In an effort to gauge the progress of digitalization across legislative, commercial, and technological spectrums, Serbia recently hosted its annual Internet Domain Day.

This year's conference centered on the unveiling of the country's Digital Development Index, designed to assess how businesses utilize digital technologies online.

With 330,000 registered entrepreneurs and 130,000 companies in Serbia, there has been a significant gap in understanding how these entities present their products and services online, as well as the quality of those offerings.

In response, the National Internet Domain Registry of Serbia (RNIDS) established a website dedicated to the Digital Identity Index.

This index provides insights into the online behavior of Serbian companies, encompassing aspects such as website usage, email communication, social media engagement, online payment facilitation, and options for online bookings.

The index results were derived from a survey conducted in October 2023 and are available on the index.srb website, offering businesses a means to evaluate their current standing within Serbia's online environment.

Predrag Milićević, a marketing and communications advisor at RNIDS, noted that the project aims to enable companies to assess and potentially enhance their digital presence.

The Digital Identity Index seeks to provide a straightforward metric for comparison based on research and various digital tool evaluations.

According to Milićević, the index reflects the level of internet technology usage in business operations.

The index allows businesses to benchmark their performance against the national average and similar firms within specific regions of Serbia.

For example, businesses in Vojvodina can compare their index with that of peer companies in the same area, and small businesses can gauge their standing relative to similar-sized enterprises.

As it stands, Serbia's Digital Index is recorded at 46.97 out of 100, with website ownership contributing 20 points—representing the most significant element of the index.

Jovanović highlighted that this score indicates that the Serbian business sector is only halfway to optimal digitalization, suggesting ongoing challenges in this area.

The index was generated based on responses from a sample of 662 businesses, inclusive of various sizes such as micro, small, medium, and large enterprises.

Length of business operation was also a critical factor in the sampling criteria.

Respondents who complete the survey receive a score ranging from one to 100, allowing them to compare their operations against similar businesses.

The survey results reveal that approximately two-thirds of firms possess websites, primarily serving as brochures for their products and services rather than as sales channels.

Just 64% of respondents actively promote their offerings online.

Furthermore, 79% of companies leverage social media for their presentation, with 55% using messaging applications for communication.

However, only 24% utilize chat software on their websites to engage with potential customers.

Among the surveyed firms, 80% are on Facebook, 8.5% on TikTok, and 8% use the platform formerly known as Twitter (X), while LinkedIn has a user base of 31% among them.

The conference also addressed the ethical dimensions of technology and its relationship with politics, as well as pressing questions surrounding the development of artificial intelligence.

Esteemed panelists included Rastko Petaković from Karanović & Partners and Mika Tasić, a technology leader with extensive experience in digital transformation for global brands like Google and BMW.

Additionally, Christian Kaufmann from Germany, who oversees technological advancements at Akamai Edge, contributed to the discussions.

The event featured various engaging activities, including interactive demonstrations with a Nintendo device, which captivated attendees to the extent that organizers had to request the removal of batteries to manage the situation.