NEWS
Less than 1 % of GCC companies have chief digital officer
A
joint study conducted by Siemens and the Ideation Centre at the management consultancy Strategy &, formerly Booz & Company , part of the PwC network , emphasised the benefits businesses in GCC can gain from digitalisation . It has outlined a roadmap of how they can undertake a holistic approach to embarking on a digital transformation .
Senior executives from Siemens Middle East and Strategy & launched the Preparing for the digital era : the state of digitalisation in GCC businesses , report at Dubai ’ s 3D-printed Office of the Future , highlighting key findings from the joint study that are intended to help encourage the progress and evolution of digitalisation among the region ’ s businesses .
Of the 300 companies surveyed , 60 % believe that digitalisation has the potential to create new business models or lead to a more open culture of innovation . However , only 3 % of organisations believe they are at an advanced stage of their digital transformation process , with only 18 % using the cloud and 30 % using big data and analytics specifically .
The study also found that GCC companies are lagging behind their government and consumer counterparts when it comes to using digital technologies .
Though GCC company executives show great enthusiasm for going digital , many are still coming to grips with its full meaning and potential . In general , executives have a narrow view of digitalisation which often ignores the far-reaching benefits that moving towards digital can bring , such as problem solving , reinventing business models , reimagining the customer experience , inspiring trust and accelerating change . The fact that many organisations have a partial understanding restrains the uptake of digital technology and obstructs the formulation of effective strategies .
While many organisations are gradually building technology capabilities , some lack the vision and the necessary leadership to drive their digital transformation . Taking practical steps forward can often be beset by internal obstacles , be they cultural , organisational , people-related or financial . For example , 40 % of companies in the region have allocated less than 5 % of their total investments to digitalisation activities . Only 37 % of companies have a strategy for going digital , and less than 1 % of companies have a Chief Digital Officer . There is also work to be done on the infrastructure and regulation front , as well as tackling skill deficiencies in areas such as data analytics and human centric design , which are vital for the development of the region ’ s digital ecosystem .
However , there is a way forward for GCC companies to fully realise the benefits of digital technologies . Instead of simply importing best digital practices and technology , the Strategy & and Siemens report recommends that GCC organisations should approach this transformation holistically by creating the building blocks for digital transformation .
This requires six key steps :
• Organisations need a business strategy for the digital era . This requires assessing digitalisation ’ s impact on their industry and its fit with their ambitions
• They must identify those areas of their business where digitalisation can help the most , and how
• Digital change requires senior sponsorship and proper governance . Digitalisation should be an organisation-wide collaborative effort , not the sole preserve of IT or marketing
• They must develop digital skills , in IT and across the organisation
• They should collaborate with stakeholders across the ecosystem including digital players and disrupters , government entities and academia , embracing open innovation
• They should invest more wisely , not necessarily spend more , thereby accommodating investment risk . Companies can achieve savings by outsourcing commoditised technology services , including the adoption of cloud and virtualisation , and invest the savings in differentiated valueadding digital capabilities .
8 Issue 03 INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS