Digital transformation in Croatia is visible but slow and only 18% of companies have a digital transformation strategy which proved to be a major shortcoming in business in the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic, the Apsolon consulting firm said in a survey of the Croatian Digital Index (HDI).
The aim of the survey of 300 companies in various fields and geographic locations was to determine how digitally prepared Croatia’s economy is and how the corona crisis has affected that process, Apsolon said in a press release.
The survey shows some important steps with company CEOs related to the importance of digitalisation and 60% of companies believe that digital transformation will have the biggest impact on workers, while 84% consider that their business model will change due to digital transformation. A large number of companies – as many as 94% – see digital transformation as an opportunity for progress.
However, only 18% said that they have a digital transformation strategy, which is negligible progress compared to the previous year when a similar survey showed that 15% of companies had a strategy, Apsolon reported.
Regardless of that, it was found that the number of companies that consider digital transformation to be their top priority is growing. Their number has increased to 41% from last year’s 33%. This year in 39% of companies the CEO or board chair was in charge of managing the transformation process, up from 26% last year.
The survey investigated the impact of the corona crisis on the digitalisation process in companies and the majority said that it has had a strong impact on their work, with 41% saying that they did not work during the first wave of the epidemic and 21% saying that they were not in a position to organise alternative working methods due to the specific nature of their work.
The biggest problem noted in the midst of the crisis in 58.5% of companies was communication and cooperation with clients and suppliers.
“This year’s survey of digital transformation in Croatia shows a mild positive step in understanding digital transformation and the opportunities it brings. It showed four positive trends – CEOs are most often the persons responsible for digital transformation, the majority of companies consider digital transformation will not lead to a reduction in jobs and understand the need for agile adaption, and they consider that the consequences of successful or unsuccessful transformation will be felt in less than three years’ time,” said Apsolon CEO Natasa Curic Martincevic.
