SME digitalization grants in the Centru Region: the digital maturity audit for PR Centru 2.2
Independent auditor registered for IT consultancy (activity code 6220). We set your digitalization level on the 12 DESI indicators, identify the solutions you need and sign the report required at submission and at the end.
Submission: 2 December 2026 - 2 February 2027
Session 1 (until 2 January 2027): priority for projects with at least 85 points.
The 30-minute call is free.
Checked against the final guide of the call (30.10.2026). Updated: 6 November 2026.
Digitalization grants for SMEs in the Centru Region, at a glance
The Centru Regional Programme, Action 2.2 “Digital enterprises for an advanced economy”, call 2, funds the digitalization of the existing activity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Alba, Brașov, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș and Sibiu. It is managed by ADR Centru, the regional development agency.
Grant
EUR 15,000 - 200,000
up to 90% of eligible costs
Company contribution
at least 10%
over 25% earns the maximum score on this criterion
Call budget
EUR 14.1 million
competitive call, while funds last
Project length
up to 24 months
from the signing of the financing contract
Call timeline
30 October 2026
The call opened
The final guide was approved. Companies prepare the audit and the digitalization plan.
2 December 2026, 12:00
Submission opens
Applications are filed online, in MySMIS2021.
2 January 2027
Session 1 ends
Projects with at least 85 points go to contracting first.
2 February 2027, 12:00
The call closes
In session 2, projects are contracted from 50 points upward, in order of their score.
Our advice: submit in December. You get session 1 priority, and eligibility is checked against your 2025 accounts. To have the audit in time, send us the complete documents by 15 December 2026.
A worked example
Plus VAT, if the company cannot recover it, and any ineligible costs. For the maximum grant of EUR 200,000, eligible costs are about EUR 222,222. An own contribution above 25% earns the maximum score on that criterion.
What is funded
- Software: ERP, CRM, e-invoicing, digital ordering systems, artificial intelligence, IoT, websites and online stores, cybersecurity
- Cloud and software-as-a-service subscriptions, for the implementation period
- IT equipment that supports the digitalization, and LAN/WiFi networks
- Employee training on the new solutions
- Digitizing paper archives
- The digital maturity audit and consultancy (the latter capped at 5%)
- Production machinery (CNC, industrial robots), buildings, vehicles, second-hand equipment
Do you qualify?
- You are a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise with its head office or a site in Alba, Brașov, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș or Sibiu
- The activity you digitalize has run for at least one full financial year at that site
- You made a profit (net or operating) in the year before submission
- You have at least one employee
- You have no excluded activity codes: IT and telecoms, agriculture, food and drink production, food retail, tobacco, waste, fuels, gambling
- You want to digitalize your existing activity, not open a new unit or buy production machinery
Not sure?
Use the calculator below or book a free 30-minute call. We check eligibility and activity codes with you before you spend anything.
Why the digital maturity audit matters
Many treat it as a formality. In the scoring grid, it decides a third of the points you need for session 1.
It is a mandatory annex
The initial audit report is filed together with the application. Without it, the file is incomplete.
It fixes your starting level
How many DESI criteria you meet at the start is set in the audit and cannot be changed after submission.
30 of the 100 points depend on it
Progress (up to 10 points, knockout), a final level of at least 7 out of 12 (up to 15 points) and the starting level (up to 5 points).
The plan is built on it
The digitalization plan starts from the audit's conclusions, and the final audit checks what was actually implemented.
The 12 DESI indicators and your score
The guide measures digitalization on the 2018 list of the European digital intensity index (DESI 2019). Mark what you have now and what you will have through the project: you instantly see how many points the indicators bring and where the pitfalls are. No email required, and we store nothing.
Step 1
Do you qualify?
Step 2
The 12 DESI indicators
For each criterion, choose “I have it now”, “Through the project” or “Not applicable”. These are the criteria from the list required by the guide (DESI 2019), not the ones in our general digital audit quiz.
1.More than half of your employees use a computer with internet access at work
It counts people who work on an internet-connected computer, not how many computers the company owns.
2.You employ at least one IT specialist
An employee of the company with an IT role.
An external IT company does not count, and salaries are not funded by the project.
3.Fixed internet of at least 30 Mb/s
What counts is the speed in your contract with the internet provider.
If you already have at least 30 Mb/s, the criterion is met. A faster connection does not add a new criterion.
4.More than 20% of employees have a company phone or tablet with mobile internet
Devices provided by the company and used for work.
5.The company has a website
A website of its own.
6.The website has at least one advanced feature
Product or service descriptions with prices, online product customization, order tracking, or personalized content for returning visitors.
7.The website links to the company's social media pages
The company has its own profiles (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and so on) and the website links to them.
Paid social media ads alone do not meet the criterion.
8.You buy intermediate or advanced cloud services
For example a company database hosted in the cloud, cloud accounting software, a cloud CRM or computing power.
Email or simple file storage in the cloud is not enough.
9.You send e-invoices suitable for automated processing
Invoices in a structured format that software can read automatically (for example XML through the national e-Factura system).
A PDF invoice sent by email is not an e-invoice for this criterion.
10.You pay for advertising on the internet
Paid ads on Google, social media or other websites.
Advertising is not funded by the project. You meet this criterion from your own budget.
11.At least 1% of turnover comes from online sales
Orders placed through a website, an app or EDI. Payment can be offline.
