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ECONOMIC CHAMBER OF MACEDONIA

years bsi. ISO
9001
1922 - 2016 Quality
Management

СТОПАНСКА КОМОРА НА МАКЕДОНИЈАFS549642

Osnovana 1922

ECONOMIC CHAMBER OF MACEDONIA

Founded 1922

Worldwide, the first wave of digital transformation has already peaked, and the big players - global
companies - have already made full use of it. We, as a region, should make sure to ‘catch a ride’ on the
second wave. This does not apply to companies only, but also to each individual country comprising this
region. We should have our own initiatives for digital transformation - for example, develop ‘smart cities’
and implement e-customs systems.

Today, everyone is talking about digitization, but to what degree are we prepared to ‘walk the talk’?

In countries across the region, there are already short-term action plans tackling what citizens and
businesses find most interesting - further digitization of the public administration, a process that will
modernize its services for the benefit of everyone involved. But one must ask - is this process being truly
implemented?

Are we ready for creativity, for new types of innovation in different fields? What will happen in a time
where everything changes - services and consumers, supply and expectations, and methods of governance?

So far, most of the companies have managed to be digitally adjusted; some of them are digitally-aware, a
few are digitally-oriented, and very, very few are digitally-focused. It is interesting to learn that the lack of
knowledge and the overall complexity of companies’ processes are some of the critical challenges facing

businesses, yet many of them fail to recognize the urgency of these INITIATIVES
issues!

Digital operations, on average, account for approximately 10 % of a Bled
company’s total operations, implying the existence of substantial Strategic
potential for digital transformation in the work of companies. Digital Forum
work is expected to grow 11 % annually.

Companies that have completed the digital transformation process have
seen their profitability rise by 26 %.

In Southeast Europe, 63.3 % of companies believe that digital transformation is a chance to further develop
their companies (according to the IDC White Paper entitled: “How Digital Transformation is Changing
Business in CEE“). Only 11% of companies in SEE have reached the 4th level of digital transformation.

Chambers of commerce and the activities that they have already launched, and are to be launched, within
the Chamber Investment Forum are going to play an important role in the digital transformation of the
economy and society as a whole.

Prominent changes in digital transformation cannot occur without the support of everyone affected by
the process, alongside the support from governments, universities and the media. Digital transformation
is a complex process necessitating support in the form of professional education, exchange of successful
experiences and ‘good practices’, and greater cooperation at regional level - among chambers of commerce
and their respective associations and affiliations.

However, the networked economy of today has other significant components, such as integration, business-
to-user communication, and a company strategy based on consumers’ trust. Companies cannot be the
sole drivers of the digital transformation process, as the environment in which they work is a key factor
in the process. We do not have to underline that any form of social development in the present day must
be, to some degree, fuelled by the development and digital transformation of companies. Applying digital
transformation in companies accelerates economic growth, boosts GDP, and creates a climate in which
businesses can easily cross into new development cycles, and the state can improve its funding of public
services, reduce public debt, and increase citizens’ standard of living.

Sofce Jovanovska

October 2016 83