The energy sector is undergoing radical changes, and this transition is expected to accelerate all over the world over the coming years. In our recent research, we conducted a questionnaire survey at different levels and asked the experts in the area, the businesses involved in the issue, the operators and maintainers of existing systems, as well as the potential consumers and end users, about their knowledge and intentions related to renewable energy sources. Our empirical research can be divided into three parts. Our exploratory research was based on expert interviews, which show that the growing importance of localization is unquestionable, but the economic, social, and existing infrastructures impose significant barriers to the widespread adoption of certain technologies. Regarding the population survey, we see that the skepticism experienced in previous years has been replaced by a kind of expectation reflecting openness. In addition, it can be stated that in many cases technological development is faster than the possibility of its adaptation. Our gender tests significantly support men’s better knowledge of the subject and the fact that biomass (despite its major importance) is not one of the most known renewable energy sources.

The contemporary discourse focuses on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on companies. The research is based on a quantitative questionnaire survey of 101 business leaders in Hungary and on 54 in Austria. It was considered important to analyze these two neighboring countries, which have similar histories and cultures but different industrial and economic advantages in terms of labor costs/skills and technology. The aim of our study is to assess how ready companies are for Industry 4.0 and what key factors they take into account when implementing Industry 4.0 initiatives. To complement our quantitative analysis, we conducted four semi-structured interviews with two Hungarian and two Austrian CEOs. Based on both the quantitative and qualitative survey, we conclude that there are relevant differences in digital maturity between the two countries at both macro and micro levels, with Hungarian companies lagging behind Austrian companies in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Hungarian managers were most concerned with achieving higher profits from the adoption of an Industry 4.0 strategy, while Austrian companies were most concerned with improving their market position. Our analysis also revealed the main areas where Hungarian and Austrian companies show similar performance and improvements in line with Industry 4.0.

A magyarországi cégek egyre inkább nyitnak az Ipar 4.0 technológia gyakorlati megvalósítása felé. A szerzők feltáró jelleggel kvantitatív kérdőíves kutatást végeztek, amely során kis-, közepes és nagyvállalatok vezetőit kérdezték meg az Ipar 4.0 felkészültségükről, az Ipar 4.0-val kapcsolatos terveikről. A kérdőíves kutatás során 140 céget kerestek fel, és leíró statisztikai módszert alkalmaztak. Kutatásukban abból a feltételezésből indultak ki, hogy a vezető piaci viselkedést követő vállalatoknál az Ipar 4.0 stratégia jellemzően már kialakították és a digitális transzformáció bevezetésétől leginkább a piaci pozíció javulását várják a vállalatok. Vizsgálták továbbá, hogy releváns-e a vállalati kultúraváltozás menedzselése és támogatása, és vajon elegendő-e a hazai piacon fellelhető Ipar 4.0-hoz köthető K+F szolgáltatások a cégek számára. Vizsgálatukból kiderült, hogy egyre több vállalat tette meg az első lépéseket az ipari digitalizáció irányába, amely gyökeresen változtatja meg a cégek belső folyamatait. A KKV-k közül sokan még felkészültebbek a változásokra, mint a nagyobb cégek.

The contemporary discourse focuses on the fourth industrial revolution and its impact on compa-nies. An explicative, quantitative, questionnaire survey was conducted with managers of 101 companies in Hungary and 54 in Austria. Our study focused on assessing their preparedness for Industry 4.0 and the key factors they take into account when implementing Industry 4.0 initiatives. We also examined whether there is a correlation between the areas in which companies have made improvements to support Industry 4.0. To complement our quantitative analysis, we conducted a series of four semi-structured interviews with two Hungarian and two Austrian companies. The aim of the interviews was to further investigate the digital readiness of companies and to formulate recommendations for companies venturing into the field of digitalisation. A particular focus was put on comparing the digital maturity of these two neighbouring Central European countries, given the significant differences in their digital maturity as shown by the macro indicators of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). Therefore, we conducted a micro-level analysis to investigate the extent to which DESI scores correspond to the digital performance of companies at the orga-nisational level.