Everybody talks about the
digital revolution and how digitization is reshaping the world. The impact on
countries and economies has been huge but it will continue to change the world
in the most dramatic way ever seen. Are you ready for this revolution and do
you have the right people in place to cope with this explosively fast changing environment?
The
first article, titled “This
is how countries can play 'digital catch-up'” by Bhaskar Chakravorti & Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi talks
about the important ingredients of digitization at the bottom of the
development. Digital inclusion comprises two key levers: access factors
and transaction factors. Improving access factors (such as fixed broadband and
mobile internet) or transaction factors (such as payment cards) is a powerful
way to advance economic opportunity and digital evolution. Improving access
factors has a greater impact on digital evolution than improving transaction
factors. Ideally, both levers should be deployed in combination.
The second article, titled “Which
Industries are the Most Digital (and Why)?” by Prashant Gandhi,
Somesh Khanna and Sree Ramaswamy talks about
why the most digital companies see outsized
growth in productivity and profit margins. But what are the key attributes of a
digital leader? Digital assets across the entire economy doubled over the
past 15 years, as firms invested not just in IT but in digitizing their
physical assets. Digital usage in the form of transactions, customer and
supplier interactions, and internal business processes, grew almost fivefold —
and over the entire period, the leading sectors maintained an enormous lead in
usage over everyone else. But the biggest differentiator of all
comes from having a digitally empowered workforce. The gaps are huge:
companies in leading sectors have workforces that are 13 times more digitally
engaged than the rest of the economy.
Drawing on these two articles and my professional experience,
I list three actions that I would recommend to countries and companies who don’t
want to become digital laggards:
Digital Divide – countries
with the highest degree of digitization and the best skilled labour force using
digital tools to a high degree will be the leaders of the future.
Access is key – to
benefit from the digital revolution most, the first step is to have access to
information and digital tools anywhere , anytime at high speed.
New labor skills – skills
requirements for your future workforce is turned upside down. Invest in
training, skills and focus of your employees. Attract young people with
completely different view of the digital revolution – watch out: demographic
development in industrialized countries will hit you hard!
Digital revolution is not
only a buzzword, it is already a reality. McKinsey predicts changes with an
impact factor of 3.000 times the impact of the Industrial Revolution within the next 10 years! Even if
the impact will only be 10% of that prediction, it will still be 300 times the
changes the Industrial Revoltion has brought!
My name is Bernhard
Schoenenberger. I am a professional with more than 25 years of experience in
banking and the software industry and one of my interests is the digitization
currently happening, impacting all business levels, all industries and
countries. I have an MBA and attend the Social Media course from Northwestern
University. Feel free to reach out or connect with me at @howzit999 or
@urworldsim
