ZAGREB, December 17, 2018 - A quarter of companies in the European Union use cloud computing services, and Croatia is above the EU average, with 31 percent of its businesses with more than 10 employees using these services, according to a survey on the use of information and communication technologies in enterprises in 2018, carried out by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.

In 2018, 26% of EU enterprises with at least 10 persons employed purchased cloud computing services. Cloud computing usage grew rapidly over the last few years, as in 2014 it stood at 19% and in 2016 at 21%, Eurostat said.

Large enterprises use cloud computing much more (56% of enterprises employing 250 persons or more) than small ones (23% of enterprises employing 10 to 49 persons). Over the last four years (between 2014 and 2018), the highest increase in cloud computing usage was observed in large enterprises (+21 percentage points), compared with +12pp in medium sized enterprises and +6pp in small enterprises, the survey showed.

The survey revealed significant differences across countries in regards to cloud computing usage. Over half of enterprises in Finland (65%), Sweden (57%) and Denmark (56%) used cloud computing. At the opposite end of the scale, cloud computing services were used by 10% or fewer enterprises in Bulgaria (8%) and Romania (10%).

Croatia was above the EU average, with 31 enterprises with more than 10 employees using cloud computing services. It was closest to Estonia, where 34% of companies used these services.

In 2018, enterprises used cloud computing mostly for e-mail (69% of enterprises that used cloud computing), closely followed by the storage of files in electronic form in a cloud (68%).

Enterprises less frequently purchased computing power to run the enterprise's own software (23%), or used CRM software applications over the cloud for managing information about customers (29%).

In the EU, 12% of enterprises with at least 10 persons employed reported analysing big data. Such analyses are predominantly done by large (33%) and medium sized (19%) enterprises, and carried out by internal staff (8%) or by external service providers (5%).

Among member states, the largest shares of enterprises analysing big data were observed in Malta (24%), the Netherlands (22%), Belgium and Ireland (both 20%). The smallest shares were noted in Cyprus (5%), Hungary and Austria (both 6%), Bulgaria and Italy (both 7%).

The survey showed that 10% of enterprises in Croatia analysed big data.

Enterprises that analysed big data used a variety of data sources. Almost half of all enterprises analysed geolocation data from the use of portable devices e.g. portable devices using mobile telephone networks, wireless connections or GPS (49%), followed by data generated from social media e.g. social networks (45%).

Less than one third of enterprises analysed own big data from smart devices or sensors (29%) or data from other sources (26%).

Only 4% of EU enterprises with at least 10 persons employed used 3D printing in 2018. In large enterprises, the share of 3D printer usage stood at 13% compared with 3% in small enterprises.

The largest shares of enterprises using 3D printing in 2018 were observed in Finland (7%), Denmark, Malta, the United Kingdom and Belgium (all 6%). The smallest shares were reported by enterprises in Cyprus and Latvia (both 1%), followed by Estonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Poland (all 2%).

In Croatia, 3% of enterprises used 3D printing this year.

More than half of enterprises that used 3D printing used this technology for prototypes or models for internal use (57%). Less than one third used 3D printing for prototypes or models for sale (32%) or for goods to be used in the enterprise's production process (27%). Only 17% used 3D printing for goods other than prototypes or models to be sold, Eurostat said.

More news on Croatia’s economy can be found in our Business section.

ZAGREB, November 29, 2018 - Digitisation of Croatia could increase its gross domestic product (GDP) by 8.3 billion euro by 2025, according to the findings of a survey presented on Wednesday by the McKinsey Croatia.

If Croatia were to focus on digitisation and automation as of tomorrow already and start working on it, by 2025 the potential incremental GDP from a digital economy could be 8.3 billion euro, Tomislav Brezinščak of McKinsey&Company said presenting the survey results.

"If we look at the past five years, Croatia's growth was 12%, which a little less than growth in EU member states in central Europe but it is still significantly a higher growth than in some large EU economies and in digital leaders," Brezinščak said. He said that Croatia was not lagging far behind other EU member states, however, when compared to developed economies, there is an obvious big gap, when measured by GDP per capita.

Compared to advanced economies, Croatia's GDP per capita is as much as four times lower.

