Industry, Logistics & Shipping

Digital transformation roadmap for SMEs discussed

Digital transformation roadmap for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs and the importance of digitalisation for different industries were discussed in detail at an online conference titled: "Jobs Now: Going digital during Covid-19".
 
The conference was organised by the international non-governmental organisation SPARK in association with the Qatar Development Fund (QFFD).
 
“Although the worldwide pandemic affects our lives deeply, we are going through a period of learning more about technology in our daily and business lives. We do our jobs by using opportunities offered by technology too, and digitalization is the future of all sectors. As SPARK, we will continue to support entrepreneurs, students and SMEs to keep up with the transformation in the digitalising to keep their strengths during these challenging period,” SPARK’s CEO Yannick Du Pont said. 
 
The conference, started with the opening speech by SPARK's Founder & CEO Yannick Du Pont, and continued with two separate sessions. Speakers attending the panel “Scale-up: Accelerating Digital Jobs” shared the companies' transition to the digital world during the pandemic period, their support and effort in this field. In the panel of "Match-up: Jobs and Markets", it was emphasised that The Covid-19 crisis disproportionately affects those from more vulnerable backgrounds, such as immigrant youth. Therefore this period also offers new opportunities such as online education and training.
 
In the panel "Start-up: Entrepreneurship in times of crisis", it was pointed out that start-ups are essential triggers for innovation and economic growth in times of crises. Crises also reduce the creation, challenge the survival and limit the growth of start-ups. During the session, it was emphasised that the global number of business registrations has been dropping significantly in recent months. These short-term challenges can be tackled by supporting new and existing start-ups.
 
In the “Skill-up: Distant and online learning and education” panel, which was another parallel session, the necessity of bridging the existing gap between existing curricula provided by educational institutions and the skills needed by employers was discussed. It was emphasised in times in which physical internships have become difficult, or even impossible, virtual internships are great alternatives.—TradeArabia News Service