What’s New at the IIC
Reimagining Business and Industry
Fasten your seatbelt.
Digital transformation has precipitously come into the spotlight.
Back in January 2019, Gartner predicted the Global IT spending to reach $3.8 Trillion, stating,
“Information Technology is no longer just a platform that enables organizations to run their
business. It is becoming the engine that moves the business. As digital business and digital
business ecosystems move forward, IT will be the thing that binds the business together.” 1
That was a year ago. Eons ago! That was before COVID-19 tore into our lives and changed
everything, in a way that none of us expected. In January, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC)
was planning our Q1 2020 Member meeting in Athens, Greece. Then, unexpectedly, Mobile
World Congress, the annual gathering of electronics makers, swiftly cancelled due to health and
safety concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Like dominoes, events around the globe swiftly
followed suit. The IIC among them began making arrangements to host our first ever, virtual
meeting.
Change. It’s a basic law of nature.
“Change is the basic law of nature. Changes wrought by the passage of time affects
individuals and institutions in different way”
~Charles Darwin
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business,
fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers, clients, students,
citizens and employees. It's about leveraging connected things to transform processes and
operations and produce better outcomes. It is also a cultural change that requires organizations
to continually challenge the status quo, experiment and get comfortable with disappointment.
Organizations need support, guidance and experience in fast-tracking their processes. This
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-01-28-gartner-says-global-it-spending-to-reach--3-
8-trillio
1
IIC Journal of Innovation
46