Digitalization - a keyword used all over the world, that should be quite well-known to nearly all companies even when they do not develop or use many digital applications until now. The “digital transformation” is used to describe the process to increase the use of digital technologies and applications. There is no real target scenario that has to be reached because the digital transformation is in most cases a continuous improvement process. Thus the term is mainly used for existing companies, whereas the business models of start-ups nowadays quite often are completely based on the development of products and services in the digital area. And in many cases the real added value for the customer of these digital products and services is created by an integration and collaboration with products and services of other, in most cases already existing companies. As an example IT platforms can be mentioned with the functions to collect and analyze already existing data and thus being installed between the company and the customer. At that point the challenge for the existing company is to take care not to lose the interface to the customer.
In this way based on the digitalization the value chains are changed regarding the participants, the processes, the organizational forms of collaboration. Due to the fact that digital developments require a comprehensive knowledge and specific resources, that many companies don’t have on their own, investments and acquisitions take place all over the world. Many companies also built up own departments and functions like a chief digital officer to set the focus on the topic digitalization. This is connected with a change of the company’s strategy and culture. But it can be stated that permanent changes have always been a part of the daily life of companies who want to be successful. The difference to former changes might be the speed of the changes, the variety of possibilities for the use of digital innovations and the risks that occur for industries that already exist for decades and get now disruptive competition in case they do not develop on their own. A key element of digitalization is to have the right knowledge on board and to inform employees about these changes. In many cases companies improve their innovation management, e.g. by encouraging all employees to develop and to realize innovative ideas. Digitalization requires open-minded employees and above all an open-minded management. And in many cases new legal guidelines are required to ensure aspects like privacy and security and to make it possible to use new developments, e.g. the autonomous driving.
And a very important precondition for the use of digital products and services is to have the appropriate infrastructure. A good example is the use of e-health applications especially in areas where there is a lack of medical care. Without an appropriate infrastructure the big advantages can’t be used.
Many keywords represent the possibilities of digitalization, e.g. industry 4.0, big data, connectivity of machines, internet of things, smart home solutions, human-machine collaboration, which leads to new products and services as well as new business models. But the changes do not always take place only in one way. Online shops started to have real shops in bigger cities, amongst others to use the advantages of different sales channels and to make directly contact with the customers.
The digital transformation does not always mean to make a rapid change. E.g. in the banking sector many years ago the banks started to offer in addition digital services like online-banking, and to improve continuously their IT. Besides nowadays there are so called fintechs that offer mainly digital financial services. The question is whether they are competitors, additional service providers?
In this way digitalization can be seen in all industries. But the speed seems to be different between industries that already have a high automization and use high-tech and those industries that still use to have manual processes.
In addition digitalization is not a national topic, it is an international topic. Meanwhile there are many initiatives and projects within the European Union. A stronger collaboration of the European countries means to use the big chances to define common standards, e.g. in the area of energy, electromobility and in all other areas where digital products and services will play an important role in the future, to use a huge potential of knowledge and financial possibilities. Also legal aspects have to be solved to be able to offer digital products and services in each European country without additional administrative or technical work. These efforts should be strengthened and sometimes the speed seems to be too slow in comparison with worldwide competitors.
In this way a worldwide collaboration is of a big interest. Meanwhile many companies have offices in the Silicon Valley to work with the start-ups and companies and to get the experience of a different way of thinking and realizing innovative ideas. In some way this different culture is very inspiring, but besides many positive aspects also the negative aspects should be considered. Asia is also well-known for many innovations e.g. in the high-tech area, in the area of robotics and battery systems e.g. for electromobility. And also with Asia a lot of business is done.
When discussing the topic digitalization in context with the economy it is very important to mention that further areas play as well an important role, above all the politicians, the society, the sciences and the school education.
Summary: The digital transformation of companies takes place all over the world. The speed differs between the nations and between the industries. It seems as if the core competences are spread around the world. The European countries have to take care to work together on the topic and to be fast enough to be able to compete also with disruptive innovations. Many aspects have to be discussed in context with the digitalization, e.g. the development of common standards, the existence of an appropriate infrastructure and legal aspects on national and international basis. The digitalization leads to changes in the value chains. Thus the strategy of the companies and the company culture has to be changed adequately. In addition the digitalization can only be successful if the politics, the sciences, the society, the economy and the school education push the topic simultaneously. The digitalization offers a wide spread of possibilities. Thus it is very important not only to try to gain the technological leadership but to behave in a responsible way to guarantee the stability and economical growth as well as the acceptance and the added value for the societies.
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