Seizing opportunities in Europe: a roadmap for efficient big data implementation in Spanish SMEs
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-02-2022-0019 |
| Published date | 05 October 2022 |
| Date | 05 October 2022 |
| Pages | 463-478 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
| Author | Carla Sanchez-Hughet,Maria Elena Aramendia-Muneta,Amaya Erro-Garcés |
Seizing opportunities in Europe:
a roadmap for efficient big data
implementation in Spanish SMEs
Carla Sanchez-Hughet, Maria Elena Aramendia-Muneta and Amaya Erro-Garcés
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to help small- and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) to seize the potential of
Big Data in their marketing strategies to leverage a competitive advantage in the rising digital
marketplaceand lead the post-pandemic economicrecovery. However, Spanish SMEs havehad serious
difficultiesin working with Big Data.
Design/methodology/approach –In this study,a roadmap is designed to pave the wayfor a successful
Big Data implementation.
Findings –SMEs with updated information on how to access the historic funding opportunities might
profit to this opportunity.It not only generates financing opportunitiesfor SMEs but also grants continuity
to their strategies by offering the most profitable techniques by which they can efficiently analyse data
and gain consumer insights,thus overcoming the many problems they face whenworking with Big Data
as well as helpingthem to monetise their marketing strategies.
Originality/value –The main advantage of thisresearch is its innovative approach to business strategy
as it provides. The value added by this paper lies in its holistic and updated approach to supporting
SMEs’ Big Datastrategies.
Keywords Big data, Business intelligence, Behavioural analytics,
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Marketing strategies, European Union
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
After detecting outbreaks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus outside of China’s borders in January
2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international health emergency
(World Health Organization, 2020). Twelve months later, the year that changed it all –from
the way humans interact to the manner in which businesses operate to the responses of
policymakers –came to a close.
While December 2020 closed a year that shifted the world economy as we know it, also
opened a window to hope during the Lisboan Web Summit. On 2 December 2020, the
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced the Commission’s
ambitions for the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021–2027 to help
repair the economic and social damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic (European
Commission, 2020c): “Our recovery plan, called NextGenerationEU, is an unprecedented
public investment to reshape Europe’s economy. It is worth e750 billion, and 20% of it will
fund digital investment. NextGenerationEU will help small businesses take up the latest
technologies that are alreadyavailable on the market”. This speech will remain engravedon
our minds for posterity as it sets a turning point for the European economic recovery. The
upcoming financial package represents a major scale-up in the European Union’s (EU)
Carla Sanchez-Hughet is
based at the Department of
Business Administration,
Universidad Pu
´blica de
Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Maria Elena Aramendia-
Muneta and Amaya
Erro-Garce
´s are both
based at the Institute for
Advanced Research in
Business and Economics
(INARBE), Universidad
Pu
´blica de Navarra,
Pamplona, Spain.
Received 20 February 2022
Revised 6 August 2022
Accepted 7 September 2022
Institute for Advanced
Research in Business and
Economics (INARBE).
DOI 10.1108/DPRG-02-2022-0019 VOL. 24 NO. 5 2022, pp. 463-478, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jPAGE 463
public stimulus because the amounts devoted to fight the pandemic crisis will reach all-
time-high.
Digitalisation transforms the way businesses operate. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated
technological adoption, which sets data at the centre of this transformation (Akpan et al.,
2022). Because of the need to engage in this transformation, European businesses will
receive a historic stimulus during the next MFF, and it is the aim of this report to help as
many companies as possible benefit from it. Europe has addressed digitalisation as one of
the necessary pillars to supporteconomic recovery.
In this new framework, Spain is one of the Member States that has been most affected by
the crisis because its businesses (especially small- and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs)
have low flexibility given their limited capacity to manage the necessary data to adapt their
strategies to market realities(Hirsch et al.,2020). Because this report is intended to help the
most vulnerable economic agents overcome their main strategic weaknesses as exposed
by the pandemic, the ultimate goal of this work will be to meet the challenge of supporting
the use of Big Data across Spanish SMEs. As emphasised by Sen et al. (2016), SMEs
require practical approachesfrom researchers to seize the potential of Big Data.
To date, only large companies have benefited from the use of Big Data as the barriers to
entry in the data market for SMEs have been enormous. New technological advances
(cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc.) have significantly optimised data analysis
processes, making it profitable for companies of all sizes to invest in Big Data (Liu et al.,
2020). However, SMEs may face several issues when they try to work with Big Data
because of their lack of experience in the field and the data’s complexity. This paper
presents an essential tool for SMEs that are willing to unleash the potential that Big Data
offers. It will not only bring Big Data closer to reality for SMEs but will also offer tools and
techniques to apply Big Data in digital marketing strategies and to subsequently invest
profitably in them.
2. Materials and methods
2.1 Materials: European investments in Big Data: horizon Europe and
next-generation European Union
In the midst of the social and economic crisis, the European Union (EU) must decide its
path for the next six years. Over the next MFF (2021–2027), Europe will make an historic
financial effort to address the weaknesses exposed by the current crisis. Funds will mostly
be distributed through the Member States and the Horizon Europe programme. In general,
investments in digital technologies are considered to be one of the pillars for European
economic recovery. The Commission has established that at least 20% of each Member
State’s recovery plan’s budget must be spent on digitalisation (European Commission,
2020c).
The EU has also pointed to Big Data as a key to enabling technology for the digital
revolution. The European Commission (2020a) considers data to be “the lifeblood of
economic development” and will deliver through the European Data Strategy a number of
market opportunities for businesses of all sizes in the form of investment, training or
support.
In spite of the large size of the European budget, funding will not reach everyone.
Organisations, both large and small, will need to align their objectives with the EU recovery
plan’s priorities to access public grants and loans. To build a successful proposal and
receive public funding, businesses must first assess their most significant challenges and
investment opportunities.
The coronavirus crisis has unveiled the serious problems of external dependency that
Europe faces in the digital landscape. The European ambition for a data strategy is “to
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