HUP-ICT: Companies must understand that digitalization does not have to be expensive, but is crucial for competitiveness

The adoption of new technologies does not necessarily have to be expensive, but it is the only guarantee for maintaining competitiveness and survival in the market, especially in conditions of increased uncertainty in the economy. In addition to the fear of change and novelty, the challenge during digitalization is also the significant gap in the implementation of new technologies between small and medium-sized enterprises compared to large ones. To reduce this gap, it is essential that employees, but especially owners, board members, and management of companies, understand that the opportunities offered by new technology (such as, for example, artificial intelligence tools) have a direct impact on human productivity, and subsequently on the profitability of the organization. This was stated during today’s briefing of HUP-ICT association members, and examples from the solutions of Ericsson Nikola Tesla, CROZ, and IKEA demonstrated how artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and robotics technologies can be easily applied in everyday business.

– Through digitalization, we can significantly increase business productivity, both in terms of cost reduction and in terms of optimal organization of internal processes. And this is an important part of digital transformation that we need to encourage more and even educate domestic entrepreneurs because if they lag behind in this area, they will lose competitiveness in a very short time. However, the real potential of applying digital technologies in business is the opening of new business opportunities through innovation in terms of new or improved products, discovering new market niches, and creating new business models, and we want to inspire entrepreneurs to do this. At the upcoming conference Digital (R)evolution 4.0, our goal is to highlight both of these dimensions of digital transformation and motivate as many Croatian companies as possible to actively move in this direction – stated Ivan Maglić, a member of the Executive Board of the HUP-ICT association and program director of Digital (R)evolution, which will be held on November 28 in Zagreb.

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Ivan Maglić

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Small and medium-sized enterprises need support

– Digital technology is a driver of productivity. Everyone who wants to develop in business must quickly adopt technologies. Small companies are often more agile in adopting certain business processes than large ones, but it is important to use technology both to improve internal processes and to innovate that enables the opening of new opportunities in the market. Digitalization does not necessarily have to be expensive nor is it a path into the unknown – added Hrvoje Balen, president of the HUP-ICT association.

The European Commission also warned about the lag in digitalization, especially in the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia, in its report Digital Decade of Europe: Digital Targets by 2030. The European Commission highlighted among its recommendations that Croatia should accelerate both the processes of digitalization of businesses and enterprises with public support for workshops and training, increasing participation in existing programs (financing), especially among small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the EC encourages us to increase the number of ICT professionals by enhancing the capacity of the education system, as well as specific measures to retain these professionals in the country, and then attract more ICT students and professionals to Croatia.

In ICT, even 50 thousand new employees are needed

However, for Croatia to achieve its digital decade goals by 2032, it will be necessary to double the current number of 50 thousand employees in the ICT sector, it was emphasized during the briefing. This, in turn, would have a multiplicative effect on additional employment in other sectors, such as marketing, economics, accounting, and so on. However, considering the lack of educational programs, the demographic challenges Croatia faces, and the tax burdens on ICT professionals’ salaries, the idea of doubling the number of employees in ICT sounds very ambitious. Balen emphasized that we have very good potential for further development of the ICT sector in Croatia, but we must continue to nurture it.

– The perception is that these are companies that do not need help, but if we want to achieve the goals of doubling the number of ICT professionals in the next ten years and create new companies that will employ, we must also work on infrastructural solutions and tax reliefs to retain professionals, because today we are competing in the global market – concluded Balen.

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