He noted that today there are two types of economies – traditional and digital. Croatia's share in the digital economy is 5%, less than in other countries. However, that is not the main problem but rather, when comparing growth in digital economies and traditional ones. "Croatia is the only country in which traditional economy is growing faster than the digital one," he said, adding that a digital economy is the main factor of economic growth.

He added that with regard to employment, with automation today's manual, repetitive jobs will be replaced by jobs that a more productive, creative and lead to a great economic value.

Brezinščak said that it is necessary to start organising retraining for productive vocations that digitisation provides. "We don't have a good education, our infrastructure isn't the best, people find it hard to accept new skills and an entire infrastructure related to improving and accelerating new businesses for a digital economy doesn't exist," he warned.

He added that Croatia has to focus its digitisation based on three existing favourable factors. "The first fact is that Croatia has a large number of students graduating in ICT, next the cost of labour in the ICT sector has a strong competitive advantage and we have representative examples of it in the public and private sectors," he underscored, presenting recommendations for digitisation in Croatia.

For more on Croatia’s GDP, click here.

ZAGREB, November 23, 2018 - As many as 13% of internet buyers in Croatia have experienced online shopping fraud, and the most frequent form of fraud is the non-delivery of paid goods or the delivery of goods of poorer quality than advertised, according to the findings of a survey conducted by the Croatian Banking Association (HUB).

The survey, conducted among slightly over a thousand respondents among the general public in Croatia, shows that less than a half buy goods from online shops and 49% of those customers find the security of transactions most important, while 29% of those customers attach the greatest importance to being provided with the goods that accurately reflect the characteristics which were specified in the offer.

When it comes to online shopping fraud, 13% of those polled say that they have been victims, 46% of them say they have not been given the goods they have paid for, and in 41% of cases the goods did not have the quality they were supposed to have according to their advertisements.

Among online buyers, as many as 36% purchase goods only from verified online shops such as Amazon, eBay, AliBaba and Google Shopping Search.

A mere 14% opt for buying from Croatian online shops.

Respondents were asked about online shopping fraud via social networks, and 49% of those polled say that they use only trusted websites.

HUB director Zdenko Adrović was quoted as saying that one of the priorities is to raise the awareness of citizens about possible risks in online shopping. It is necessary to continuously educate and inform citizens about models of protection against potential online shopping fraud, he added.

Banks invest considerable funds in state-of-the-art protection against fraud, he said.

For more on online shopping in Croatia and problems some of the customers encounter, click here.

It works a bit, and then it stops. It starts very fast, but after a few minutes it slows down. After half an hour, it does not work at all... On Friday, some 60 trams and 58 buses started offering free wireless internet access, and in the next three to four months the free internet service should expand to all newer trams and 213 buses. So, does Wi-Fi in Zagreb public transport work, asks Večernji List on November 21, 2018.

On the no. 6 tram from Ban Josip Jelačić Square to Črnomerec and back, the user experience was mixed. At the start, the connection is great, but as the time goes by, it stops, restarts stops again and eventually dies altogether.

Getting connected to the WiFi internet is fast and easy. You just need to press the network connection option on your iPhone or Android smartphone, after which the phone automatically redirects to the ZET (company managing trams and buses) server. One tap and the connection is established, with the warning that after half an hour you will need to reconnect so that the internet connection would continue.

At first, the connection works flawlessly, and you can use Facebook, YouTube, Viber, Instagram and websites without any delays. But the happiness lasts for just fifteen minutes when the first problems begin. Videos on Instagram start to falter, and you have to wait for a second, two or three, while browsers and social networks need a little bit longer to refresh. After that, the connection quality continues to deteriorate, and after half an hour, when it is time to reconnect to the system, it might take up to 30 seconds for a website to open, while videos on YouTube can hardly be played.

Reconnecting after half an hour becomes a challenge in itself because the wireless signal is so bad that the phone can barely recognize the ZET network. Even when the connection is finally established, that does not help at all because the internet has already become so slow that it is completely unusable.

“I use my private internet connection, I am not in the mood to deal with these problems,” said Andrea Jukić, who tried the new service on Saturday. Since it stopped working after just ten minutes, she decided to rely on her internet provider.

“ZET's internet is fine if you have no more room on your data plan and you need to check an e-mail or an important message. Otherwise, it makes no sense to connect to their Wi-Fi,” said Stjepan Višić.

