The readiness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for the digitalization of industry: Evidence from the Czech Republic

This paper examines the introduction of elements and processes of the digital economy in SMEs in the Czech Republic. The article analyses the factors of their preparedness for the digitization of industry in the context of changes in the global economy, and it scrutinizes the principal advantages, shortcomings, opportunities and obstacles that SMEs perceive in preparing and implementing changes in line with the Industry 5.0 initiative. The research into this preparedness was carried out in the form of both a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. They were conducted in two phases (November 2018 to January 2019 and January 2021). The respondent sample was selected by a proportional representation of industrial SMEs in the given regions and iron and mining industries with data provided by the Czech Statistical Office, and finally, 240 SMEs were investigated for the research purpose. The research shows that awareness of the digitization of the economy in SMEs in the Czech Republic (Industry I-5.0 initiative) is not the highest. The transition to a digital economy in these enterprises has been slow. Sufficient tools have not been developed in time to support their manufacturing and economic activities, to implement and safeguard the digitization of their production, nor have any real measures been created to enforce Industry 5.0 priorities, including digital administration. This research also formulates key recommendations for executive bodies in the Czech Republic. All this is in order to establish interventions in the sector of industrial SMEs so that digitization processes and standards in this sector might be strengthened.