Embracing digital technologies is crucial for a competitive, innovative and resilient enterprise base. Businesses can harness digital technologies in many ways – including to better understand their customers, reduce their costs and improve their products.
The benefits of digitalisation for enterprise include helping businesses remain competitive, keeping pace with technological developments, making business processes and procedure more efficient, cost savings, improving customer service, accessing new customers and markets, enhanced data security, and future proofing.
Digital strategy
Ireland’s National Digital Strategy, Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework, sets out a pathway to support Ireland’s ambition to be a digital leader at the heart of European and global digital developments, driving and enabling digital transformation across the economy and society.
It is set out across four core dimensions – digital transformation of business, digital infrastructure, skills, and digitalisation of public services. This is supported by a modern, cohesive, well-resourced regulatory framework.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, leads the implementation of the enterprise dimension of the digital strategy to develop a strong digital ecosystem for SMEs to increase Ireland’s digital competitiveness. Goals under this dimension include helping SMEs benefit from digital opportunities by providing grants and assistance, with a target of 90% of SME at basic digital intensity by 2030, and 75% enterprise take-up in cloud, AI and big data in the same timeframe. Initiatives which work towards these targets include the Grow Digital portal and the Digital Transition Fund.
Supports and initiatives
Grow Digital
Grow Digital is a digital toolkit to help businesses (particularly microenterprises and SMEs) to assess their digital readiness and identify recommendations and supports to take the next step towards digital transformation, including training, resources and funding options.
Digital Transition Fund
The Digital Transition Fund (funded under Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)) is a €58 million fund running until 2026 to help companies at all stages of their digital journey by providing direct supports to enterprise for digitalisation.
Digital Innovation Hubs
European Digital Innovation Hubs are supporting digital transformation in SMEs and public sector organisations by encouraging the adoption of the latest advances in the three key technologies of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is part of a suite of digital technologies which will play a major role in shaping global competitiveness and productivity over the coming decades. There is a big opportunity for businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to reap a productivity dividend from AI (as well as other digital technologies).
Digital Services Act
The Digital Services Act sets out harmonised rules for a safe, predictable and trusted online environment.
Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum
The Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum was established to support the government in driving the digitalisation of enterprise across Ireland.