Companies in Wallonia are embracing digitalisation at an encouraging rate, according to the Digital Wallonia 2022 barometer, which monitors the digital maturity of enterprises in the region.
There has been significant progress with companies expanding their commercial communication through digital channels, with more than half of Walloon companies now present on social networks, and nearly 50% formalising a digital business strategy. The barometer also shows that Walloon companies are increasingly responding to online public procurement.
"We are now at 45% of bosses who can be described as 'convinced of digital'," Hélène Raimond of Digital Wallonia told RTBF, stating that the figures illustrate the fact that many Walloon business leaders have understood the crucial importance of digital technology for the development of their business.
“These bosses want both their business strategy to evolve thanks to digital technology and, at the same time, improve their performance thanks to technological tools. Clearly, Walloon bosses are much more convinced than they were two years ago," she said.
For comparison, the 2020 barometer showed that barely 30% of Walloon bosses were firmly convinced of the importance of digital technology for their economic activity.
In the space of two years, attitudes have significantly changed, with many more becoming "convinced" of the need to constantly rethink their business strategy and model, according to the opportunities offered by digital technologies. "For these bosses," says Raimond, "it is likely that the health crisis has played a key role in their changeover."
Indeed, for many companies, it has been necessary to urgently adapt to new ways of working. "The health crisis has obviously been a driving force for the adoption of communication software, such as Teams, Zoom, Slack and others," she says.
But that's not all. Consumers have also evolved during the pandemic by increasingly using the Internet, and especially their smartphone, to find answers to their consumer needs. As a result, companies active in the Business to Consumer (BtoC) segment have had to rapidly adapt.
"The good news," insists Raimond, "is that companies' websites have made a lot of progress in terms of responsive design and applications dedicated to surfing on mobile devices. And this is essential given that the citizen barometer of 2021 had shown that 43% of online purchases were now made through a smartphone. So yes, the crisis has led them to use new tools and, also, to massively increase teleworking. "
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However, there remains a fraction of bosses – about one in three – without a clear opinion on the use of digital tools for their economic activity, or who are even downright sceptical.
"This figure is stable compared to the 2020 survey," admits the Digital Wallonia boss said. “This means that we must continue our work to raise awareness of the opportunities that digital technology holds for the business world.”
