During the last quarter, the executive structures of the main regulatory bodies related to the Information society remained stable. The general elections (26^th November and 10^th December) changed the institutional structures and new key persons are involved in the Information Society.

In the last two years (during ESIS II project) the mass media show an increasing interest in IC&T issues, as the public awareness is growing.

The National Agency for Communications and Informatics - NACI (since December 23, 1998, by Government Order nr.973; formerly organised as Ministry of Communications) is the legal authority for telecommunications and informatics.

1.1 General Inspectorate (Department) of Communications, under NACI co-ordination.

The new legal authority will be The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (beginning with 29^th December). Mr. Dan Nica is the Ministry of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics. Informations about the organisation of the Ministry will be available in few weeks.

In the past two years The National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (formerly organised as Ministry of Research and Technology) was the legal authority for scientific and technological research and development and The National Education Ministry was the legal authority for regulation in field of national education.

Beginning with 29^th December 2000 the new legal authority for national education and for scientific and technological research and development is the Ministry of Education and Research. The Ministry is Mrs. Ecaterina Andronescu, former Dean of Chemistry Faculty ("Politehnica" University Bucharest). The Ministry Research responsible is Mr. Serban Constantin Valeca.

1.2 Ministry of Industry and Commerce

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce proposed an electronic signature law (draft) supervised by ANCI (National Agency for Communication and Informatics).

Within MIC an important role in promoting the IS and especially the electronic commerce is played by the Romanian Foreign Trade Centre. Its activity is also directed towards connecting the SME representatives of Romania with decision factors and partners from other countries facilitating the participation in Seminars and symposiums on information technology use in SME activity.

Romanian Academy of Sciences – Section for the Science and Technology of Information. Founded in 1992 has today 12 corresponding and full members out of a total number of 14 sections and 181 members for the entire Academy. One of the roles of the section is to encourage the domains of science and technology that are at the core of the information society

• ATIC - Association of Information Technologies and Communications of Romania (http://www.atic.org.ro).
• ANIS – National Association of Software Enterprises (http://www.anis.ro)
• ARIES – Romanian Association for Electronic & Software Industries (http://www.aries.ro)
• ROMINFOR - Romanian Association for Research in Communication and Information Technologies (http://www.cef.pub.ro/rominfor)
• APRCC – Romanian Cable Communication Professionals Association (Asociatia Romana pentru Comunicatii prin Cablu Profesionale)
• INFOREC – Romanian Association for Promotion of Higher Education of Economic Informatics (Asociaţia pentru promovarea învăţământului superior de informatică economică)
• ARCA – Romanian Association for Audiovisuals Communications (Asociatia Romana de Comunicatii Audiovizuale)
• National Association of Romanian Exporters and Importers-Foreign Trade Promotion Centre SA -Informational Systems Department (http://www.aneir.ro)
• ANISP – National Association of ISP (Asociatia Nationala a ISP din Romania)

Forum for the Information Society (since March 1997, under the aegis of the Romanian Academy). The Forum for the Information Society of the Romanian Academy, playing the role of a forum of the civil society, intends to arise the interest in the Romanian society concerning the development of the information society, and to propose and stimulate by specific proposals a series of measures and actions in this direction.

From the general newspapers Adevarul or Romania Libera hosting IS dedicated round tables, to the financial oriented ones like Curentul and Capital that have dedicated sections or publish their own reports, an increasingly number of newspapers have IS and IT&C dedicated sections. The business newspapers (e.g. Ziarul Finaciar – www.zf.ro )present information and actions about new financial services, electronic commerce, etc.

The openness towards the Information Society is ever larger, very many Romanian newspapers being also present on Internet (see www.ziare.com). A portal of the Romanian newspaper can be accessed at the address www.ziare.com.

A study produced by the World Bank estimates for the year 1998, 300 newspapers existing in Romania. In the year 2000, there are more than 30 specialised publications (software, hardware, IT events, etc) the most important being (PC Report, PC Magazine, IT Business, ComputerWorld,easyPC, etc.).

The public national television channels and the national Radio Broadcasting Company also hosts round tables with well known IC&T specialists and businessmen as well as policy makers.

TVR2 and ProTv (http://www.protv.ro) television shows specialised on IT, but the transmission hour has not enough audience.

Radio and television stations are present on Internet (Antena 1, PRO TV). It should be also noted the presence of press agencies on Internet (Rompres and Mediafax).

These facts reflect that the public and the business is more aware of the importance of the IS issues.

In the period July-December 2000 the mass-media activity focused on the political actions having in view the general elections of November 2000.

In April 2000 the Commission 2: Information Society-coordinated by prof. Dan Dascalu beginning the activity to establish an Information Society strategy for development of Romania. This non-governmental commission bring together members of Romanian Academy, members of professional associations (ATIC, ANIS, ARIES, APRCC), Chamber of Commerce, Romanian Association of Banks, representatives of political parties, of Ministries involved in IS, of SME's, other specialists. All information about minute meetings, documents and full list of specialists are available (in Romanian) on the web (www.imt.ro/socinfo2000).

Many specialists of NACI, coordinated by prof. Segiu Iliescu work in Commission 10: Telecommunication and Information Technologies for draft a strategy . The information of the specialists and the Commission are at www.rnc.ro/strategie2000.

In the period July-September 2000 professional association ARIES initiated a series of working groups for various themes (educational software, public administration, biomedicine) but the participation was relatively reduced because of the vacation period. The list of members of these working groups will be available on Internet at the address www.aries.ro.

During August-October 2000 specialists in micro and nanotechnology area was involved in development of Micro and Nanotechnology Programme (www.imt.ro). The working group was coordinated by prof. Dan Dascalu.