Some 2,280 business leaders from 60 countries, including Cyprus, participated in the survey, with a view to identify any inadequacies facing the business world, in the move towards the digital age. According to their results, Cypriot business leaders are focused on penetrating new markets (27%) and on the effectiveness of their services (27%). However, they mainly focus on updating their brand with new digital skills (30%). The survey showed that CEOs in Cyprus, have to a great extent (80%) introduced a digital strategy in their business plans. Furthermore, 67% responded that they encourage innovation in staff at the lowest levels of management hierarchy and personnel, while at the same time two in three (67%) stated that they encourage their workforce to take initiatives. Ηowever, even though CEOs in Cyprus are focusing on new technologies, there is still have a long way to go in order to reach the rates recorded in the rest of the world. Specifically, Cypriot business leaders identify deficiencies in their employees’ skills when it comes to basic digital technologies, compared to the rest of the world, with 37% saying that they have changed their hiring process in order to achieve a greater level of familiarity with technology in their workforce. This percentage however is much lower than the 66% of business leaders which agreed with this statement abroad. Furthermore, 37% of participants responded that their labour force is fully in line with the effort that the company is making to move towards digital transformation, at a time when the percentage in the rest of the world stands at 57%. Moreover, 47% of business leaders said that their labour force is familiar with technology, compared with 60% of business leaders abroad. Source: Financial Mirror