Budapest University of Economics and Business

The main research area of the CEC is the examination and evaluation of the economic and social processes, changes and effects that develop in the first two decades of the 21st century as a result of technological development. The centre aims to combine macro-meso-micro-level analyses and to explore the interactions between them. An important emphasis is placed on the international aspect of the processes, the relationships between Hungarian and global trends. A further aim is for the analyses to go beyond the manufacturing industry focus and to explore the role and significance of services, the service industry, the challenges facing actors in the sector, and the responses to them.

Social and employee attitudes about the spread and effects of robotics

Although experts have been engaging in serious dialogues on automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0 for decades, and many experts are looking at the economic and social implications of these trends in the longer or shorter term, acceptance of robotics, attitudes toward the process and general awareness at the individual level have so far been little studied. This is one of the reasons why CEC and GfK Hungaria's Market Research Institute (GfK) embarked on a gap-filling research program, the first phase of which included a representative survey of thousands of people's perceptions of robots and questions such as: what can we call a robot? In which applications and how fast can they spread? What are the risks of robotisation for the worker and how can you prepare for them?

A detailed report on the results of the research can be found HERE.

The topic and the research have also been reported in many places in the Hungarian economic and scientific press: for example, the online article of the World Economy can be read HERE, the HR Portal report is available HERE, and Innotéka Magazin summarised our research in this way.

Corporate Survey on Preparing for the Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In line with international trends, several government measures have already been taken in Hungary to support the preparation of the Hungarian industry and entrepreneurs to be able to successfully meet the new challenges posed by Industry 4.0. However, the success of these measures would require a thorough knowledge of the current state of entrepreneurial abilities and skills. Research results on the preparedness of enterprises have been sporadic, but a comprehensive, detailed analysis has not yet been carried out. The centre examines in detail the preparedness of enterprises in certain sectors or among certain enterprises engaged in a given activity, the availability of the conditions necessary for the technological change brought about by the fourth industrial revolution, and the level of economic, organizational, managerial and knowledge skills. The research also seeks to achieve internationally comparable results.

As a first step, the Centre seeks to assess the situation of the domestic automotive industry through company interviews. The research focuses on the domestic automotive value chains: on the one hand, in terms of how the characteristics and operation of the value chains are influenced by the 'origin' of large car companies, the position and opportunities of lower-level domestic suppliers have changed during the relationship and what opportunities they have for development. On the other hand, the research also tries to examine the value chains in terms of how industry 4.0 has developed in recent years, the role of multinational companies and small domestic companies in the processes, which are the supporting and hindering factors for the domestic spread of industry 4.0. auto industry. The research started in 2019 and is expected to be completed by 2020.

You can read more about the research HERE.

Industry 4.0 knowledge base, interpretive manual

Together with experts and practitioners, we are planning to create a glossary that will help those involved find their way among the many recently mentioned terms, concepts and buzzwords related to the topic. If necessary, clarifying the content of each definition with practical examples.

The final result is expected to be available by the end of 2020 at the Centre.

In addition to research, the CEC team is active in domestic and international tenders, regularly organises conferences, professional workshops, or participates in prestigious scientific events as a speaker. An important initiative is, for example, the lectures entitled 'Outlook', which has dealt with exciting topics in recent years such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, or the digital factory. In that way, the centre actively contributes to the intensification of relations between the university and economic sectors, as well as the flow and utilisation of knowledge. These events were typically attended by 15-30 people not only from the university community (both students and faculty) but also from other interested parties, which provided an opportunity to discuss topics interactively. You can find out more about the ‘Outlook’ lectures HERE.

International performances, other prestigious conferences from recent years:

●      International Conference on "Digitalization in International Trade and E-Commerce" (DITEC), Shaoxing, 10-11 January, 2020.

●      Questions of the analysis of social and economic processes in the 21st century, Szeged, 7-9 November 2019.

●      2019 University-Industry Innovation Network Conference, Helsinki: 18-21 June 2019.

●      SMART – Celebration of Innovation 2019, Budapest, 2 April 2019.

●      7th M-Sphere Conference ’Multidisciplinary in Business and Science’, Zagreb, 12-14 December 2018.

●      15th European Association for Comparative Economic Studies Conference, Warsaw, 6-8 September 2018.