added and is among the country's leading export industries. Therefore, state digitalization can be much more than modernizing the administration. It can be a tool for developing the national technology industry .

Public IT investments, which are a significant resource, can create a market for innovations, engineering competencies, new products and references with which Bulgarian companies can enter international markets.

This is a model familiar to a number of European countries: the state does not simply consume technology, but uses public investment to stimulate the creation of technological capacity.

This is precisely why business insists that public IT investments be considered through the prism of industrial policy .

Who sets the rules of the game?

Even the best strategy will not achieve results if the mechanism for its implementation is no is enough transparent and competitive .

Here one of the most pressing questions arises.

For eight measures, the Roadmap indicates estimated budgets totaling over 14.3 million euros in national funding , and according to the document, these budgets were determined by the National System Integrator "Information Services" AD.

From a business perspective, this raises the question of the separation of functions: if the same entity is involved in specification, commissioning and implementation, where does the competitive adjustment remain?

Technology neutrality, transparency and stakeholder participation are among the principles of the strategy. But according to business, these principles need to be translated into real implementation rules and not just declarations.

Ten days for a strategy until 2030.

Last but not least is the question of the way in which the document was discussed.

The public consultation was announced for the period August 8-22, 2026 , but the documents were published on August 12. Thus, in practice, interested parties had about 10 calendar days for expert analysis, internal consultations and preparation of positions.

For a change in the regulatory framework with a limited scope, this may be enough. For a national strategy that should determine the direction of the country's digital development until 2030, it is difficult to be convincing. Especially when it comes to a document that simultaneously affects business, the labor market, education, public administration, investments and the technology industry.

Therefore, the business is demanding a new 30-day public consultation , after the project is revised into a real dialogue with representative organizations of the business and IT sector.

Not "whether", but "how"

Ultimately, the controversy surrounding the project is not a dispute about whether Bulgaria needs a digital transformation strategy. It does.

The dispute is what this strategy should be .

Will we be satisfied with a gradual modernization of the administration, or will we use digital transformation as a tool to accelerate productivity, develop industry, and create highly skilled employment?

Will we set goals that simply seem achievable, or ones that force the system to evolve?

Will public investments be seen only as an expense for information systems, or as an opportunity to build a Bulgarian technological ecosystem?

And most importantly – will the business be invited after the strategy is written, or will it participate in its creation?

The strategy as a test for state digital policy

There are less than four years left until 2030. In the technological world, that's a short period.

It could see the emergence of new generations of artificial intelligence, the transformation of entire industries, and the disappearance of professions that today seem sustainable. New markets, new business models, and new forms of work organization could emerge.

Therefore, Bulgaria does not have the luxury of planning its digital future with a horizon that is already outdated upon its adoption.

A good strategy shouldn't just describe where we are. It should show where we want to be – and create the mechanisms to get there.

This is precisely the essence of the business position: the project should be revised, the goals should be raised, the implementation model should become more competitive and transparent, and the dialogue with the business should be real.

Because digital transformation is not a project of one ministry.

It is a project for the competitiveness of Bulgaria.