According to the new eight country 2020 Small Business Digital Maturity Study, small businesses could add $2.3trn to these market’s overall GDP by 2024 while contributing to the economic recovery during and post pandemic.
The study conducted by IDC, and commissioned by Cisco, examines eight countries throughout June 2020 (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, UK, Germany and France) to better understand the opportunities and challenges small businesses currently face and the correlation between digital maturity and faster recovery.
Together these eight economies could also increase by 5.5% and enjoy a 42% faster growth rate through increased small business digitalization.
To understand the maturity level of small business digitalization, IDC developed a framework that helps small businesses clearly assess their current capabilities, and understand where they are on a four-stage digital index – ranging from the earliest stage of Digital Indifferent to the most advanced group of Digital Natives. This study is an extension of the APJC SMB study released in July.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the digital divide that was already present in the small business market, and it is forcing companies to accelerate their digitalization,” said Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, AVP, Head Digital Transformation & SMB research, at IDC.
“Small businesses are realizing that digitalization is no longer an option, but a matter of survival. While the research shows many small businesses are making progress, they should increase focus on digitalizing processes and operations through the use of digital technologies to ensure business continuity and future resiliency”.
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