The FINANCIAL — Modern smart technology brings changes to European enterprises. Smart machines, devices and sensors interconnect and communicate with each other via the internet, creating smart environments called the Internet of Things (IoT) enabling increased automation and production processes that can analyse and diagnose issues independently.
In 2020, almost one-fifth (18%) of enterprises in the EU with more than 10 people employed used internet-connected devices or systems that can be monitored or controlled remotely via the internet. Large enterprises used these devices or systems to a larger extent (38%) compared with medium-sized enterprises (27%) and small enterprises (16%).
Devices or systems to optimise energy consumptions in the enterprise’s premises were the most popular in large enterprises: 21% of large enterprises used them. Among medium and small enterprises, devices or systems to track the movement of vehicles or products or to offer condition-based maintenance of vehicles were most commonly used: 12% of medium enterprises and 6% of small enterprises used them.
Among EU Member States, Czechia recorded the highest share of enterprises (44%; see footnote) that used internet-connected devices or systems with remote monitoring or control via the internet in 2020. Czechia was followed by Finland (40%), Austria (32%), Belgium (27%) and Malta (26%).
In contrast, less than 15% of enterprises in Hungary (14%), Portugal (13%), Bulgaria (12%), France (10%) and Romania (7%) used such internet-connected devices or systems last year.
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