On 15 June 2026, Czech BCSD, in cooperation with the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University in Prague (“CIIRC”), held two panel discussions at CIIRC on “Industrial and Economic Transformation in the EU and the Czech Republic: How to Support Investment in Czechia in the Context of the European Competitiveness Fund and the Rise of the Digital Economy” (“Panel Discussions”). The Panel Discussions took place as the first meeting of the new Industrial Transformation Working Group at Czech BCSD, which replaced the RETHINK Working Group. They were attended by representatives of CIIRC, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Czech Banking Association, the National Development Bank, the Czech Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic and the Czech Energy Association.

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The Panel Discussions offered a lively debate on important challenges and possible solutions for Czechia. The selected topic is very broad, and the discussion showed that Czechia faces truly fundamental challenges which may, on the one hand, represent an opportunity for the country, but on the other hand also pose a significant risk. The debate also revealed that we are often not even aware of many of the wider connections of this topic and its possible solutions. There was also a strong sense of urgency: in this pivotal period, Czechia does not have much time left to achieve a fundamental improvement. A large number of EU countries are already much further ahead than Czechia currently is.

The Panel Discussions highlighted in particular the following significant transition risks for Czechia:

1. If we do not take seriously the financial sector’s need for reliable data on significant non-financial risks, our access to finance will become more difficult and more expensive. The activities of the financial sector, especially banks and insurance companies, are also based on the assessment of non-financial risks. Securing such data is not bureaucracy, but a necessary input for decisions on the rational allocation of capital, as is the case for any prudent investor. The familiar rule applies: what is not measured is generally not managed effectively. A substantial part of this data should be publicly available and serve the public good, so that all actors have simple and reliable access to consistent data: citizens applying for mortgages, companies seeking support or bank loans, banks and insurance companies assessing the risk profile of their investments, the state when designing its policies, grant scheme administrators and public authorities in their decision-making, and others.
2. If we do not create strong, modern and integrated governance for a digitally built Czechia, we will not be able to use advanced digital technologies and AI systematically and interoperably in the built environment. Among other things, this would prevent us from protecting our infrastructure, improving its performance, increasing our security and resilience, and creating further opportunities to use digital twins for the development of the digital economy in Czechia, for example through secondary digital applications linked to such digital twins. We would fall behind technologically and economically and repeatedly pay more, for example for natural disasters. An example of how this issue can be addressed in line with good international practice and through the use of digital twins, see Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) – Connected Places Catapult. In 5 to 10 years, we may miss a unique opportunity to be among the leading countries in the development of the digital economy. The example of the United Kingdom and its Centre for Digital Built Britain at the University of Cambridge shows that state investment in a fundamental change in governance for the digital development of the country can generate a six- to seven-fold return on each amount invested, even without taking into account life-cycle benefits, as shown in the 2022 Atkins/KPMG study The Value of Information Management in the Construction and Infrastructure Sector | Centre for Digital Built Britain completed its five-year mission and closed its doors at the end of September 2022.
3. If we fail to manage the transition from the “grant era” to the “era of financial instruments”, investment activity in Czechia may decline, especially at the level of local and regional governments. Given the number of municipalities in Czechia, namely 6,258 municipalities and four military districts, and the dependence of a significant part of their activities on grants, the period 2028-2034 will bring a major challenge of “smart investment”. While the previous approach to investment was motivated by the availability of grants (“there is a grant scheme, therefore I invest”) and often led to duplication of the same infrastructure in neighbouring municipalities, such as waste collection yards, municipalities will now have to consider much more carefully the economic and financial implications of their larger investments, which they may have to repay for decades. This will require not only a different mindset, but also knowledge and skills, so that municipalities are prepared for the end of the “grant era” and are able to make maximum use of cost-effective technologies and solutions. Czechia currently lacks any major programme that would support the quality of these investment skills.
