92 percent of respondents believe that the EU is dependent on non-European tech companies when it comes to digitization, and at the same time only 8 percent see the EU on the right track to reducing digital dependencies.
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For the first time, bureaucracy has overtaken the shortage of skilled workers as the biggest hurdle for IT SMEs in Europe.
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According to the respondents, in the next legislative period, European legislators should focus primarily on administrative digitization, cybersecurity and research funding for future technologies.
Aachen, June 13, 2023 - The current survey by the German IT SME Association (BITMi) shows a very critical assessment of the digital economy's SMEs regarding Europe's digital sovereignty. Almost 92 percent of respondents said that the EU is dependent on non-European tech companies when it comes to digitization and that the digital future is currently being shaped outside Europe. Only around 8 percent believe that the EU is on the right track to reduce digital dependencies in the future. When asked about the current biggest hurdles for IT SMEs in Europe, for the first time in two years, bureaucracy, rather than the shortage of skilled workers, came first (see BITMi annual forecast for 2023 and 2024).
"For years, the shortage of skilled workers has been the biggest challenge for the German IT industry, and this problem has only gotten worse to date. Nevertheless, in our survey, bureaucracy has now surpassed this always biggest problem by 30 percent. That is alarming," said BITMi President Dr. Oliver Grün, commenting on the survey results. "So far, the GDPR has already presented a challenge for us, albeit one that can be overcome. Now a wave of five to seven new EU regulations of this kind is rolling towards us, including the AI Act, the NIS2 Directive, the Cyber Resilience Act, the sustainability reporting CSRD and the supply chain regulation CSDDD."
From the perspective of IT SMEs, there is an urgent need for action to secure our digital self-determination and active design of future technologies in Europe. One of the most important decisions of the new legislature is a SME- and innovation-friendly orientation of European digital policy, especially with regard to the regulatory burden and the associated bureaucracy. Accordingly, 63 percent of respondents named administrative digitization, 62 percent cybersecurity and 56 percent research funding for future technologies as digital policy priorities for the new legislature.
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