Digital economy dilemma

No question, digitalization is changing our private and business life in a massive and rapid way. Even if we perceive that we live in a fast changing world, it is just the beginning. Digitalization is evolving exponentially and hence we are just at the beginning of this journey.

Amazing statistics*: 90% of the CEOs believe that the digital economy will have a significant impact on their industry. But only 25% of the companies have plans in place for the digital transformation. And only 15% of the companies are funding and executing their plans. (*Source: McKinsey Digital). We find a a similar picture in Swiss study performed  by HWZ Zurich regarding status of digitalization in Swiss small and medium enterprises: Only 7% are Digital masters and 87% are considered to be Digital Dinosaur.

The digital economy dilemma: What are the reasons that most of the CEOs acknowledge the significant impact of digitalization on their business but only few of them are successfully implementing a digital transformation plan.There is an agreement between experts that there are three main blocking factors:

1. Knowledge gap: 52% of the senior executives consider a lack of familiarity with technology to be an obstacle to digital transformation. Key challenges include developing new business models and strategies to increase connectivity, executing the digital strategy across the entire organisation and having access to people with the right skill set.
2. Funding gap: Another important blocking factor are the available fundings for the digital transformation. Even if there are new ways of financing such as crowd funding or ICO (Initial Coin Offering), financial funding remains a key issue.
3. Change resistance: Like in most transformation projects change management and change resistance on all levels are key blocking factors for a successful digital transformation.