About digital transformation
‘Digital transformation’ may feel like the trending business buzzword of the moment, so we should pause along our journey for definitions and context.
Digital transformation:
- Is the cultural, organisational and operational change of an organisation, industry or ecosystem through a smart integration of digital technologies, processes and competencies across all levels and functions in a staged way
- Leverages technologies to create value for stakeholders, and to enable greater agility and resilience in the face of changing circumstances
- Is not primarily about technology adoption. It is first and foremost about transforming the mindset and culture of an organisation to ensure that technology can be deployed as a multiplier of impact
Similarly, digital transformation should not be conflated with prior technological shifts, which focused on digitisation (moving from analogue to digital formats, for example paper forms to webforms) and digitalisation (deploying technology to attain transactional operating efficiencies, or localised benefits).
The three D’s of digital transformation
Text version of the digital transformation process
Digitisation
Changing from analog or physical to digital form
- Step 1: Digitise information
- Step 2: Organise information
Digitalisation
Using digital technologies and information to transform individual institutional operations
- Step 3: Automate processes
- Step 4. Streamline processes
Digital transformation
A series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce and technology shifts that enable new educational and operating models and transform an institution's operations, strategic directions and value proposition.
- Step 5. Transform your institution
There is no single path to digital transformation, as the strategy, methods, and technology deployed must be tailored to the unique vision and values of each organisation.
In higher education, digital transformation may require leapfrogging an accumulation of many prior waves of models and IT systems that are now obsolete.
The mindset for digital transformation
Text version of the mindset for digital transformation
Customer-centricity is essential to move from "renovate" to "transcend".
Renovate
How do we optimise our existing operations?
Evolve
How do we put our student, alumni and staff in the center of our organisation?
Transcend
How do we create stakeholder value in new ways?
Placing the experience of students, staff and other stakeholders at the centre is an essential waypoint on the path to digital transformation.
Digital transformation is not a fixed destination with a static end state. Its objective is to help create a highly dynamic organisation with institutional capacity for agility, resilience, rapid innovation, and growth. As institutions move toward this objective, all of their stakeholders reap the benefits of this newfound ability to overcome past barriers that, in some cases, have stood for decades.