An Ocean of Opportunity: The Digitalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Bitung, Indonesia

Over the past ten years, numerous industries have undergone upheavals that have significantly altered how businesses interact with their clients and how goods are created and produced bySMEs. Many cutting-edge technologies have recently been created and implemented to enhance business models, facilitate sustainability features for organizations, and boost business capabilities. This essay seeks to understand how digital entrepreneurship functions in developing nations. The results of this study show the effectiveness of digital transformation in the context of SMEs is greatly influenced by aspects including the change of managerial intensity and the involvement and perception of workers, customers, and shareholders. One of the needs that business owners showcased in this study in terms of digitization is infrastructure resources to support digitization such as devices, the Internet, and funds, but also the ability to use digital media for business development. Practical skills that business people want to learn such as product design and management of their social media accounts. There are also aspects of time and self-motivation of the business actor that can speed up or slow down the digitization process. Finally, government support that is structured in encouraging MSMEs is also one of the supporters and drivers of digitalization in the blue economy.