Sonita Lontoh discussed digital innovation with the Jakarta Globe News Channel.
Sonita Lontoh of Siemens Digital Grid shares perspectives on Digital Innovation at a Global Congress in Asia, opened by 44th U.S. President Barack Obama
This summer, I had the privilege of speaking on Digital Innovation at a global congress in Indonesia, where the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, delivered his first post-Presidential speech in Asia since leaving the White House this past January. Since I happened to also speak on this topic last summer at his Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley—when he was still the sitting U.S. President—this experience has somewhat come full circle for me.
As the world becomes more interconnected, innovation ecosystems developed in Silicon Valley are coalescing with other ecosystems around the world, enabling more global cross-collaboration. We are consequently able to leverage entrepreneurship and digital innovation to help tackle some of our most pressing challenges and create better opportunities and advancement for all.
While “digital innovation” can mean different things to different people, the following are some guiding principles that demonstrate how “digital” can act as a tool that helps businesses, entrepreneurs, and society to thrive.
“Digital Innovation” is not just a technology, but more importantly, a culture
These days, when talking about digital innovation, people tend to focus only on technology, i.e. the hardware, software, services, data, and analytics that enable a digital business. While understanding technology is important, even more important is how we understand the ways in which digital can change the way a business operates, as well as how a digital culture is important to succeed. To flourish in this new digital world, an organization or government has to instill the following digital innovation characteristics in its people: an expanded appetite for risks, an affinity for rapid experimentation, and an entrepreneurial spirit. A digital culture also requires leaders to have transformative visions, be forward-thinkers, and proponents of change. Fully realized collaborations across all functions and the breaking down of silos is a must. Digital has to act as the catalyst that enables the transformation of the overall organizational or societal strategy and not just the responsibility of the Chief Digital Officer or the Chief Information Officer. It has to start from the top and permeates throughout the organization or society.
“Digital Innovation” creates new opportunities for all
For an established business, digital is not just a buzzword but a real way to create a personalized, seamless, and improved experience for its customers. Big data analytics enable businesses to send customers more personalized, relevant, and targeted messages / offerings. Moreover, digital also enables businesses to respond to customers in real-time, significantly reducing wait times.
For budding entrepreneurs, it provides cost-effective opportunities to create new businesses and business models that result in jobs that strengthen not only the economy, but society as a whole. Around the world, digital is enabling new business models—including e-commerce, asset sharing, tele-health, mobile banking, fintech, and others—that create jobs and opportunities for more people to participate in our digital economy.
“Digital Innovation” is a journey
Digital innovation and transformation is a journey. If the first and second waves of digital transformation happened with the Internet and the mobile revolution, we are now in the midst of the third wave and emerging fourth wave of digital innovation transformations—the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), respectively. It is estimated that there will be approximately 50 billion connected, smart devices by 2020. Smart sensors, devices, and analytics will generate new value for the industry and society. Moreover, AI and robotics would further assist decision making and knowledge creation by making intelligent predictions about future scenarios and enabling automation. In this way, intelligent technology can help humans address real-world issues. Getting there, however, requires that we work together with all of the stakeholders in public / private partnerships to ensure that these digital technologies provide more opportunities than threats to all.