Digitization in our country and attitude towards it

Digitalization is one of the booming trends in our country in recent years. Orientation to digital technologies and information technologies in both public and private sectors is also important for the development of the economy. The results of the survey conducted among representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in Azerbaijan give a clear picture of the attitude of entrepreneurs to digitalization and the level of their awareness in this area. 77% of survey participants are small and 23% are medium-sized enterprises. The largest number of entrepreneurs/enterprises that participated in the survey, namely 24.4%, work in retail sales and e-commerce. The research shows that digitalization is very important for entrepreneurs. The responses suggest that the use of digital technology, tech adaptation, contactless, and e-commerce activities make it easier for companies to operate. It can be concluded that the majority of SMEs are aware of digitalization and understand its importance. The results show that more than 80% of companies use online training platforms. Two out of three companies surveyed noted that their employees have received professional training in digital technologies. According to the responses of SMEs operating in our country, among the digital technologies used by SMEs, the high-speed Internet is in the first place (90.1%), digital marketing is in second place (80.7%) and the company website is in third place (80.2%). The study shows that there is a directly proportional relationship between the areas in which SMEs invest. The most common areas of investment are marketing and sales (55.2%), logistics and warehousing (44.2%), project planning and management (43.4%), and product design (43.4%). Future investment plans are mainly strategic objectives for small enterprises. Small enterprises plan to invest mainly in logistics, storage, sales, marketing, and purchasing. Medium-sized enterprises indicate that they will invest in consulting activities, marketing, and sales, which make up the value chain. Investment in digitalization is more intensive in medium-sized enterprises. Small enterprises' future investments in the above-mentioned areas are linked to current budget constraints. The average investment indicator of medium-sized enterprises is 2.6 times higher than the average investment indicator of small enterprises. The obstacles that we inevitably encounter in real processes are also encountered in digitalization. 49.6% of respondents said that the most important reason for obstacles to digitalization was "budget constraints." Employee resistance to change (17.2%) is also a barrier to digitalization. Factors such as technical infrastructure, staff training, and adaptation also need to be considered in the transition to digitalization. 31.6% of small enterprises sell 76-100% of their products through digital channels. For medium-sized enterprises, the figure is 36.5%. Looking at the overall picture, more than 60% of SMEs make 51-100% of their sales through digital channels. This shows that entrepreneurs are using this powerful tool to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the digital world and to strengthen customer relationships. The study shows that SMEs understand the nature of digitalization and are ready to take their place in the digital and innovative space of the future by taking advantage of the digitaalization support offered by the DigiMATE platform.