The survival of small and medium-sized businesses in the digital age is a major challenge. Spain estimates that 89 % of its SMEs are prioritizing their online presence, according to data from a YouGov study for IONOS.

This same assessment shows that 58 % of companies have their own website, “while 55 % use corporate email with their own domain, and another 55 % use social media in their digital strategy.”

These percentages place the European country above France (79 %), Germany (84 %), and the United Kingdom (82 %) in online presence. A decision that will be strengthened this year as it is considered key by 51 % of companies, in addition to related aspects such as cybersecurity and data protection.

Another area SMEs want to strengthen is the digitalization of their business model by storing data in the cloud.

Investment in digitalization for 2025 also considers growth and competitiveness. “The main priority will be to strengthen the company’s website, chosen by 4.6 % of respondents as their main area of ​​investment in 2025. IT security and data protection is the second most voted option, with 38% of companies allocating budgets to this area, which represents a 5 % increase compared to 2024.”

Social Media and Artificial Intelligence

Presence on social media is crucial for 38 % of the companies surveyed, which are allocating funds to strengthen their presence on these platforms.

On the other hand, “investment in artificial intelligence solutions has grown to 22 %, which represents a 5 % increase compared to the 2024 study.”

This means that more and more companies are recognizing the potential of AI to improve their processes and efficiency.

Barriers hindering digitalization

The study does not ignore the obstacles faced by Spanish SMEs in the transition to digitalization. One of the main barriers, identified by 69 % of SMEs, is costs. Added to this are bureaucracy, lack of time, “security and data protection in an increasingly complex digital environment,” not to mention the financial and administrative obstacles that slow the progress of digitalization.

M.Pino

Source: ituser

(Main reference image source: Campaign Creators on Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on X/Twitter and Instagram

La entrada Spanish SMEs consider digitalization a key for success apareció primero en Bitfinance.

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, will hold the first International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 in Panama City on January 29 and 30.

The organization’s agenda is focused on key issues for the region, with a high impact on sustainable development. In this sense, the first event of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is entitled: “International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2025: How to get back on the path to growth?”.

Topics such as “strategies that strengthen sustainable economic development, with a special focus on impact investment, green energy transition, digitalization and infrastructure” will be discussed.

Participants from the private, government and multilateral sectors will meet at the Panama Convention Center, in the capital of the Central American country, to identify and promote strategies based on new technologies that help strengthen “institutions, promote innovation and digitalization, advance the transition to green energy, develop strategic infrastructure and generate inclusive opportunities for all.”

M.Pino

With information from CAF and panamaametica.com

(Reference image source: Eilis Garvey on Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on X/Twitter and Instagram

La entrada First International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The use of new technologies in different sectors of life has promoted the concept, which is not new, of smart governments, marked by the development and adoption of tools that allow us to respond quickly and effectively to the requirements of the population. .

Artificial intelligence has a marked role in this evolution towards intelligent governments, since the applications, programs and functionalities that currently emerge are based on this technology.

The objective is to apply initiatives that allow the modernization of the economic, political, educational and industrial systems, to achieve modernization, and allowing the inclusion of all citizens.

Efficient management in the political and administrative sphere of governments is key on this path towards sustainability, leveraged by new technologies.

What characteristics does a smart government have? It is an efficient management system, capable of achieving effective results through “effective policies, based on data and evidence, to anticipate and resolve the demands of society, while promoting a competitive and attractive business environment for investment.”

Remarkable experiences in Latin America

The implementation of “intelligent solutions and applications to capture and process data, transforming them into important assets for decision-making” is another characteristic that is already observed in some Latin American countries, such as Chile, which has invested in AI to develop software with a microsimulation model of taxes and benefits that allows comparing and analyzing tax benefit policy scenarios on poverty, inequality and income.”

Another example can be seen in Colombia, which has a platform to visualize and analyze data with mathematical models aimed at understanding the complex relationships between the Covid-19 pandemic, the health sector, society and the economy.

Uruguay, on the other hand, is using a model to simulate the operation of an electrical energy system to help it plan investments and operate energy systems.

