DIGITALISATION: the way ahead and interdisciplinary impacts


Digital data is developing at an exponential rate, with the majority of all data today created in the last three years. The concept of the Internet Of Things and cloud computing is bringing together more and more devices into interconnectivity. With high speed telephone 4G networks now available to the masses, a huge amount data is stored and is readily available for analysis. The heart of digitalisation lies in automation and data exchange that is a natural result of such connectivity among devices. At its core is the integration of cyber and physical systems that results in the Internet Of Things capturing big data, which is analysed using cloud computing.


Device connectivity is becoming ubiquitous, especially with cheaper internet access, increased mobility and falling prices of components like sensors. Research and advisory firm Gartner estimates that the number of connected thing will touch 21 billion by 2020.

The technology that connects devices, captures data in real time, and delivers cutting edge analytics is useful only when it impacts the customers in a meaningful manner. The very idea of IoT and digitalisation is to address several pain points of customers that are currently being ignored. The concept of offering a service, together with a product, that will make lives easier and enhance the user experience is gaining importance. That is where digitalisation and IoT are scoring. Going forward, digitalisation will become an area where companies can build capabilities and secure a competitive advantage over their competitors.


Large corporations around the world that are ignoring such writings on the wall are likely to become extinct. Successful companies are the ones that are gearing themselves up for such a digital transformation. These companies have started looking totally different today, compared to what they used to be a decade ago. There are few other sectors where digitalisation is making an impact.

Digitalisation is already being extensively used in healthcare industry. Emerging digital technologies, automation, analytics and machine learning will revolutionise global healthcare. In the coming decade, healthcare is expected to look completely different than what it is today. With exponentially growing mobility mobile health is likely to become the dominant mode in chronic disease management. Access to doctors and healthcare professionals today is vital, as they have the technical knowledge to diagnose the problem based on patient history. The near term future will be different though, in which the focus will shift to the enormous amount of patient data and history that is being collected through wearable devices, stored digitally and analysed in the cloud. Digitalisation in healthcare will reduce face to face time with doctors, and patient knowledge is completely democratised.

Leading banks are already blending digital innovation and technology with the human touch. The primary focus for banks when it comes to digitalisation stems from improving customer experience with digital technologies, expanding digital capability while controlling complexity. Traditionally banks have always believed they are the important entity, and they would decide how the customer banks with them. Now, however the situation has changed. The customer will decide how he wants to bank- on the phone, through ATMs, on the internet, or by walking into a physical branch.

All and all, legacy IT systems are becoming a thing of the past. Digitalisation, automation, machine learning and cloud based services are gaining importance for big data capturing, and smart business intelligence and analytics capability.

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