The Institute of Directors in Ireland has called for Budget 2021 and the Government's National Economic Plan to include tax reliefs and incentives to further increase and accelerate the digital transformation of Irish business, particularly for start-ups and SMEs.
A recent survey by IoD Ireland found that 88% of business leaders say the impact of Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of their organisation in a significant or marginal way.
38% of business leaders said the majority of their staff will be working remotely by the end of 2020, the survey also showed.
The poll revealed that 50% of those surveyed said their organisation was not planning to downsize its office space. When asked in the IoD's June survey, this figure was 69%. Meanwhile 14% said their business was planning to downsize offices, up from 2% in June.
25% of business leaders said their business model had "changed significantly" since the arrival of Covid-19, 52% said it had changed marginally, while 11% said there had been no change.
Maura Quinn, chief executive of the Institute of Directors, said that Budget 2021 and the National Economic Plan will be forward looking documents and a key component of both will be planning for economic recovery.
"As we have found in our recent survey of business leaders, there has been an acceleration in digital transformation with businesses increasing their online presence, while also utilising technology to enable remote working and conferencing," Maura Quinn said.
She said the IoD is asking the Government to continue to assist companies, especially SMEs, by providing supports and initiatives to aid them in their digital journeys, which in turn can help to stimulate economic recovery.
"Initiatives such as tax reliefs, incentives and training will help a company advance their online presence, and will place established companies and start-ups alike in a better position to increase their competitiveness and build resilience," Ms Quinn added.
