Back to the Drawing Board

Humanity as we know it has completely changed. That sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? That’s because the situation is dramatic. Very dramatic. But we don’t just mean the last few years, but all the many, different and varied revolutions that have happened throughout history and changed the world completely. Most recent of those drastic changes is the Internet revolution, followed closely by the digital revolution. So what is this digital transformation that everyone’s talking about? If you also feel that you are being spoken to in Double-Dutch, you will find all the answers in this article.

Let’s start from the end: Digital transformation is the application of new technological changes to solve problems and create business opportunities and achieve a competitive edge. Sounds complicated and scary? It really doesn’t have to be. Ultimately, the aim of technological solutions that surround us is to produce efficiency and creative solutions to existing problems that expand on the traditional methods used by different organizations.

By 2020 many organizations had compromised on the way they worked over the previous decade, simply to be able to remain within their comfort zone. This does not necessarily translate to the best customer service, but in most cases, clients agreed to accept the level of service offered to them, even if they sometimes wondered to themselves: “What year are we in?”

Then came the Corona and forced all those who had remained in their comfort zone to expand their horizons and take steps towards the future, (or rather: towards the present!) and incorporate new technologies into their organizations, whether within the organization itself or when working with customers, to enable their business to continue to exist during lockdown.

But make no mistake, even with all this technology, this is not yet a digital transformation. Why? Because in the end, what actually happened was that many organizations “put a band-aid” on the wound until the rage passed. This does not necessarily mean that they really adopted the change or that they embraced a new organizational strategy.

True digital transformation requires management to devote time to formulating a new organizational strategy to suit this digital age. A band-aid is not enough; what is needed is complex internal surgery! This “surgery” will include an analysis of market trends, exploration of digital technologies and their potential, including any new opportunities or risks involved, and so on.

Did you think that was it? We’ve only just begun! In addition to this analysis, in order for your organization to undergo the best possible digital transformation, you will need to dig and explore almost every area related to your organization. From designing the customer experience and researching the consumer journey, through to establishing a smart, efficient and digital process infrastructure, examining the current organizational model and promoting the application of innovative organizational models, implementing data production processes for a broad and comprehensive picture, and flexible technology systems. This also involves training employees and developing their digital literacy, nurturing and preserving their talents, and developing their skills to deal with the challenges of the new digital environment.

If you ask us, we’ll admit that the work in the process of digital transformation is not simple or easy in any way, but hand on heart, we can definitely say it’s worth it!

The MIC Municipal Innovation Center assists the various authorities in the digitization process, and accompanies them all the way to achieving their goals.