Orders received by email do not count. A B2B ordering portal can meet the criterion.
12.More than 10% of online sales go to consumers (B2C)
Online sales to private customers, not to other companies.
If you only sell to companies (B2B), this criterion cannot be met.
Your result
Indicative PR Centru 2.2 check
rifter.ro, checked against the final guide, updated 6 November 2026
Eligibility
Answer all the questions in step 1 (0/7).
Your score from the DESI indicators
Now
0/12
At the end
0/12
Estimated points
5/30
- 1.1 Progress (new criteria: 0), knockout criterion0/10
- 1.2 Final level (at least 7 out of 12)0/15
- 1.5 Starting level (from the initial audit report)5/5
- If the project adds no new criterion, the application is rejected (criterion 1.1 is a knockout).
- You end with 0 criteria. Below 7, criterion 1.2 gives 0 points (out of 15).
Priority in session 1 needs at least 85 points out of 100. The rest of the score comes from training, your own contribution, the number of users, the quality of the plan and working with an EDIH.
Important: this result is only indicative
This result is indicative and based only on your answers. It does not replace the digital maturity audit report and does not guarantee funding: the decision belongs to the ADR Centru evaluators.
We store nothing: the result stays in your browser. The email buttons open your own email app with the text already filled in.
Where the other points come from (out of 100)
- At least 3 employees trained on the new solutions15 points
- Own contribution above 25%12 points
- More than 10 users a year of the digital solutions10 points
- Quality of the digitalization plan (knockout)up to 6 points
- Working with a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH)4 points
- Investment below 20% of the previous year's turnover5 points
Want a general assessment of your company's digitalization, beyond this call? Try our free digital audit. Note: it uses the 2025 Eurostat criteria, not the list required by PR Centru 2.2.
Who does what in a PR Centru 2.2 project
The guide separates the roles: the firm that writes the digitalization plan cannot do the audit or supply software or equipment in the same project. The auditor must be independent of the company and of the suppliers.
The auditor (RIFTER)
The initial and final audit reports: DESI level, the technical solutions needed, security, recommendations.
The consultant
The funding application, the digitalization plan and the financial model, project management.
The suppliers
Software, cloud services, IT equipment and training, based on market quotes.
An EDIH (optional)
Working with a European Digital Innovation Hub on one activity adds 4 points.
The audit is funded separately, as part of the project's core activity, and does not count toward the 5% cap on consultancy.
What the RIFTER audit includes
Over 1,000 digital audits delivered and experience in EU digitalization programmes. Initial report delivery: 5 working days after we receive the complete documents.
The initial audit
- A questionnaire about the company and the documents that support each criterion
- Assessment of the 12 DESI indicators, each with evidence
- Process analysis and the technical solutions that fit the eligible activity
- A realistic path to at least 7 out of 12 criteria, with the method for each missing one
- Network and equipment security
- Recommendations with deadlines and owners
- The report signed electronically, following the model in Annex 13 of the guide
- Answers to the evaluators' questions about the audit, at no extra cost, until the funding decision
The final audit
- Confirmation that the investment is at the address in the contract and that the equipment works
- The 12 DESI indicators at the end of the project
- Security and data protection
- The final report, filed with the last reimbursement request
What we don't do in the same project
- the digitalization plan
- the funding application
- supplying software or equipment
That is the guide's own rule and the guarantee that the audit is independent. RIFTER does not sell software.
Prices
Choose the audit you need. The full package covers both reports, from application to the last reimbursement request.
Initial audit
€900
at application
- The initial report, signed electronically, following Annex 13
- Delivered within 5 working days after we receive the complete documents
- Evaluators' questions answered until the funding decision
Final audit
€600
at the end of implementation
- The final report, filed with the last reimbursement request
- Check of the 12 DESI indicators at the end
- Confirmation that the investment is at the contract address and works
Full package: initial audit + final audit
€1,300
you save €200 compared to separate audits
- Both reports from the same auditor, who knows the project from the start
- The final report builds directly on the level set in the initial audit
- One contract, invoiced in stages
Prices exclude VAT. The digital maturity audit is an eligible project cost (core activity) and does not count toward the 5% consultancy cap. Consultants with several files: ask for a quote.
Writing PR Centru 2.2 projects? You need an external auditor
The firm that writes the digitalization plan may not do the audit in the same project. Every file needs an independent auditor registered under activity code 6202 or 6220.
- The initial report following Annex 13, within 5 working days after we receive the complete documents
- The same solutions and figures as in your plan, checked before submission
- The audit has its own budget line and takes nothing from your 5% consultancy cap
- We answer the evaluators' questions about the audit, at no extra cost, until the funding decision
How we work
Free 30-minute call
We check eligibility, activity codes and who writes the plan, so the audit stays independent.
Questionnaire and documents
You send us the company data and the evidence for the DESI indicators.
The assessment
We analyze the company's processes and the 12 indicators.
The initial report
Signed electronically, following Annex 13, within 5 working days after we receive the complete documents.
Questions from evaluators
If the evaluators ask about the audit, we answer, at no extra cost.
The final audit
At the end of implementation, we check and certify the progress.
PR Centru 2.2: frequently asked questions
Answers checked against the final guide of call 2 and the official ADR Centru FAQ.
Prepare the audit before 2 December
The initial audit report has to be ready at submission. We deliver it within 5 working days after we receive the complete documents. For session 1, send us the documents by 15 December 2026.