Digitalisation is the way to meet the Green Deal targets

Digitisation can reduce emissions or carbon footprint enormously. In addition to the major actions taking place in the energy sector, digitalisation is one of those small but essential tools in the daily practice of companies and citizens that will bring significant greenhouse gas savings. It is enough to use certain digital tools, advanced technologies or focus on simpler technologies that make people’s lives more comfortable and easier, said Jaromír Hanzal, chairman of the Association for Applied Research in IT (AAVIT), in an interview with FocusOn.cz.

As part of the Green Deal, the Czech Republic has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 55 % by 2030. The agreement affects the whole country and all its sectors, so we need to learn to do things a little differently.

“On of our members Virtual Lab released a project that has been created to enable people repair a certain machine through virtual reality. The machine can be broken down into its individual parts and examined carefully. A service technician with goggles can then view the machine remotely in augmented reality and receive instructions on how to manipulate it. This saves a huge amount of travel, which benefits companies in particular, who don’t have to pay employees to drive around, but also society as a whole – it means a significantly smaller carbon footprint,” adds Hanzal.

How long does it take to digitise a company? Roughly one year

As more and more pressure is being put on digitalisation and its importance is growing, nearly 28 billion CZK have been allocated for its development from the National Recovery Plan. Together, The Recovery Plan provides fundings of 180 billion CZK. Along with measures to combat climate change, digitalisation is the most important area for which EU money is allocated.

“It takes a very long time to carry out digitisation in a non-digitised company – usually around a year. It depends on what analysis stage of the company. Moreover, comapnies have to pay for everything themselves. Only when it completes the project, it’s entitled to drawn the subsidy. On top of that, the whole process is strictly controlled. The Czech Republic is such a big target of Brussels controls. Unfortunately, this makes the whole operation extremely difficult, but there is no need to get upset because the whole National Recovery Plan is controlled by the audit body of the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry interprets restrictively where it can be do so, so entrepreneurs must also count on the fact that someone can come to check their projects,” comments Jaromír Hanzal.

Digitalisation and 5G technology

Digitalisation goes hand in hand with the rise of 5G networks. Many things will depend on superfast internet.

“5G networks have tremendous support from ordinary users who want their applications to run faster or to be able to use more data-intensive things. In companies, there will be so-called campus networks, which are networks that belong only to a particular facility. In this case, however, a solid, reliable high-capacity signal will also be crucial,” finishes Hanzal of AAVIT, whose members include Kiwi.com, Virtual Lab, Topmonks, AKESO, J&T Leasing, Creative Melons, SVI AJAK, Fermat and eMan.