DigIT Underlined Technology as an Important Enabler of Business Activity during the Lockdown
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Zigurat has launched a new event series called DigIT, an online conference dedicated to digital transformation and the job market. The first edition of the event that addressed the digital tools that help the organizations navigate uncertain times in business took place on Wednesday, April 22nd.
The health crisis that has marked the past few months has given a whole new dimension to how we use and interact with digital technologies. DigIT - Unlocking the Power of Digital was organized with the aim to discuss what the organizations could do now to adapt to the new normality and brought together a lineup of management experts and industry leaders.
The distinguished group of business world professionals who took the online stage was made up by the members of the Global MBA in Digital Business faculty board and each of them dedicated their presentation to their area of expertise in the context of the current normality.
First, Erik Van Haaren, a digital consultant specialized in logistics transformation, talked about supply chain risk management. Erik brought out that even though Amazon has definitely been one of the biggest winners of the current situation since more people have turned to them to get something delivered, the lockdown has also spiked the awareness about preferring local products. He also discussed a case study of ACGO, a global manufacturer of agricultural machinery, who thanks to riskmethod solution was able to detect in advance which of their suppliers would be affected and switch to alternative sources before their competition.
The following presentation by transformation in sales & distribution expert Voyislav Stojanović Osinsky was dedicated to adapting company’s sales activity to the new normal. It’s a four-step journey that starts with identifying the new habits and needs of the customers. The next step would be redefining the product if necessary. Third, the company must make sure the sales team is adapting to the new context and that the human interaction is not lost behind the technology. The final step would be building new capabilities, to incorporate new tech solutions, training and coaching are a must.
Martin Piqueras, the CTO of Cornerjobs, shared with the audience a comprehensive list of best practices for leaders. When relying on digital tools, it’s important to encourage autonomy and to not make the employees feel like they are controlled all the time. He also recommended establishing some easy to follow metrics that will help the employees know when they have completed the task.
In the next session, Juan Carlos Guitiérrez, partner and CTO at Setesca, spoke about remote assistance solutions. His presentation was divided in three: the traditional, the mobile device management and augmented reality devices. AR remote support solutions have already come in handy in healthcare since they integrate the hands-free solution.
The final session by Jordi Damià, the academic director of the Global MBA in Digital Business, was dedicated to innovative solutions in healthcare, namely the use of AI for COVID-19 detection that has already been launched in China and South Korea. The main problem with the common PCR tests is that it takes a lot of time to provide a clear response which results in more urgencies and higher risk of propagation. When looking for a quick and accurate way to identify the infection, the researchers arrived to AI: PhenoCEST triage workflow is a portable scan that has an accuracy of 97% and can give the results in 5 minutes.
As seen above, DigIT - Unlocking the Power of Digital approached the most imminent questions on the mind of business world from various angles. And the takeaway is clear: Amidst the uncertainty, there’s a great potential in harnessing digital technologies to sustain the economy.
If you missed the event, you can rebroadcast it by following the link and registering here.
Rebroadcast DigIT 2020
