According to a recent report, A survey of almost two dozen Hong Kong-based CMOs and CDOs across 11 industries revealed that two thirds (68%) believe that their industries will be disrupted within the next 12 months, according to the Hong Kong-based arm of global digital transformation agency Isobar.
The survey was conducted a major event ( the Hong Kong “Disruption and Transformation – Why and How” event), which saw Hong Kong and APAC executives come together to accelerate their transformation agenda using Isobar’s customer-centric approach.
And though budget is the top business challenge, respondents also cited elevating experience design thinking and creative thinking to create value and revenue streams for the current business as important.
Indeed, 56% are focusing their digital transformation efforts on exploring new markets and customers, while a third (28%) are concentrating their efforts on designing new business models. A mere 16% are using their transformation effort on securing current business revenues.
Notably, there is a focus on customer-centric solutions to driving growth was evident in survey findings, which revealed that 41% of CMOs are seeing the most innovation efforts in the area of brand experience. A third (38%) see their innovation efforts in product and services, while a mere 6% said they were looking at improving operational efficiency.
The chief strategy officer at a global agency that delivers digital transformation stated that in order to win in the digital economy, focusing solely on designing and deploying digital strategies and tactics to drive the current business no longer allows companies to address these challenges.
He also pointed to the importance of having a digital transformation strategy and roadmaps to unlock exponential growth and creating meaningful customer experiences by approach starting with experience and working backwards through the different parts of the value chain.
In another report it was noted that is Asia closing digital gap with the West.
The report noted that with the mission to develop advanced technologies, Asian governments usually leave no stone unturned in terms of policy and direction.
Such has been the case in the past with 4G mobile technology and fibre broadband, and more recently with smart manufacturing technologies, the report noted. Fostering digital transformation, however, requires more than deploying new technologies.
Asian leaders aspire to create environments in which businesses and other organisations can leverage a range of assets to achieve far-reaching change through digitisation. Comparing their progress is the objective of the Asian Digital Transformation Index.
According to the white paper, Singapore retained its top spot in the Index in 2018, with Japan and Hong Kong overtaking South Korea to take second and third place.
Other major findings of the Index analysis include the finding that fibre take-up is unsurprisingly high in Hong Kong and Singapore, which have a highly built-up environment on a relatively small land mass.
It was noted that fibre deployment will continue to be prioritised elsewhere in the region, as it underpins the nations’ plans to build out 5G mobile networks over the next five years.
It was also noted that, with regards to human capital and talent, while Singapore outpaces the other Asian economies on this measure, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia also boast sizeable pools of technology professionals relative to their overall workforce.
When comparing the ways in which Asia and the West stack up, it was noted that the region’s five high-income economies (one of which is Hong Kong) compare favourably with their western peers in several areas covered by the Index.
The whitepaper concluded by noting that the growing prominence of Asian companies in global markets suggests that their senior managers are as able as their western counterparts to bring about such change. The increasingly favourable digital environments in which they operate ought to give them confidence, as well as the concrete tools, to make transformation a success.