中小企业竞争力展望 2025

Transforming trade.Changing lives. Street address:ITC54-56, rue de Montbrillant1202 Geneva, SwitzerlandPostal address:ITCPalais des Nations1211 Geneva 10, SwitzerlandTelephone:+41-22 730 0111Fax:+41-22 733 4439E-mail:itcreg@intracen.orgInternet:http://www.intracen.orgThe International Trade Centre (ITC) is the joint agency ofthe World Trade Organization and the United Nations. A digitaltransformationroadmap About the ReportThisSME Competitiveness Outlooksets out what a digital transformation looks like for small and medium-sized enterprises.Featuring insights from the International Trade Centre’s new Enterprise Digital Transformation Index, a metric that assesseshow firms are adopting new technologies, it shows what challenges or circumstances may hold these businesses backin an increasingly digital age.The report also identifies the key enablers for firms to digitally transform– infrastructure, skills and regulations – while settingout what they can do when these enablers are absent to make up for what the environment lacks.The report unveils a Digital Transformation Action Plan for decision makers at the national and international levels. Thisroadmap provides a menu of options that decision makers can adopt depending on a country’s needs and circumstances– and reflects the key elements that must be in place to ensure that firms can benefit fully from the digital economy, andthat no one is left behind. ContentsForewordAt a GlanceExecutive SummaryDigital technologies matter for firm productivityNeed and location influence whether firms adopt digital technologiesEnabling the environment for digital transformationMaking up for what the environment lacksA plan to leave no one behindThought leadersBusiness voices 246681012121414A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP1 Being digitally ready means having the right infrastructure,regulations and skills. That is where governments andinstitutions come in and where international cooperationis essential. When these enablers are in place, firms largeand small, regardless of whether they are led by women ormen, youth or older individuals, find themselves operatingon a largely level digital playing field.When they are not, youth-led, women-led and smallerfirms often struggle to achieve the same level of digitaltransformation as their peers – but fortunately, thereare actions they can take to help make up for what theenvironment lacks.By now, the fact that we are riding a wave of digitaltransformation that far exceeds the pace of its predecessorsis not breaking news. But what is increasingly urgent is therisk of inaction. Namely, that by deferring decisions on howto make digital technologies available to everyone, wecould witness the emergence of a far more unequal world,one where the gulf between the digital ‘haves’ and ‘havenots’ grows deeper by the day, and where goals such asenvironmental sustainability and social inclusion fall furtherout of reach. The consequences could be devastating, far-reaching and hard to undo.With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development now inits final years, the world has precious little time left to finallybring to an end some of society’s most pernicious ills, suchas poverty, hunger and inequality. The warning bells from theclimate crisis are also growing louder by the hour, while theglobal economy remains on treacherous footing. The role ofdigital technologies in making this agenda’s 17 goals and169 targets possible cannot be overlooked. Governmentsrecognize that and are laying the groundwork to better definethe future of digital transformation, together. In today’s world, it seems that not a day goes by without anew technological change promising to transform the waypeople work and the way people live. Terms like artificialintelligence (AI) and blockchain – once limited to therealm of scientists, engineers and economists – have nowgained common currency, with the creators behind themoften becoming household names. These technologies arechanging what is possible in sectors as varied as agricultureand healthcare, even as newer versions of these technologiesappear continuously on the horizon.For the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) thatITC serves, going digital is no longer a ‘nice to have’. It isa necessity so these firms can grow, compete and trade. Itcan also help them become more productive, efficient andresilient to shocks, as crises like the COVID-19 pandemichave reinforced. But whether they end up riding the wave ofdigital transformation – or are instead left paddling or evenstuck in the sand – depends on several factors, including,critically, if the country where they operate is digitally ready.2SME COMPETITIVENESS OUTLOOK 2025 The Pact for the Future adopted by United Nations memberstates at the Summit of the Future makes clear the stakesand signals some of the potential solutions, as does theendorsement of a Global Digital Compact. The compact setsout the urgency of finding shared pathways for the digitaleconomy and e