-6- 6) Existence of a unique electronic signature type – digital one; 7) Low level of digital signature usage; 8) Low number of services that accept online payments; 9) Low population confidence in online payments; 10) The Republic of Moldova has an economy mainly based on cash payments; 11) Lack of measuring instruments for local digital content volume; 12) Low ITC skills level of the public sector employees; 13) Low level of ITC use by the population and business; 14) Relatively small market for the digital content. Opportunities Threats (risks) 1) Increase of the broadband connection 1) Low GDP level; coverage 2) Ongoing economic crisis and remittances decline which can encourages content development; reduce the ability to pay for services; 2) Improving high-tech image of the Republic 3) Natural endurance of officials to the change of working of processes, including technological modernization; Moldova; 4) Public administration employees do not realize the 3) The use of governmental cloud; opportunity of informatization policies of the working processes; 4) An increasing number of worldwide 5) Small and fragmented electronic commerce internal market; guidelines of good practices; 6) The increase of cybernetic crimes number reduces the users’ 5) Opportunities of collaboration and first confidence; source information (UK, USA, Singapore, South 7) The massive use of cash boosts the shadow economy and Korea, etc.); fiscal evasion. 6) Electronic commerce in development; 7) Promotion of electronic payment instruments, including the payment of services rendered by the public services providers. r D f a ] t CAPACITIES AND USE Advantages (Strengths) 1) Relatively high rate of workforce employed in knowledge-intensive sectors; 2) Large number of ICT graduates; 3) Multilingual human resources with a highly qualified potential. [ Opportunities 1) Availability to provide assistance (including financial) by the International financial institutions/organisms; 2) International scholarships available for talented young people; 3) Collaboration and training opportunities for Disadvantages (weaknesses) 1) Low level of population digital literacy; 2) Graduates of educational institutions have no appropriate practical skills to work in an information society; 3) The deficit of qualified ICT teachers in schools; 4) Low level of educational software supply of the educational institutions; 5) Low level of open source software use; 6) ICT curriculum is outdated and there is no institutionalized process for its regular updating; 7) Nomenclature of vocational training areas of the staff training specialties in higher education institutions and the Qualification framework fails to satisfy existing market demand; 8) Lack of normative framework for distance training; 9) Low level of the ICT skills of public sector employees; 10) Lack of express provision in normative acts concerning the digital skills requirements for the employment in a public institution; 11) Low level of ICT use by business and population; 12) Lack of motivation mechanisms for teaching staffs of general, technical-vocational and higher education, in the widespread use of the ICT instruments in the teaching-learningevaluation process. Threats 1) Low level of the GDP; 2) Labor force emigration and brain drain; 3) Manifestation of corruption in the education sector; 4) Difficulties in the economic development of the country.