Currently, AI and blockchain technology are present in multiple processes that governments routinely carry out. Added to this are open source solutions, “which offer flexibility, scalability and resilience while maintaining high security standards and complying with different regulatory standards.”

To get an idea of ​​the benefits of the use of digital tools by governments, data from the World Bank can be cited, which suggests that this trend can help “reduce the large proportion of Latin America’s GDP (up to 4 %) that is lost due to inefficiencies in public spending.”

Smart governments seek to respond to current generations, and chart the path for future ones, with efficient, reliable and operationally consistent solutions.

M.Pino

Source: portafolio

(Reference image source: Unsplash+, in collaboration with Getty Images)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram

La entrada New technologies promote smart governments apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Superintendency of Institutions of the Banking Sector of Venezuela (Sudeban) issued a communication to all banks in the country establishing the guidelines for the opening of digital accounts and the acceptance of electronic contracts.

The purpose of this regulation, according to Sudeban, is “to offer new opportunities and facilitate the population’s access to goods and services under new technological trends, as long as these provide adequate levels of security.”

Below are the guidelines contained in the communication:

M.Pino

With information from national media, Sudeban and social networks

(Reference image: archive)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram

La entrada Sudeban established guidelines for opening digital bank accounts apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Banks have been gradually moving towards a more agile, customer-centric model, adopting cloud-based technologies powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This emerges from the findings of the report ‘The Digital Horizon: Banking’s Shift from Mainframe to AI-Driven Cloud Infrastructure’, presented by NTT DATA, a digital business and IT services firm.

The research, which surveyed 650 leaders of financial institutions worldwide, reveals a growing collaboration with artificial intelligence and cloud services. While legacy systems based on legacy infrastructure still persist, the report highlights that 63 % of banks still operate on legacy systems, despite 89 % identifying themselves as innovators.

However, more than 60 % of respondents say that generative AI is facilitating the transition of applications to the cloud, marking a significant shift in adoption of these technologies.

The report also highlights that board support is high, with nine out of ten executives reporting that their AI and cloud initiatives are backed by their respective boards. While most banks are already integrating AI into their technologies, 30% are still in the early stages of adoption. In addition, it is highlighted that 80 percent% lack a strategic framework for the adoption of generative AI.

As for the cloud, 36 % of respondents cite flexibility and scalability as key factors for migration, indicating a shift in concerns beyond costs. On the other hand, 25 % recognise a growing trend in migration to the cloud driven by advances in AI.

José Manuel Pérez Bajo, Banking Partner at NTT DATA, commented: “Driving change, while a great challenge, is also an opportunity for banking transformation. Understanding the current landscape, the options available and recognising the barriers makes it easier to modernise technology with greater clarity and fewer risks.”

Kaz Nishihata, Director and Senior Executive Vice President of NTT DATA Group Corporation, noted that “this technological force is driving banks towards a deeper understanding of customer needs, enabling them to deliver faster, safer and more personalized services.”

K. Tovar

Source: Yahoo Finanzas

(Reference image: Hitesh Choudhary, Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram

La entrada Banks move towards cloud and AI, according to NTT DATA report apareció primero en Bitfinance.

According to economist Edgar Urbaez, the ambition of digitizing the Venezuelan economy is “fanciful”, for various reasons, including Internet connectivity that turns out to be the slowest in the world and at a time when banking is reduced to its minimum capacity, asphyxiated by a reserve requirement rate of 93%.

“Venezuela is not prepared to digitize all financial operations, we do not have an Internet broadband that can support all operations. You just have to look at the university education system and that of the schools, which have been committed to online education for a year and it has been impossible”, Urbaez said.

For his part, Jesús Casique, director of the firm Capital Market Finance, stressed that the digitization of payment methods cannot be developed if the underlying problem of hyperinflation is not first attacked.

“It should be noted that, according to the NA elected in 2015, 2020 ended with hyperinflation at 3,713%. Venezuela has 38 consecutive months of hyperinflation and is about to surpass Greece in world history, which had 44 months of hyperinflation. This year that inflation could close at approximately 1,220%, it will still be extremely high”, he said.

K. Tovar

Source: Doblellave

La entrada Economic digitization would not be viable in Venezuela apareció primero en Bitfinance.