4. If we do not have digital management systems in place in time for the permitting of European “industrial manufacturing acceleration areas” and “industrial manufacturing projects”, we will not be able to participate on a larger scale in the forthcoming centrally managed European Competitiveness Fund (“ECF”) for the period 2028-2034, which is expected to make CZK 10 trillion available for the EU as a whole. If we fail to address this and other challenges, more forward-looking Member States will seize this opportunity, and large-scale industrial production will move from Czechia elsewhere. Czechia would suffer a loss that would, in essence, be irreversible. The example of the Innovation Fund, where Czechia currently accounts for only 0.14% of the volume of projects, is a serious warning that this process is already under way. It is also evidence that Czechia is not prepared for the reality of the “industrial investment Champions League” that the ECF will represent. Heavy dependence on nationally distributed funds is now proving to be a major imbalance, and it will not disappear on its own without substantial collaborative effort by both the public and private sectors.
5. The energy sector in Czechia will undergo a major decarbonisation shift and electrification, and its further development must be linked to plans for industrial transformation. According to current knowledge, the basis of the energy transition will be a combination of renewable energy sources, gas replacing coal, and, in the longer term, new nuclear sources, while at the same time extending the lifetime of existing nuclear sources. The future shape of Czech industry and its energy intensity, including the energy needs arising from the development of the digital economy, such as energy consumption by data centres, will be crucial for ensuring Czechia’s future energy needs. In the area of industrial transformation, a key question will be what part of industry Czechia wants to preserve to a certain extent for strategic and security reasons, such as steelworks, cement plants, lime plants or the chemical industry. The new State aid framework supporting the Clean Industrial Deal (“CISAF”) opens up the possibility of supporting large enterprises. Member States have already begun notifying their State aid schemes under CISAF, and the European Commission has already approved schemes worth more than EUR 60 billion. It will therefore be up to Czechia whether, and to what extent, it decides to use its own resources to support certain production operations not for economic reasons, but for security reasons. This discussion should be conducted seriously so that important production operations do not cease their activities in Czechia in the meantime as a result of market forces.
6. Czechia and Europe lack a certain degree of digital autonomy and a strategic focus on smaller, less energy-intensive AI language models. In the future, we can secure competitiveness only through digitalisation and the deployment of artificial intelligence (“AI”). However, this process must also be considered in the context of the electricity consumption associated with the use of AI systems, which is rising sharply. The vast majority of current AI systems are located outside the EU. Although we can currently use many of them to a large extent free of charge or at low cost, further charging and price increases for AI services are a reality for the future. If we use AI on a larger scale, we must therefore expect the related costs to grow exponentially and the data to be located outside the EU. For autonomy, however, we need data to be located in the EU and the European Commission to regulate the prices for the use of AI in a reasonable way. The goal should therefore be to use AI differently: intelligently. It is appropriate to start working on AI applications that are far less energy-intensive. These may include better algorithms, but also smaller language models, which may even be more suitable and better qualified for our needs than large global models. The first Czech AI Factory, which started operating in Czechia this spring, is aimed at this goal. Czechia’s ambition should be to host one of the five planned European AI Gigafactories in the future.
7. If we do not actively work with data in the built environment, identify existing useful data, take care of its quality, timeliness and uniform format through high-quality information management, and use the enormous potential of AI to improve our performance and quality of life, we will fall behind. The debate recalled that Czechia has enough data, but no one takes proper care of its quality, integrity, robustness, timeliness, connectivity, uniform formats and other essential characteristics. As a result, we are not using the enormous potential of data to increase our performance, prosperity and quality of life, including the reduction of bureaucracy. Without reliable data inputs, however, the results of any information management tool, including AI, will be of limited use: poor data will generate erroneous results, just as a poorly functioning medical device gives patients incorrect diagnoses. High-quality and connected data in a uniform format, in line with good international practice, are therefore a major source of progress and we must invest in them. The digital economy is built on such data; they are its “energy”. Without them, the digital economy cannot develop.

The next meeting of the Industrial Transformation Working Group will take place on 24 September 2026. In the meantime, Czech BCSD, together with CIIRC, will seek to approach key potential investors who would like to invest more significantly in Czechia’s industrial and digital transformation through the “Czech Industry Accelerator” initiative. The initiative aims to offer interested parties at least an information service and, in the event of greater interest and available resources, also assistance in developing a modern national support environment for industrial and digital investment in the period 2028-2034, with a particular focus on using the potential of the ECF and information management based on the 4.0 concept.