If you don't move with the times, you move with the times. The pressure to innovate is particularly high for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They want and need to take advantage of the benefits of digitalization, but shy away from the associated investment costs. Is there a way out of this dilemma? Yes, says guest author Hans-Christian Stockfisch.
The state-owned development bank KfW regularly analyses the status of digitalization in the German economy and shows that German companies are only in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the EU. The reason: often low levels of investment. On the positive side, spending on digitalization in SMEs has increased significantly since the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, many companies are facing financial challenges. After two years of recession and an uncertain outlook for 2025, many SMEs have scaled back their investments in order to secure liquidity.
