What is the assessment of an organisation’s digital maturity and why is it important?

The aim of all European Digital Innovation Hubs, including EDIH Adria, is to support the introduction of digital technologies in the business of companies and the public sector, which will also contribute in the long run to achieving the goals set by the comprehensive framework called Europe's Digital Decade. Europe’s Digital Decade aims to provide people with all aspects of technological and innovation work, by guiding all measures related to digitalisation. The main objectives of this European Union policy are a digitally skilled population and highly skilled digital professionals, secure and sustainable digital infrastructure, the digital transformation of businesses and the digitalisation of public services.

Through numerous targeted activities, the desire is to overcome the gap between the current situation and the expected status in 2030, and in order to effectively monitor the achievement of progress, all activities implemented within the Digital Europe Programme will be systematically and systematically monitored. One of the most significant indicators is certainly the strengthening of the digital maturity of organisations that have used the services of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs. To this end, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has developed a digital maturity assessment tool for companies that can be used by all EDIHs to measure the progress of their customers’ digital maturity.

The Digital Maturity Assessment Service is free of charge for all EDIH Adria users, and is also a prerequisite for the use of EDIH advisory services and is used to determine the potential for digital business transformation and measure progress, assess potential investments and identify changes that will create the greatest benefits for business and competitiveness. Information received through completed Digital Maturity Assessment Questionnaire It will help all EDIHs to get a picture of the starting point of the organisation’s digital transformation process and identify areas where it may need the support of an individual European Digital Innovation Hub.

Before the start of EDIH support, potential beneficiaries shall complete for the first time the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) Customer Digital Maturity Assessment Questionnaire. Given their specificities and separate characteristics, public sector organisations and companies fill in different questionnaires. In addition, in order to ensure a more objective interpretation of the questions but also the fact that the answers correspond as best as possible to the actual state of the organization, the questionnaire is completed with the support of EDIH experts.

In order to compare the level of digital maturity of an organisation with that of similar organisations, the first part of the questionnaire contains basic general information about the organisation interested in supporting EDIH and the sector of activity in which it operates. Subsequently, the organisation (depending on whether it belongs to the public or private sector) answers questions that will help the individual EDIH to get a picture of the starting point of the organisation’s digital transformation process and identify areas where it may need EDIH support. The results will also help assess the services that EDIH could provide to the organisation, as well as the assessment of EU policies and financial instruments supporting the EDIH centres.

Through the questionnaire, companies answer questions in six areas:

1. Digital business strategy – to get a picture of the overall status of a digitalisation strategy in a company from a business perspective. Questions relate to companies' investments in digitalisation by business area (implemented or planned) and to the readiness of companies to embark on a process of digitalisation, which may require further unforeseen organisational and economic steps

2. Digital readiness – assessing the current uptake of digital technologies (common and more advanced technologies) by manufacturing and service companies.

3. Human-centric digitalisation – in order to increase the productivity and well-being of staff, questions related to the competence of staff in digital technologies, the degree to which these technologies are used and their positive impact on staff and the degree to which they have improved working conditions are being addressed.

4. Data management and connectivity – the aim is to establish how company data is digitally stored, organised and made available on connected devices (computers, etc.) and used for business purposes, with sufficient data protection through cybersecurity schemes.

5. Automation and AI – This dimension looks at the level of automation and application of AI enabled by digital means and embedded in business processes.

6. Green Digitalisation – which aims to assess companies’ ability to digitalise using a long-term approach, which entails responsibility for, protection and sustainability of natural resources and the environment.

On the other hand, public sector organisations answer similar questions, but from a different perspective:

1. Digital strategy and investments – where we try to get a picture of the overall status of the digitalisation strategy. The questions relate to the readiness of the organisation to embark on a process of digitalisation that may require further unforeseen organisational and economic measures and related investments in digitalisation by field of activity (implemented or planned).

2. Digital readiness – assessing the current uptake of digital technologies (common and more advanced).

3. Human-centric digitalisation – looking at staff’s competence in digital technologies, the degree to which they are used and their positive impact on staff, and the degree to which these technologies have improved working conditions.

4. Data management and security – with this dimension, we want to see how data in an organisation is digitally stored, organised and made available on connected devices, and how it is used for business purposes, while being sufficiently protected by cybersecurity schemes. The question concerns data stored in all possible forms, including documents.

5. Interoperability – this dimension considers the level of interoperability achieved by the organisation in relation to the level of deployment/implementation planning of many of the 12 interoperability principles set out in the new European Interoperability Framework

6. Green digitalisation – this dimension assesses an organisation’s ability to implement digitalisation through a long-term approach that entails responsibility for, protection and sustainability of natural resources and the environment.

After completing the questionnaire, the organization will get a clear picture and percentage of its own digital maturity compared to similar organizations from the entire European Union, but also per each of the 6 priority areas.

In order to achieve the monitoring of the development process and the efficiency of EDIH services, after the service has been performed, the user will fill in the Questionnaire twice, one year after the service has been performed, and two years after the second filling in the Questionnaire for the assessment of digital maturity of clients of the European Digital Innovation Centre (EDIH). This will measure and evaluate the progress of the organization on its journey through digital transformation in a transparent manner.