80% of SMEs think govt funding key to unlocking digitalisation: Survey

A majority (80 per cent) of small and medium enterprises in the country believe the government funding is key to unlocking digitalisation in the future, according to a study by Gartner-acquired software selection platform Capterra.

The 'State of Digitalisation in India survey: Major barriers and role of government' report is based on responses collected from 435 respondents, including a group of managers, senior managers, or CEOs and founders -- labelled as decision makers. Out of these, 341 work for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while 94 work for companies having more than 250 employees.

The study found that 65 per cent of surveyed companies have received government funding for digitisation at least once, while 52 per cent of respondents said digitalisation would be challenging or even impossible without government funding.

At least 8 out of 10 think there should be more funding initiatives to facilitate digitalisation, the study said.

Issues in cybersecurity emerged as the top barrier to digitalisation, with 36 per cent of the respondents stating that digitalisation should not come at the cost of cybersecurity issues such as data breaches, data loss, and data theft.

Other barriers include integration of new technology with the existing one (26 per cent), lack of expertise to implement digitalisation (24 per cent) and connectivity issues (23 per cent).