In years past, companies in Ireland showed confidence in its digital knowledge but according to PwC Ireland's Irish Digital IQ survey 2017, numbers have dropped significantly. David Lee explains why this is happening and what organisations can do to improve their digital IQ.
Just over half of companies around the world rate their digital knowledge as 'strong' compared to 67% in 2015. In Ireland, in particular, the lack of digital skills is holding back progress. Almost one in two digital projects are not delivering what’s expected and companies are finding that more investment is needed in key emerging technologies. These are some of the key findings from PwC Ireland’s Irish Digital IQ survey 2017, which reveals the perspectives of over 2,200 business and technology leaders around the world on how companies are to dealing with disruption by leveraging their digital capabilities.
Over the last number of years, companies have done a lot to prepare themselves to profit from digital, and significant investments have been made in technology because of those expectations. The disparity between effort and outcome is partially due to the fact that digital IQ is measured not against a static scale but instead tracks organisational readiness in a fast-evolving environment. In other words, we see companies being smarter about technology adoption than they were previously, but the pace of change keeps picking up and technologies are becoming so much more complex that companies often seem to be playing catch up.
Greater investment in emerging technologies needed
Nearly half (48%) of Irish executives reported that their strategic digital initiatives failed to deliver to their planned scope and this is similar to global levels (45%). Ireland scores poorly (44%) when it comes to measuring outcomes from digital investments, a number that is down from 2015 (60%). The survey suggests that a step-up in investment is needed in key areas of emerging technologies in order to keep pace with global levels.
For example, further investment in Ireland is needed for the internet of things, artificial intelligence and Blockchain but these skills are virtually non-existent at present. As the survey showed, almost one out of two (46%) Irish respondents admitted that the lack of properly skilled teams is a barrier when it comes to achieving expected results from digital technology initiatives. Unfortunately, these technologies are also some of the most disruptive. On the positive side, one in five Irish respondents do plan to invest substantially in drones by 2020, and that’s progress.
As the survey shows, many companies continue to struggle with raising their digital IQ. There is awareness that digital capabilities are a critical component to success and that emerging technologies have to be explored but leaders remain challenged by the need to transform their organisations to truly integrate digital with the company's culture. It is critical that companies today invest in digital solutions if they want to be successful and it's even more important that they think through how their tech investment drives current and new business models and financial results. However, we still see companies failing to fully drive business results from digital technology investments.
Having a high digital IQ is really all about integration - the business, the customer and employee experience and the technology - to build one cohesive and transformative solution. That is what will really give a company a competitive edge.
David Lee is the Technology Partner in PwC Ireland. You can read the survey's findings here.