“Slovenia is approaching the EU average of 45.7 in the area of human capital with a score of 44.3. It lags behind the EU average of 54 % and 26 % of at least basic and sufficient digital skills (50 % and 20 % respectively) and equals the proportion of people with at least basic skills to create digital content," the DESI report states. The share of enterprises providing ICT training remains at 26 %, above the EU average.
Slovenia’s digital connectivity performance is mixed. Very high capacity network coverage is above the EU average, but Slovenia is lagging behind with 5G deployment. The country score for SMEs with basic digital intensity is at the EU average level and exceeds it in the areas of cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI). The country has a good score in digital technology integration, which corresponds to the EU average for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with basic digital intensity and goes beyond it in cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI). It performs less well when using big data.
Slovenia’s penetration rate in digital public services is good, but below the EU average for digital public services aimed at individuals and above the average for services targeting businesses. At the same time, Slovenia recognises the need to invest in the country’s basic digital infrastructure, digital skills and the digital capacity of businesses. While these comprehensive policies show awareness of the country’s needs, more needs to be done to promote digital transformation across the public sector.
Slovenia is gradually putting the digital transformation of its economy and public sector at the forefront, as reflected in its legislative and regulatory framework and the recovery and resilience plan. The overall context of the digital transformation will be set out in the upcoming Digital Slovenia 2030 Strategy, which will bring together all sectoral strategies. It has four pillars:
- competence and ecosystem for digital inclusion;
- safe and sustainable digital infrastructure;
- digital technologies and the digital transformation of businesses; and
- digitalisation of public services.
At the same time, ensuring inclusive development of digital skills is crucial for our country to realise the lasting economic and social benefits of an inclusive digital society. Defining basic digital skills and training would help the digital workforce to focus on evolving needs in job profiles and job descriptions. This guidance gives the Slovenian public sector the opportunity to become an attractive employer, especially for young people.
The full DESI report is available to TUKAJ.