Following the great success of the last edition of the IoT Solutions World Congress, Barcelona has positioned itself as one of the most representative cities of industrial innovation in Europe. Without going any further, the congress has doubled the number of companies and attendees in this new edition, where large companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Intel or Schneider were present.
Why has Barcelona become a benchmark in Digital Transformation? In this article we want to show, precisely, the keys to understand how Digital Transformation is evolving in Catalonia through the analysis carried out by the Barometer of the technology sector in Catalonia.
8 keys to Digital Transformation in Catalonia
Below are the key points that we have been able to extract from the report prepared by the Centre Tecnológic de Catalunya, which aims to promote innovation in ICT:
- Most digitized areas. According to the Barometer of the technology sector in Catalonia 2016, The highest degree of digitalization of companies is seen in the areas of “Customer Relationship”, “Productive Activity” and “Digital Technologies”. In contrast, there are other less digital areas, such as “Organizational Management” and “Ways of Working”.
- Relationship between companies and customers. Most companies still consider Digital Transformation as a technological challenge rather than a change in the way they work. This vision is, in turn, transferred to the supply of products and services, since the technological agents obey the vision they have of the demand and not the real needs of customers. Despite the gap that exists between the degree of digitization of companies and the perception that customers receive, most companies are taking actions to digitally transform themselves.
- Degree of digital transformation. 67.2% of the companies that participated in this study consider themselves digital, claiming to have their processes and internal and external relationships based on digital technologies. Despite this conviction, only 49.2% of the companies believe that customers recognize their technological character (in other words, there are many companies that even though they consider themselves technological are not seen as such by their customers). The accelerated evolution of technologies and their low cost is driving people towards their mass adoption. Although investing in technology is not the same thing as transforming digitally, preparation for digital transformation requires strategic growth plans that involve technology. According to the Barometer of the technology sector in Catalonia, «a majority of Catalan companies are ready to face this challenge».
- Importance of ICT. The 70.2% of the companies that claim to have a strategic growth plan indicate that ICTs are an additional element, while 24.3% say that ICTs are a key element in their growth strategy. Therefore, although the number of companies claiming to have a strategic growth plan has increased compared to the previous year, from 77% of respondents to 84% this year, the weight of technology within these plans has decreased.
- Opinion about Digital Transformation. 68.8% of the companies say they totally agree that Digital Transformation is a beneficial and necessary process for their organization. However, only a meager 36.7% consider that they are making progress in incorporating digital knowledge and technologies. Therefore, despite the fact that the majority see Digital Transformation as important, they have not yet started to take their first steps to make it a reality.
- Added value of Digital Transformation. Regarding the added value that Digital Transformation brings, productive efficiency is the area where it claims to bring the most value, with 60% of the responses. On the other hand, the area that least sees an increase in productivity thanks to technological improvements is the increase in the volume of customer business.
- Main challenges. Security is the area where companies have been concentrating their efforts for the longest time. However, only 31.9% of companies make intensive use of cybersecurity, and the same proportion claims to be able to evaluate the security of products and services contracted by their own means.
- Importance of the CEO. The task of the top managers of an organization in the Digital Transformation, beyond expecting results, is to know how to lead the company into the digital world. In other words, the commitment to digitalization must come from the top of the organization.
If you want more information about what are the steps to follow to address the Digital Transformation in your company, do not miss the official website of Zemsania. And if you found this article interesting, share it on your networks!