The Irish economy is dominated by SMEs, and SMEs need to be placed at the core of any digital transformation strategy, considering their relevance to the Irish economy, with 99.8% of active businesses and 70% of the workforce employed in non-digital sectors such as services, construction and manufacturing.

A thorough analysis of the digitalisation of the Irish economy has unveiled a two-speed digi­tal economy. While Ireland is already in a strong position, being among the most digitalised coun­tries in the world (6th in the EU digital index DESI) for many years, the digital economy appears to run at two different speeds, with a small number of foreign-owned multinationals with high digi­talisation levels and productivity, and traditional indigenous SMEs, which are slower in leveraging digital solutions to reduce costs, drive innovation and expand market presence.

The Irish economy is dominated by SMEs, and SMEs need to be placed at the core of any digital transformation strategy, considering their relevance to the Irish economy, with 99.8% of active businesses and 70% of the workforce employed in non-digital sectors such as services, construction and manufacturing.

A thorough analysis of the digitalisation of the Irish economy has unveiled a two-speed digi­tal economy. While Ireland is already in a strong position, being among the most digitalised coun­tries in the world (6th in the EU digital index DESI) for many years, the digital economy appears to run at two different speeds, with a small number of foreign-owned multinationals with high digi­talisation levels and productivity, and traditional indigenous SMEs, which are slower in leveraging digital solutions to reduce costs, drive innovation and expand market presence.