How can Slovakia maintain and strengthen its competitiveness in an era of rapid change? The lecture highlighted weak spots in international rankings, but also identified concrete levers for change: the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, the development of new sectors, and investment in people.
SME digitalization as a key lever
The EU set clear goals in its Digital Decade strategy by 2030: 75 % of companies should be using the cloud, artificial intelligence or big data, the number of European “unicorns” should double, and 90 % of small and medium-sized enterprises should at least deploy digital technologies. Without this, productivity will be hard to grow and small firms will not keep pace with the competition. Slovakia has committed to these goals and will have to put them into practice.
A survey by SAPIE with Slovenská sporiteľňa showed that a major obstacle to digitalization is the administrative complexity of funding applications. Many companies also count more on public resources than on their own investments, even though there are currently quite a few opportunities. Help should also come from the European Digital Innovation Hub HOPO: it operates as a "one-stop shop" for SMEs, advises on AI adoption, finding financing, and connects companies at home and abroad to support exports.
New sectors and the decisive capital: people
Alongside strengthening existing manufacturing, Slovakia has an opportunity in new industrial sectors. Promising directions include the space industry, quantum and hydrogen technologies, and other areas with higher added value. However, the potential will remain on paper unless companies and the state can innovate and collaborate quickly.
Human capital is decisive: education, reskilling, retaining and attracting talent. The government’s program statement emphasizes these priorities and builds on reforms and investments from Plán obnovy and Program Slovensko. If continuity and high-quality implementation can be ensured, existing resources can move productivity and competitiveness forward. Now it’s about turning declarations into concrete steps.
