If anyone thought that the Spanish economy was sure of that digital transformation It is an obligation to design your future with solvency, I was wrong. Indeed, the percentage of trust in technology by SMEs is high regardless of the studies analyzed, however The truth is that there are still doubts about the area in which there are figures that are worrying… and surprising.

They’re worried because, logically, it seems unthinkable right now for a company to say that You still don’t know its benefits digitization; and they are surprising because, having them, we would perhaps not have imagined that their origins were like that.

It the ‘Small Business, Big Opportunity’ study, recently published by technology consultancy Sageis another study that attempts to analyze the behavior of Spanish small and medium enterprises in the face of digitalization.

[Digitalización de cal, digitalización de arena]

Well, among its main conclusions the most striking (for the negative) stands out in capital letters regions such as the Basque Country, Castilla y León and Extremadura.

As in our entire country, small and medium enterprises are in this autonomous community economic driver, but precisely in these areas there is still a percentage of SMEs that do not know the positive impact of digital transformation.

As we said at the beginning, any percentage, no matter how small, is high, taking into account, firstly, large the amount of information currently available on the suitability of going digital and, secondly, taking into account that the business ecosystem in each region has specific success stories that can be used as models to follow.

That’s why it’s strange that the ‘top 3’ are regions like Basque and Castilian and Leonese. In the case of the Basque Country, 14% of SMEs ignore the importance of technology for their business and, as is known, innovative muscle and economic technology it is one of the most recognized in the country.

[La digitalización de las pymes como prioridad para su futuro]

Just to quote an example, 92% of companies in the Basque Country have at least one website, when in 2015 the percentage was 86.5%according to data from the latest report on the Information Society in Enterprise published by the Basque Institute of Statistics (Eustat).

It is reasonable to think that, even with a simple observation of reality, Basque SME groups should be clear about the importance of digital transformation.. But there is no logic if there is still a stronghold of traditional roots in SMEs, maybe not because they don’t hear the alarm warning that they need to go digital, but because they refuse to listen to it.

Something similar applies to Castilla y León, where 11% of companies also admit that they are not aware of the benefits of digitization. It’s true that this is a very large area and there are a lot of companies in areas that are less digitally developed.

However, what is clear is that if the regional government seeks to develop rural connectivity projects because it considers it important for companies and communities to be digital and not to lose opportunities, It’s unreasonable to think that companies in the region will pick up on the message and, although they have not been changed, they recognize the importance of being so.

The third region of this ‘top 3’ is Extremadura, which took first place. And 15% of medium and small companies either don’t hear or don’t want to hear the alarm. Why? The same arguments can be given, but also the same counter-arguments as in the case of the Basques and Castiles and Leon.

In the case of Extremadura, the Council’s efforts to connect regions, develop technology in less developed areas, and assist companies in their digital transformation tasks are evident. Beside incubator manufacturing projects of all kinds across the region are done precisely to feed the spirits of companies that haven’t taken the plunge.

The most positive data

This is the weakness of Sage studies. On the positives, we found regions such as Asturias, Catalonia and La Rioja.

80% of Asturian SMEs, and 75% of Catalan and La Rioja believe technology is the engine of their business today. The study highlights that not only are they the most convinced that, after the crisis caused by the pandemic is over, their business depends on digitalization to thrive, but it is in these three communities that we also find more small and medium businesses. large companies that consider it adoption of new technology has been one of the main reasons for its business success.

While they all saw a need to commit to the digital transformation of their business, their previous experiences differed significantly, according to Sage. So while in Catalonia 15% of companies and in Asturias 11% of SMEs are considering it a lack of technological skills in your workforce has a negative impact on your businessin La Rioja nobody made that happen.

Among the areas where SMEs think that the rate of negative impact from lack of talent is low There are also the Basque Country (only 9% think so), Madrid (9%), Murcia (8%), Extremadura (5%), Castilla y León (2%) and Galicia (2%).

The other extreme is Navarra (17%), the Balearic Islands (17%) and the Canary Islands (16%), autonomous communities where there is a greater perception that the lack of digital skills in organizations has become a bottleneck for businesses.

Sage Studies progressed online survey of 1,057 Spanish SMEs, and more than 13,000 from around the world. Conducted by Portland Communications between November 25 and December 2, 2021, the survey was validated by the British Polling Council and the sample includes 13,118 managers of companies of various sizes, sectors and ages, located in Spain, UK, US, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Portugal, Malaysia and Singapore

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