Digitalisation in Bioeconomy in the Baltic States and Poland

Sandija Zeverte-Rivza (), Laura Girdziute, Agnieszka Parlińska, Peteris Rivza, Anastasija Novikova and Ina Gudele
Additional contact information
Sandija Zeverte-Rivza: Institute of Economics and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Social Development, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Svetes Street 18, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
Laura Girdziute: Department of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, K. Donelaičio Str. 58, 44248 Kaunas, Lithuania
Agnieszka Parlińska: Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska Street 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Peteris Rivza: Institute of Computer Systems and Data Science, Faculty of Information Technologies, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Liela Street 2, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
Anastasija Novikova: Department of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, K. Donelaičio Str. 58, 44248 Kaunas, Lithuania
Ina Gudele: Celteh Ltd., Purvini, LV-3701 Dobele, Latvia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: The agricultural and food production sectors have a predominant role in the bioeconomy of the European Union (EU), followed by wood production. These sectors make significant contributions not only to national economies but also to local areas, in particular the rural ones. Although the digitalisation of businesses within the bioeconomy sector transforms the enterprises, improving the value chains and creating benefits for the rural communities where these enterprises are situated, there are still many barriers to digitalisation. This study has a dual aim: first, to analyse bioeconomy in the EU and the state of digitalisation in the EU, and second, to assess the barriers of the bioeconomy sector and ways to support digital transformation within this sector, focusing on agriculture as the main contributor to bioeconomy in the EU, taking Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland as the case studies. The cluster analysis was explored for the study of the digitalisation and R&D indicators of the EU. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine digitalisation scenarios of the bioeconomy sector in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Four stakeholder groups were selected as experts for the study: (i) national government, (ii) advisory and extension, (iii) research, and (iv) entrepreneurship. The findings of the cluster analysis identified 4 clusters in the EU, showing different levels of digitalisation. Strong links between digitalisation and R&D were also found. In this context, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland were assigned to the low-performing cluster. The results of the AHP for the case studies of Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland indicate the overall need for prioritization of support for digital transformation using national and EU funding to achieve better results. Nonetheless, AHP findings also suggested that the opinions of the national government, consulting, and research experts were more aligned throughout all three countries, but the entrepreneurs’ opinions differed from these groups. These findings provide quantitative information regarding digitalisation in the bioeconomy of the EU. They also offer additional qualitative information about scenarios and criteria for increasing the level of digitalisation in the bioeconomy sector in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, which could be useful for policy-makers. This research could also have practical implications for shaping the future trajectory of the bioeconomy policy.

Keywords: AHP; bioeconomy; cluster analysis; digitalisation; digital transformation; entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/13237/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/13237/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:13237-:d:1232424

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().