COVID Acceleration of Digital Transformation

In the modern world, as technology advances, digital transformation is responsible for rapid and widespread change. The app industry as well as the educational system, are deeply affected by this change.?

Digital transformation is a term used to describe how organizations use digital tools to improve their business models, their culture, and their capabilities. The definition of digital transformation varies depending on your industry, size, and vision for the future.

COVID has not only accelerated the process, it is also enforcing it. Businesses that were able to adapt early or even before the pandemic to a non-office work setting are now flourishing and growing; those that have not adapted are facing myriad problems.

The challenge facing managers today is to get involved in this change while trying to keep the business running and facing an uncertain future. It is also important to note that labor, sales, and technology are all interconnected in a business environment. An increase in digital channels of marketing and sales will provide companies with more avenues for success in an increasingly digital marketplace. Successfully implementing digital transformation processes sometimes involves a multiphase approach, integrating employees, suppliers, partners, and customers. For example, supporting the use of telework and distance working models in the new environment requires substantial effort on the part of talent management.1

The underlying effect of Digital Transformation

A study found that digital transformation results in customer alignment; consequently, businesses can improve efficiency by using the technique. Businesses need to continuously engage in digital transformation to ensure that their value to customers is greater than that of their competitors. McKinsey & Co.’s survey on consumer sentiment showed that, post-pandemic, consumers worldwide expressed a growing intent to stick with their online purchases. In their 2017 survey, they found that cost savings was one of the top priorities for executives’ digital strategies. A recent survey shows that only ten percent of executives continue to think this way. 3

Levels of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is an ongoing, complex process that requires companies to address several challenging questions. Taking the time to address these questions correctly is essential for both long-term business success and short-term ROI. 2

To understand what digital transformation means for your organization, it’s essential to identify which factors affect your business and which technologies may help. While many technologies can streamline productivity and efficiency, they can also present challenges for employees. During the review phase, operations, marketing, and technology teams would need to be consulted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs. The only question for this phase is whether efficiency can be increased. According to survey responses, companies moved between 20 and 25 times faster than expected. Before the crisis, respondents said it would have taken more than a year to put in place the level of remote working that was implemented during the pandemic.

Ups and Downs in the App Industry

Online-to-offline applications such as food delivery apps (FDAs) have been widely adopted by customers across the globe. In particular, under the COVID-19 global pandemic, FDAs have provided two-way benefits through their app and catering services. Research has shown that the FDA compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic can be determined by satisfaction but also influenced by perceived task-technology fit, trust, performance expectancy, and social influence. ?

Clubhouse took to our mobile phone screens with a huge bang. The invitation-only social networking app based on audio-chat allows users to listen in to interviews and discussions between interesting people on various topics. However, as the exclusivity was gone soon after the app launched, users left the platform very quickly and went back to other media platforms.

Two popular apps in the mobile marketplace with very different fates. As food delivery apps are the next evolution of purchasing groceries in a faster, more interconnected world, Clubhouse was a short-lived phenomenon filling an unmet need in our increasingly impersonal interactions.

Education systems having trouble adapting to the demand of digital skills

In the past few years, governments, academia and industry have been focused on the skills and abilities that workers will need in the future to perform jobs.

To prepare students for the digital economy, educational institutions and teachers should incorporate strategies for providing technical, managerial, personal, and social skills. Students should learn to use digital technology purposefully and confidently to communicate, find information, and purchase goods/services. They should understand complex digital systems and be able to evaluate, configure, and use these systems. ?

The widespread digitalization of the education sector, driven by the increasing use of digital tools in both formal and informal learning, is fundamentally changing and will continue to change the way people receive and deliver education. We must ensure that this transformation occurs inclusively while stemming the tide of rising inequality. Such outcomes would go a long way towards ensuring sustainable development of the digital economy, which has the potential to transform lives through digital skills' education. I believe that online learning will play an increasingly important role in the education system. To help students achieve success in a digital world, we must do more to support their success. These efforts should focus on empowering students with core sets of digital skills. The digitalization of the learning sector is an example of broader trends in the global economy as a whole; successful responses to these trends can also be applied to other sectors, including teacher training as well as workforce skills training more generally. The explosive growth of GoStudent in Austria is one example of this trend. ?

Unexpected Change

Rapid technological innovation and the spread of new communication technologies have made it possible for organizations to rapidly communicate with people across the globe, no matter where they are located. Many companies were just beginning to reap the benefits of modern technology prior to the crisis, but during the pandemic, many organizations were limited in their work due to the virus and the imposed restrictions. As businesses began to recover from the pandemic, they realized that communication was essential to a business’s success, so many of these organizations quickly adapted new technologies. As businesses continue to understand the benefits of these types of technology, they will continue to adopt innovative procedures moving forward.

References

?(1) Priyono, A., Moin, A., & Vera Nur Aini, O. P. (2020). Identifying digital transformation paths in the business model of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Open Innovation : Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 104. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6040104

(2) Almeida, F., Duarte Santos, J., & Augusto Monteiro, J. (2020). The Challenges and Opportunities in the Digitalization of Companies in a Post-COVID-19 World. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 48(3), 97–103. doi:10.1109/emr.2020.3013206?

(3) Consumer sentiment and behavior continue to reflect the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-global-view-of-how-consumer-behavior-is-changing-amid-covid-19

(4) Zhao, Y., & Bacao, F. (2020). What factors determining customer continuingly using food delivery apps during 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic period? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, 102683. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102683

(5) ITU (2020): Digital Skills Insights 2020. https://academy.itu.int/sites/default/files/media2/file/Digital%20Skills%20Insights%202020.pdf

(6) Jackman, J. A., Gentile, D. A., Cho, N.-J., & Park, Y. (2021). Addressing the digital skills gap for future education. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(5), 542–545. doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01074-z?https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01074-z