Digitalna transformacija - izazovi kompanija u Srbiji

Abstract

Serbian ICT industry has been the fastest growing sector in the last decade after the recession, accounting for 6% of the country's GDP. This provides scope for companies operating in different economic sectors to transform their business, products, and services using digital technologies and, thus, to build their competitive position on knowledge and innovations. However, data show that Serbian companies are investing five times less into ICT than the global average and that the cooperation between the ICT and other sectors in the country is quite low. This paper explored this topic at a company level based on a survey conducted among 218 respondents from companies operating in various economic sectors in Serbia. Data show that digital transformation is recognized as important across all industries and employee levels and is mostly viewed as an opportunity that transforms companies to a large extent. Majority of the companies have implemented at least one project in the area of digital transformation, and more than half of them are developing their own digital products and/or services. Digital transformation in Serbia is implemented by leaders who do not necessarily have a technical background. The survey also shows that domestically-owned companies develop digital aspects of their products internally, in contrast to foreignowned ones. As skill levels have been recognized as the quality of the Serbian ICT sector and are also key to building a digital economy, this paper assesses the difference between various available and needed skill sets in Serbian companies.