Organisations need to be prepared for the emerging digital era

The first industrial revolution involved the use of steam power to mechanise production, the second saw the use of electricity to achieve mass production and the third industrial revolution saw the use of information technology to automate manufacturing.

The fourth industrial revolution is being driven by the convergence of technologies in the physical, biological and digital spheres.

Developments in the cyberphysical and biocybernetics domains have the potential to create a new and disruptive wave of economic value and distribution for humanity.

The current revolution is being driven by ubiquitous connectivity and algorithmic processing; enabled by an ecosystem of technologies including IoT, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G, Cloud, API’s, Big Data & AI. Examples of the convergence of these technologies is the pervasive presence of connected devices, smartphones and wearable technology. Or the use of remote sensor technology to monitor agriculture, livestock or manufacturing.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. These advances are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril.

The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop, how organisations create value and even what it means to be human. [World Economic Forum]

One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the effect of forcing all organisations globally to accelerate their digital transformations.

• Restaurants need to mobilise on an industrial scale to response to online ordering and pickup

• Media entertainment has completely transitioned to digital delivery

• Education has moved almost entirely online globally in the span of 3 months

• Working from home has become the norm

• Physical retail will continue to be swallowed by online marketplace giants such as Amazon, AliBaba, Coupang & Rakuten

• Governent services need to be transitioned online posing key challenges such as identity verification

• Health services are transitioning to tele-health but lack the support of remotely deployed diagnostic capabilities

How can you win in the transition towards the digital economy

The opportunities and threats posed by this transition.

• Be open for digital business. Open your online shop-front, understand different modes of digital engagement from web to social to paid advertising. Then build convenient and easy to use digital channels of engagement and sales to convert audiences into customers.

• Build customer journeys that are supported by end-to-end processes to eliminate friction in how you engage and serve your customers.

• Build modular systems that can be composed to fulfill any seamless customer journey

• Build business-to-business interconnectivity so you can engage in a partner ecosystem to reduce frictions in your supply chain but also to offer stronger multi-supplier customer propositions (as opposed to just the products you manufacture)

• Build digital trust by prioritising the best-interest and security of your customers

• Use data and algorithms to optimise and automate. In any area of your business, create a feedback loop of data so you understand what works. Build and act on metrics that matter. Use capabilities within AI and API integration to automate processing, decision making and act on them within your digital channels.

The digital economy truly has no borders. If your organisation masters its transition to the right digital business model you will not only be achieving survival, but you will be vying for digital leadership in the global economy.

A report comissioned by CSIRO’s Data61, cites a $10-15t global opportunit yas a result of digital science and technology and the extensive use of data. [Adrian Turner CEO of CSIRO’s Data61, Sept 2018].

For Australia, this presents a potential export income source of $315b over the next decade. To put this in perspective, this would be roughly equivalent to the annual export revenue Australia derives from education.

What does digital innovation mean to Cognitivo

Digital innovation is about using new and emerging technologies to deliver customer and business outcomes tht are either differentiated from your competitors or achieves an outcome or cost/value ratio that was previously thought not possible.

In essence, it is about achieving more with less. We would argue that in any organisation demand for resources always outsrips supply therefore digital innovation isn’t just about doing new things and creating new markets. Digital innovation is a culture, mindset and a way of doing things.

We are here to help your organisation develop a coherent strategy to safely navigate your digital transformation and back that up with lean technology execution so you can iteratively innovate and mature your digital business model.

methods & case studies

Let us know a little bit about the digital challenges your organisations face and we will come back with some relevant ideas and case studies to discuss with you.