We bring together actors who care about the digitization of small and medium-sized enterprises
A new initiative called the League for Digital Boost is emerging in Central and Eastern Europe. This League, a brainchild of SAPIE, has the ambition to create a broad coalition of actors in the field of digital economy. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been growing at an exceptional rate due to the dependence of customers on the digital space. This trend alone represents a potential of €200 billion of added revenue for companies by 2025. This potential will only be achieved if companies, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are sufficiently prepared.
In just the first five months of 2020, the digital economy experienced an almost double the growth rate (14.1%) compared with the period of 2017-2019 (7.9%). However, according to the assessment by the European Commission, Slovak companies are lagging behind in critical areas. In terms of digitization, Slovak companies remain underdeveloped. In comparison with other EU countries, our companies ranked 22nd out of 27 EU countries, where the main weakness is the integration of technological processes.
The digitization of SMEs is a complex process that involves a large number of changes. The necessary adjustments include the preparation of a new business model, process automation, data processing, modification of payment systems, sales platforms and management. For companies, this means not only a demand for financial support, but also a need for counselling and support for the successful implementation of technological solutions – to minimise risks and maximise benefits of the transformation.
“As a company dealing with the development of software solutions and technological innovations, we perceive that the key to advancing and increasing competitiveness for companies is investing in innovations, automated processes or modern technological solutions. Digital innovation is an essential part of not only large but also small companies, whose existence in these times depends on their ability to transform their business into the online environment.”
Incentives to start, improve and automate most of these processes can be triggered through a partner who would support various aspects of the digital economy.
The League under the leadership of SAPIE, would like to be such leader in the field of digital economy to support innovative companies and institutions in Slovakia, is to be this key partner for SMEs. Our vision is to launch in Slovakia a sustainable format of long-term cooperation of actors in the implementation of the digital economy in small and medium-sized enterprises. We want to support activities at the level of individual countries, but also at the regional level, thus enabling cross-border cooperation and blurring of regional differences.
The activities of the League for Digital Growth are unveiled these days in the form of analytical outputs across all V4 countries. Based on previous analyses and our own research, we consider it meaningful to address digital leaders in these countries and launch a series of workshops, where we will prepare specific proposals for measures in the field of digital economy for SMEs. The Czech Association of Industry and Tourism and the Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employees (ZPP) committed to cooperate on the project. We will communicate these measures directly to key public sector actors and promote them through the media.
“Slovak companies do not have a dominant position in the field of digitization, so it is essential that support mechanisms are in place to increase competitiveness, not only in the domestic market but also in the international environment. In the establishment of League for Digital Boost, we see the potential for developing business activities through the involvement of important partners and sharing experiences from the V4 countries to support competitiveness and growth, even in this difficult period.”
An exceptional opportunity to raise capital for the development of companies is also the Recovery and Development Plan, where the digitization of SMEs has its important place. If we want the issue of SME digitization to really move forward, we need to involve all the relevant actors and bodies that we hereby invite to work on this development and growth initiative.
