By Ma Jun and Gao Taishan, Institute for Enterprise Research, DRC

Research Report, No.413, 2022（Total 6927）2022-12-21

Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the "capillaries" of the national economy and an important force in promoting innovation and employment, and improving people's livelihoods. The digital transformation of SMEs is of great significance in promoting the extensive integration of digital technology and the real economy, and boosting high-quality economic growth. The great number and wide range of SMEs as well as their limited resources and capabilities make it difficult for the vast majority of them to completely transform themselves as large enterprises do. Instead, they depend on ecological communities to build a closed digital economy loop. Under the general trend of “intelligence and interconnection of all things, the platform economy and ecological reconstruction", the digital transformation of an individual SME is not only about technological improvement, but also requires first survival and then development in the digital ecology. It is suggested that we advance the digital transformation of SMEs as a whole from the perspective of the evolution of ecological communities, support the innovative development of platform enterprises, promote targeted guidance for the SMEs, continue to press ahead with the reform of government functions, continuously optimize the digital business environment and accelerate the digital transformation of the SME group.

Key words: SMEs; Digital Transformation; Ecological Communities