Assessing the level of innovativeness and digitalization of enterprises in the European Union States

Abstract

Innovativeness and digitalization of enterprises of various countries is fundamental to their development and building a competitive knowledge-based economy. These issues are well understood in the European Union (EU), which promotes sustainable development of its economy, for which innovativeness and digitalization are of vital importance. The paper addresses this issue by presenting the results of a study of the level of innovativeness and digitalization of enterprises in the countries of the EU. The objectives of the research were to assess the level of innovativeness and digitalization of enterprises in the EU-27 states and to determine a relationship between digitalization and the level of innovativeness of these enterprises, as well as the impact of selected economic, energy, social and environmental parameters on these processes. The importance and interaction of these areas, as well as their impact on the economy, causes the methodology developed and the research conducted to consider both these dimensions of business activity simultaneously. To achieve these goals, an original research methodology was developed. Its basis was a set of 18 selected indicators characterizing the state of digitalization and innovativeness of enterprises in the EU-27 member states. Three methods of Multiple-criteria decision-making (EDAS, MOORA, VIKOR) and the Hurwicz criterion were used for the primary research. On the other hand, the CRITIC, Entropy and equal weights methods and the Laplace criterion were used to determine the weights of indicators. The multi-criteria approach to the issue under study made it possible to achieve the set objectives and formulate conclusions and answers to the research questions posed. The results unequivocally indicate a link between the innovativeness of enterprises and the process of their digitalization and R&D expenditures in the EU countries. The level of innovativeness and digitalization is definitely higher in the group of the so-called "old EU-14' states than in the "new EU-13" states. The research and its results provide ample opportunities for conclusions as to the state of both studied processes (digitalization and innovativeness) in the enterprises of the EU-27 states. The wide scope of the research carried out makes it possible to use the findings to build strategies and future economic policies of the entire EU and individual countries. The universality of the developed methodology also gives a wide range of possibilities for its application for further research.