Are you ready to lead the digital change for a better future?

Why transforming your business will catalyse economic and societal progress – if we act now.?

Everywhere I look across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) we have world-class digital talent and ambition. Malta and Estonia are seen globally as leaders in digital public services, and have been ranked #1 and #2 in Europe for eGovernment by the European Commission, for example. The value of CEE-born technology companies has risen 19-fold in the last decade, with firms such as Romania's 'decacorn' UiPath and Croatia's Infobip leading the way.

But we’re far from realizing our full potential.

Our Digital Futures Index – a data exploration to map digital progress – revealed that more digitally advanced countries perform better on economic and societal measures.

They are greener, wealthier, more innovative and competitive.

In many areas CEE countries and businesses are just as digitally developed as ‘digital frontrunner’ nations, in others there is huge promise to mainstream digital transformation and its benefits.

By digitally ‘leap-frogging’ the region can punch above its weight in contributing to Europe’s - and our own - digital futures and long-term competitiveness.

We’re at a tipping point, and everyone has a role to play. As business leaders of firms large or small, and across every sector, ?we’re uniquely positioned to make a lasting footprint.

If we act now.

Your digital leadership is vital

It may have been said many times before, but our data inquiry positively shows that investing in digital technology is the key to enhancing competitiveness and meeting the changing expectations of consumers and talent.

Investment in digital infrastructure and how businesses rank on ‘digital competitiveness’ have the strongest links with overall economic & societal outcomes. Cloud adoption, in particular, is very strongly connected to greater innovation and productivity.

In other words, digital businesses are the engine of progress.

But it’s not just spending on technology that matters - to be successful firms should also prioritize digital skills, digital-first leadership and hybrid working culture.

IT pros have catalyst role:

As the number of IT specialists in the workforce goes up, so does innovation and productivity.

By equipping IT pros with skills of today and of tomorrow, they can more effectively use and deploy the latest advanced digital technologies at scale across the whole organization – accelerating transformation and maximising its business impact.

Continuous upskilling means they can be true digital change agents.

Digital-first leadership drives growth:

But it’s not just IT talent that needs the right skills. Having more digitally savvy senior executives in your business is a competitive advantage.

Our data exploration revealed that higher level digital skills amongst the age group who are in leadership roles is associated with increased competitiveness.

These digital-first executives are more attuned to making decisions that unlock greater strategic value from digitization.

Ideas grow outside the office:

Expectations on working culture have permanently shifted. Old ways of working put competitiveness at risk, and employees are increasingly voting with their feet. And there is more to it: Our data showed that more remote working during the pandemic linked to more innovation, including patent registrations, as well as higher productivity.

Key word is flexibility – it is neither remote only, nor office only that delivers best outcomes, but the right blend of both. Hybrid working enables everyone to bring their best, wherever suits them – and no-one wants half of a team underperforming or half of ideas to be lost.

Transforming our businesses into progressive, forward-looking companies?also helps keep our talent in the region, as well as attract people to return after gaining experience abroad.

Inaction is not an option. Businesses need to digitize or risk being out-competed.

We all need to become digital achievers

Our data exploration found that helping people up-level their digital proficiency leads to higher productivity and higher average salaries – two pains points that many countries in the region are grappling with.

Businesses can have an out-sized impact here through up- and re-skilling: The more digitally skilled every worker is, the more they can contribute to their employers and the communities they are part of. CEE has incredible talent, and by investing as much in people and their skills as we do in digital technology, we can create a nation of digital achievers.?

That's why skilling is always core to our digital investment plans - as in Poland and Greece .

Let’s lead the change, because we can

Europe’s ambition is to be a leader in the global digital economy. Today it is facing a growing innovation deficit compared with the US and China, and mobilizing €trillion to?drive its innovation agenda forward and accelerate digital transformation.

Central and Eastern European countries can?be the?catapult to reaching our shared goal – if we progress, the whole Europe leaps forward, and we secure our competitive future on the global stage.?

And it’s not where a country or a business is today on their digital journeys which is most important – it’s the speed at which they progress to become greener, wealthier, more innovative and competitive.

If you ask me about the three priority next steps for us to take, these include for sure:

1. growing everyone’s digital skills, and especially those in decision-making roles,
2. digitizing more processes to increase efficiency and more services to the benefit of our customers and citizens, and
3. embracing hybrid working culture, not just technology, to enable employees to make the most of their talent – and businesses to reap the rewards.?

We have all the means we need at our disposal, so now it comes down to leadership. I’m already inspired by leaders like those quoted in the carousel below.

Now is the moment to together lead the change, because we can.

When one day I get asked by my grandchildren what did I do to seize on the opportunity to build a better digital future for them, I know what I want my answer to be.

What will be yours?