The pilot project for the introduction of the Wi-Fi internet in trams and buses began earlier this year when the free internet access was provided in three trams and three buses. The project proved to be a success, so 19.8 million kuna has been allocated for the introduction of wireless internet in other buses and trams.

For more on local issues in Zagreb, click here.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Hana Ivković).

A Croatian delegation led by Prime Minister Plenković visited China recently, meeting with Huawei's leadership for Europe there. The Chinese technology company, one of the largest in the world, is interested in a partnership in the digitalisation process of Croatia’s public administration system, reports Večernji List on November 10, 2018.

Prime Minister Plenković confirmed at a government session that in China he met with the key state-owned companies in the shipbuilding, road, bridge, railways and wind power plant sector, adding that all these companies were interested in cooperation with Croatia.

The government and the Administration Ministry did not disclose further details about talks with Huawei, but unofficial sources say that the company’s leaders had allegedly expressed their wish to move their centre from Belgrade to Zagreb. Further contacts with Huawei representatives will be done through the Directorate for Modernisation of Public Administration (e-Croatia), which deals with the digitalisation of internal operations of the state administration.

According to unofficial information, at the meeting with Huawei, the government delegation was also offered the possibility of educating Croatian IT experts in China. “Details of the co-operation are to be elaborated, but they have offered us the possibility to send students to China for further education,” said a source.

Prime Minister Plenković pointed out that Huawei was similar to Microsoft in its size and influence within the ICT sector, adding that their interest in the digitalisation of Croatian public administration would be of interest to the Administration Ministry, which is responsible for the process. The Administration Ministry did not want to discuss the issue, saying it was too early.

“The market of one billion and 400 million people wants to open much more than before and that is a great chance for the Croatian economy. That is why I am pleased that an economic forum was organised in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, with more than 100 Chinese partners and 30 Croatian businesses,” said Plenković.

When it comes to digitalisation of public administration system, Croatia is stagnating and the European statistics show that Croatia is ranked 25th among 28 member states. Finland and Estonia are at the top of the rankings, followed by Denmark and Spain, while the only countries behind Croatia are Greece, Hungary and Romania.

For more on relations between Croatia and China, click here.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Iva Puljić-Šego).

The e-Citizen mobile app, a new contactless electronic identity card, the introduction of a state login that will be used by private companies, the possibility of payment via POS devices in the state administration institutions, the launch of shared services centres and the state cloud services, and a network of branch offices where citizens will be able to receive electronic services... All this is just one part of the “digital tsunami” announced by the Administration Ministry on Wednesday during the Digital Transformation Conference (DTC 2018), reports Poslovni.hr on November 8, 2018.

Some of these goals should be completed by the end of this year and the rest in 2019.

Bernard Gršić, the state secretary for digital society development, said that 40 projects would receive 50 percent of the funds allocated for the Croatia 2020 strategy. “I think that, when all these projects are completed, Croatia will be a very different place than it is today," Gršić said.

The view was supported by Assistant Administration Minister Zrinka Bulić, who heads the e-Croatia department. She said that next year the government would introduce new contactless identity cards. “You will have the e-Citizen mobile system. You will put your contactless ID card next to your mobile phone and immediately access the services,” said Bulić. She added that by the end of this year citizens would be able to pay for all the services, such as for new ID cards or driver's licenses, directly via POS devices in state administration bodies.

Starting from next year, all this will be merged through a special platform called e-Fees, which should further simplify the process. In other words, the government plans to effectively abolish paper payment slips.

She added that next year the authorities would launch the externalisation of the NIAS system. This means that companies will be given an option to have citizens register for their services with their electronic ID card, that is, by using a state login, similar to the ones for Google and Facebook services. “We are working on this with the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and the interest is substantial. The HUP estimates that in 2019 the system will be used by 300 companies, and in five years by at least 2,000 businesses,” Bulić explained.

For citizens who are not used to the latest technology, the government will invest 123 million kuna in digitising offices where people will be able to access digital services. “We are also going to introduce e-signature and e-stamp, e-business, and implement a redesign of e-Citizen. We will do the latter by the end of the year because having 600,000 users is not enough,” Bulić said.

For more on the IT in Croatia, click here.

Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Bernard Ivezić).

An impressive list of clients.

A Croatian-Dutch cooperation.

The video game is one of the best-selling Croatian software projects ever.

The Croatian company will train investigators to use forensic tools to combat cybercrime.