The National News Agency will receive 7.5 million lei to digitize the historical archive

The Agerpres National News Agency signed a financing agreement on Tuesday with the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania to digitize its historical archive. The project, to be implemented from September 28, 2026, to September 28, 2029, has a total value of 7,529,934.73 lei and is fully funded through non-reimbursable financing under the Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Programme 2021–2027.

Of the total amount, 5,643,633.30 lei comes from the European Regional Development Fund, while 1,886,301.43 lei comes from the national budget. It is the first European project in which Agerpres serves as both coordinator and beneficiary.

The agency’s historical archive comprises approximately 4.5 million images created between 1927 and 2003 on glass plates, film and slides, as well as a significant volume of news stored on physical media. A large part of these documents is not accessible to the public and is exposed to deterioration.

By the end of the project, 100,000 photographs and 100,000 texts of historical and heritage value will be digitized and published online. Platforms will be created to view the archive, verify the authenticity of images through artificial intelligence and blockchain, and digitally certify journalistic content through the “News of the Day” service.

The project will also include dedicated cybersecurity infrastructure. Agerpres estimates at least 12,200 users annually by the end of implementation and approximately 68,000 users per year during the sustainability period.