The readiness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for the digitalization of industry

the digital economy in SMEs in the Czech Republic. The article
analyses the factors of their preparedness for the digitization of
industry in the context of changes in the global economy, and it
scrutinizes the principal advantages, shortcomings, opportunities and
obstacles that SMEs perceive in preparing and implementing changes
in line with the Industry 5.0 initiative. The research into this
preparedness was carried out in the form of both a questionnaire
survey and semi-structured interviews. They were conducted in two
phases (November 2018 to January 2019 and January 2021). The
respondent sample was selected by a proportional representation of
industrial SMEs in the given regions and iron and mining industries
with data provided by the Czech Statistical Office, and finally, 240
SMEs were investigated for the research purpose. The research
shows that awareness of the digitization of the economy in SMEs in
the Czech Republic (Industry I-5.0 initiative) is not the highest. The
transition to a digital economy in these enterprises has been slow.
Sufficient tools have not been developed in time to support their
manufacturing and economic activities, to implement and safeguard
the digitization of their production, nor have any real measures been
created to enforce Industry 5.0 priorities, including digital
administration. This research also formulates key recommendations
for executive bodies in the Czech Republic. All this is in order to
establish interventions in the sector of industrial SMEs so that
digitization processes and standards in this sector might be
strengthened.