No digital transformation without digitality

As society and the economy become more digitized, the focus shifts increasingly to human interaction with the virtual world. Technical issues are gradually taking a step back while people cease to be mere users and become an integral part of a digitalized system. Digitalization becomes digitality (The Digital Condition, Felix Stalder, Polity, 2017). The term emphasizes the social and cultural components of digitalization, and the subsequent effects.

In this new, digital reality, people are confronted with large, sometimes unmanageable amounts of data and the confusing causal chains of a technical-digital-virtual world. This is fundamentally different from the largely linear experience of an organic-analog-real environment to which they were accustomed. The consequences of this radical change often leads to sensory overload, a feeling of being lost or even overwhelmed.

Challenges and risks for companies

Companies that are developing or focusing their digital business model today are not only faced with the challenge of providing or implementing technically flawless and secure systems. They must increasingly address the question of how customers and their employees can communicate and interact with the company's technical systems and digital entity in a meaningful and sustainable manner.

A decisive aspect of the further development of a digital business model is, therefore, the recognition that digitalization is by no means a purely technical process, but that the social and cultural dimensions must be considered as well. A successful digital transformation can only succeed if this realization is incorporated into the organization’s strategy.

Digitality also means that a human dimension is considered alongside the technical risks that were previously the focus: Data protection and information security are no longer just problems for specialized experts, but now affect all people who interact with the digital world in their business or private lives and who in the process pass on information – sometimes unknowingly. Opening the door to potential attackers is a real danger. One example of this threat is the reputational risks to the company when employees post on social media – either in a personal capacity or on behalf of the organization. The virtual public often quickly - and without consideration of nuance – picks up and responds to the actions of individuals on the internet. Even innocent missteps or trivialities can quickly give rise to serious online outrage, and lead to possibly fatal reputational damage.

Focus on people and their needs and expectations

Technology and interaction with it should not be perceived as alien and disturbing in everyday life. Good analog-digital interactions are intuitive. Competencies in using digital systems should not be primarily system-oriented but should give people a native understanding of analog-digital interaction. In turn, systems should be designed strictly with users – humans – in mind and should not require humans to engage with and adapt to them beyond a reasonable degree. Automation and artificial

intelligence should take work and decisions away or make them easier, without alienating people or making processes less comprehensible.

Digitality is not just a consequence but a core component of successful digital transformation and must be strategically addressed from the outset. We can help you analyze your organization and make the changes required incorporate the social and cultural aspects of a success transformation.