American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia held a conference titled “Digital Croatia 2030”. AmCham strongly supports efforts to raise the level of digitization in Croatia and welcomes the fact that Croatia’s National Development Strategy 2030 recognizes digital transformation as an essential tool for achieving key national goals, and that the “2032 Digital Croatia Strategy” paved the way for a digital transformation in the areas of skills, infrastructure, digital transformation of companies and public services.

“Goldman Sachs forecasts say that in the next ten years, under the influence of artificial intelligence, the world’s GDP will grow by 7%. It also predicts that artificial intelligence will have an impact on 25% of European jobs. Croatia has a difficult and long way to go to catch up with the leading countries in terms of digitization. Ranked 21st out of 27 countries according to the DESI 2022 index, Croatia must undertake significant efforts to advance in all spheres of digitization,” said Andrea Doko Jelušić, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce at today’s “Digital Croatia 2030” conference.

“Digital transformation brings a number of benefits for both citizens and the state, as well as for the entire economy, making it more productive and competitive. I am happy to point out that with the establishment and operationalization of the CDU, the state cloud, we have started a new phase of digital transformation that will provide greater service availability, higher standards, and increased data security. Digital is the “new normal” and an opportunity to position Croatia as a country with a modern, competitive economy and an attractive investment destination,” added State Secretary Bernard Gršić, Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society.

Matej Križnjak, digital process automation manager in the information system development team at PwC Croatia, pointed out in his introductory presentation that digital trends, such as business process automation and digitization, are transforming the way companies do business and have become key factors for increasing productivity and efficiency in today’s business. Rapid technological progress, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics, will help companies make decisions more quickly and adapt to market changes in order to maintain their competitiveness.

Digitization affects all economic sectors. “The digital revolution opens up numerous opportunities and possibilities for the Croatian economy and society while also affecting a paradigm shift on a larger scale than any recent social or technological change. In the banking sector, technological development has multiple impacts on all business aspects, from the way clients receive information to how and when they use bank services. “Technology helps banks better understand their clients’ needs and provide a better user experience,” said Emil Sapunar, director of retail strategy management and digital transformation at Raiffeisenbank Croatia.

During the panel discussion, Vedran Bajer, country manager of Microsoft Croatia, pointed out that digitization and continuous education of employees are vital for the growth and development of the Croatian economy. Croatia has many young talents with high-level digital skills, especially in the 16-29 age group, which is clearly reflected in the number of Croatian startups, which is above the CEE average. Croatian technology companies are important for the economy. The ICT sector is a business innovation leader, increasing Croatia’s competitiveness and reputation on global markets and contributing significantly to the country’s GDP.

“In recent years, all telecoms in Croatia, including Telemach, have made huge investments in modern technological infrastructure, confirmed by last year’s DESI index, according to which the growth of mobile broadband internet coverage in Croatia corresponds to the European one, while the growth of fixed broadband internet coverage is 41 percent higher than the European. However, with all the investment in technology, our society must also become more aware of the real ways in which we can improve our daily life and business using technology. The role of telecoms is critical here. Our responsibility is not only to build infrastructure but to use all the benefits afforded by technology to help our entire society live as well as possible”, concluded Adrian Ježina, President of the Management Board, Telemach Hrvatska.