Our project partner, Business Agency Association, held a regional workshop on 1 March, attracting representatives from traditional and digital industries to discuss digital transformation.
Companies from traditional industries such as tourism, transport and construction discussed their readiness for digital transformation with companies from the IT sector in Varna, at the first of a series of DEVISE meetings aimed at improving the digitization of businesses from the RIS3 sectors. Business Agency Association is conducting a regional evaluation survey to identify the main challenges and opportunities for companies belonging to strategic sectors in North Eastern Bulgaria regarding their digital transformation within the DEVISE project.
According to the Bulgaria report on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) for 2018, Bulgaria still fails to make the most of the benefits of digitization. In 2018, the number of digitized enterprises in Bulgaria was among the lowest in the EU. Less than one third of Bulgarian companies are represented digitally, according to research by the Bulgarian Industrial Association. Questionnaires to assess the demand and supply of digitization services have been distributed and a regional workshop has been held to discuss and fine-tune the results of the survey.
The idea of the series of meetings organized by the Business Agency Association is to unlock the potential of digital technology companies in the Varna region and to strengthen the dialogue between them and the low-tech local companies. Thus, boosting the competitiveness of those sectors identified as High Potential to enable the socio-economic growth of Bulgaria.
