Accelerating the digitalisation of enterprises
Overview
Quality of digital integration has been a key factor to get through the COVID crisis: companies most advanced in their digitization have been the most resilient, as they have been able to adapt to social distancing constraints. Digitization has thus become a resilience issue as much as a productivity tool. There is then a consensus on the importance of accelerating this dynamic, but this raises both micro and macro questions.
On the micro side, shouldn’t we include in the management and governance bodies of large groups more actors with a real practical knowledge of digital issues? At a time when cyber-risk and data protection are becoming major expenses, shouldn’t the CTO function become more central in the organization?
On the macro side, the social consequences of a more intensive digitization of economic activities raise questions: Should we fear a deepening of inequality, with intermediate jobs disappearing? What role should governments play to effectively support the digital transition? Are-we ready to face the lifelong training challenge to avoid the obsolescence of employees’ skills?