Business Opportunities: Innovation and Digital Transformation

After a crisis, we should expect moments of opportunity. Crises allow us to have a moment of reflection, learning, adaptation, innovation and creativity that help us to emerge strong with a degree of flexibility to the circumstances capable of tackling new challenges.

The Covid-19 Crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis brought sectors around the world to a complete standstill. We are still observing and experiencing the consequences today.

However, we have the other side of the coin: the opportunities of the crisis. Suddenly all sectors came to a standstill, new ways of working and interacting with the population became necessary. Social contact was completely limited. And so a host of measures and restrictions were put in place to curb the spread of the virus. And, in addition, a sudden need for economic and social innovation and reinvention.

Technology in Times of Crisis

During this period of crisis, technology has been an ally for many companies. Businesses around the world have been looking for ways to adapt to the new situation: a socio-economic life that was centred on the nuclear family. Technology was the only way to incorporate lifestyle changes into society.

It is estimated that, during 2020, the adoption of digitalisation processes was 5 to 8 years ahead due to the need to incorporate new work tools, automation of services and other developments using existing technologies.

At the same time, the first Innovation Barometer (2021) by Kantar estimates that 29% of Spanish SMEs had to postpone their innovation projects and 24% of large companies had to cancel them.

Innovation and Digitisation, Necessary for Business Progress

Companies need to undergo innovation and digitisation processes to avoid becoming obsolete, maintain their competitiveness and adapt to the dynamism marked by market needs.

SMEs have fewer resources to allocate to R+D+I, which limits the use of technology and consequently causes a greater gap between large and small companies.

Access to Technology

Today, access to technology is almost globally widespread. It offers improvements at all organisational levels: communication, internal processes and quality customer services.

In addition, there are funds that each country can incorporate in its technological strategies that allow progress to be made in this direction. However, it should be stressed that the real change, although promoted by technology, has to be made by people. The structural and mindset change towards digital transformation comes from companies with the same sentiment and motivation.

Innovation Risk

It is common knowledge that innovation involves risk: putting a lot of effort into development with a low probability of success.

In this sense, companies must be prepared to mitigate the effects of technological failure.

It is essential to have an optimal corporate culture to attract committed and risk-taking people. Without a strong culture in this regard, it can make all the associated processes towards digital transformation unusable and further reduce the success rate in bringing ideas to market.

It is essential that a dynamic is generated in the company to encourage the generation of ideas and identify those that are potentially exploitable. All of this must be supported by management and internalised by all the people who make up the company.