An innovative crowdsourcing initiative sheds light on a critical gap in Bulgaria’s digital transition: while investment in technology has accelerated, citizens continue to face barriers rooted in skills, institutions, and everyday usability. Hundreds of Bulgarian citizens point to the same issues: lack of practical digital skills, public services that are difficult to use, and insufficient local support — problems that continue to exclude elderly people, rural communities, and vulnerable groups from the digital transition.

The findings come from IDEU – Inclusive Digitalisation in the EU, a Europe-wide crowdsourcing initiative led by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) in which Bulgaria achieved the highest level of citizen participation among all partner countries. By collecting real-life experiences and solutions directly from citizens, the process generated one of the strongest evidence bases in the project and turned everyday problems into concrete policy proposals.

IDEU brings together citizens, civil society organisations, experts, and policymakers across six EU countries to ensure that digital policies are shaped by real needs, not assumptions. Citizen input gathered in Bulgaria and across Europe is translated into actionable policy recommendations and shared with decision-makers at local, national, and EU level — so that Europe’s digital transformation works for people, not just for systems

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