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 Regarding the population survey, we see that the skepticism experienced in previous years has been replaced by a kind of expectation reflecting openness.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 study seeks to explore how blockchain technology enables the creation of new ideas for ventures and to examine the activities of founders and entrepreneurial teams in shaping those ideas. We adopted several theoretical frameworks – external enablers theory, dynamic capabilities (DCs), and dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) – to explain the interaction of the actor-independent and actor-dependent factors in the process of new firm formation. We analysed four Hungarian blockchain start-ups that operate across financial services, cryptocurrency trading, crypto asset management, energy, information technology, and identity industries and create high value-added and cross-industrial offerings for Hungarian and foreign markets. Using qualitative study research results, the study develops the model of external enablers, founders' and firm capabilities and new venture creation. We identify three interconnected external enablers – namely, market volatility associated with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, the properties of blockchain, and the ideology behind the technology – and discuss the role of entrepreneurs' DMCs and sensing and seizing activities in discovering and shaping these enablers into profitable business ideas.

The rapid technological development that is still taking place today, with increasingly interconnected IT tools, is introducing dramatic changes. The development of computer programs is rapidly transforming traditional processes and the systems that support them. It is therefore natural that the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) and its impact on Hungarian companies is one of the key topics of our time. We conducted an exploratory quantitative survey, asking 140 managers of Hungarian small, medium and large enterprises about their current situation in the context of Industry 4.0. We sought to find out to what extent the specific R&D and innovation potential of Industry 4.0 is accepted, and whether it has already been introduced in the companies. On a qualitative side, 2 case studies and 3 interviews were conducted, in which structured interviews were used to further explore the issue. We aimed to find out where SMEs stood in terms of digital preparedness and what advantages, possible disadvantages, and goals they managed to identify. Our research showed that an increasing number of companies have already decided to take the first steps towards industrial digitalisation, which will completely transform their internal processes.

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.

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.