Global Megatrends Insight Highlights Series | Page 9

6Digitisation, big data &
analytics
Big data has the power to transform how
companies and governments recruit and plan
for the future. Big data analytics affects all
organisations, big or small, with an impact
on every industry around the globe and will
be a key characteristic of the organisation
of tomorrow. Especially in these ambiguous
and uncertain times, analytics enables
organisations to sense opportunities.
Using large amounts of structured and
unstructured data and applying it to
advanced analytics enables organisations
to understand their environment and seize
opportunities, which enables them to remain
competitive. The future of work, therefore,
will result in flatter organisations. Where
those employees facing the customer or
those directly involved in building a product
use data to optimise their decisions. This
requires a change in company culture, as
real-time insights from data require real-time
action from employees and management.
Simulations driven by big data and analytics
have helped estimate the impact and course
of COVID-19, a tool that could be utilised
in organisations across the globe to map
potential effects on trade in similar scenarios.
For businesses, modelling and simulations will
provide an element of future-proofing. It is
possible that there could be future COVID-19
outbreaks and those companies will be better
able to handle a future lockdown with less
disruption.