14 TELECOM & DIGITAL ECONOMY
Covid-19, change and digital adoption in the ‘New Normal’ TRENDS Digital
Covid-19 has been a reality check for many of us, despite accelerating technology advancements and digitalization in the past decade. It has also made it very apparent at large that we have a gap between the speed of innovation and our ability to adapt it into our businesses.
“low-hanging fruit” opportunities as well as mid- to long-term gains to be made. The former is something that many corporations are aware of but to date have lacked addressing, while the latter will require a calm but focused approach on rediscovery and shedding of legacy structures.
We have to shift gears, aggressively pursue fresh thinking and become first movers to contribute to the recovery of our economies. The World Bank ‘has stated that in two years Thailand’s economy is expected to have recovered to pre-covid-19 GDP levels, but there are things we can do now to increase the pace and build long-term resilience and growth via the right technology, processes and workforce culture. In many cases, it enables better strategy and a measurable positive impact on the economic outlook of organizations that fully adopt it.
Some B2C companies with pre-existing digital economy elements have doubled-down on e-commerce effor ts, while others have used digital channels to identify pockets of opportunities in untapped market segments.
The new normal has laid bare the liabilities of past days and how it is our responsibility to customers, partners and our teams to reinvent ourselves as we come out of this global crisis.
How do we make the best of this situation? As the landscape is reshuffled, there are
UPDATE 3/2020
In a study conducted by McKinsey, 65 per cent of B2B companies that adapted their traditional sales models towards digital, remote and self-service tools saw equal or more efficiency. Of those companies, 80 per cent of respondents also declared they would sustain the changes for 12 months or longer. Embracing these long-term changes is an investment that can pay off now and in the future.
Trends and opportunities to get out of the crisis First movers are adopting an agile and par tner ship mindset, integrating and leveraging emerging technology to create
new customer and workforce experiences across touchpoints. Ever since the covid-19 outbreak, even low-tech users are “gradually adopting technologies and innovations, mainly in food delivery, e-commerce, online banking and even virtual experiences” (Bangkok Post). This has also contributed to a larger addressable market due to increased online penetration. With the shift toward digital work there’s friction to be expected due to transparency and frequent communication requirements. At this time, it is imperative to set clear direction, but offer enough elasticity and understanding to enable long-term growth in this new workplace model. But how do you obtain this exactly? Value stream management is the answer; that is, changing work mindset and perspective from an “I-did-my-job” to “the-value-is realised.” This is true in any work environment, but even more significant in a remote-work and digital environment where measurement of micro and macro perspectives is possible at any time of day by the means of business intelligence dashboards powered by artificial Intelligence. As recent lockdowns have restricted traversal
