Understanding the ‘Big Picture’ is the key in Digital Transformation

Speakers in a webinar session titled ‘Leaders Evolving Through Digital Transformation’ pointed out that South Asian countries including Bangladesh are going to be the growth stories of the next decade. Because the technology adoption rate in this region has increased in an unprecedented way.

It was also pointed out that, Bangladesh is in a unique position because of its younger and more mobile workers. They are driving a sense of optimism which fuels the fire of innovation and growth. However, more than 99% of small businesses are not yet digitally enabled. With a holistic approach, Bangladesh can prepare a robust digital strategy which will drive the digital transformation among businesses to achieve a larger collective vision. 

Andrew Baisley, Managing Director of Tech in Asia Studios:

• South Asian countries are going to be the growth stories of the next decade

South Asia and Southeast Asia are going to be the growth stories of the next decade. Bangladesh has a population that's two-thirds the size of Indonesia with a median age of only 28 years old. For context, the median age in the US and China are both about 38 years old. So, unlike younger Generations in the US and Europe, Bangladeshis are likely to be better off than their parents’ Generation. Which is a really powerful concept. This factor not only provides a really practical boost to the economy, but also younger and more upwardly mobile workers drive a sense of optimism that's fuel to the fire of innovation and growth. It’s something that can't be manufactured. So, Bangladesh is in a unique position in terms of practical economic terms.

• Younger and more mobile workers drive a sense of optimism that's fuel to the fire of innovation and growth

The annual GDP growth of Bangladesh is one of the highest in the world at 7%, China and Vietnam are about 5.5 percent, Indonesia, India and Philippines are about 4.5 percent. Pakistan is experiencing negative GDP growth. It's fuel to the fire because it's much easier to start a business when the economy around is growing.

Another good thing is, Bangladesh is relatively late to the digital arena. Although it's counterintuitive, but I think this is really good. Being later to the game is going to allow Bangladeshi startups to LeapFrog some of the hurdles that their peers have faced.

Anothai Wetteyakorn, Vice President of DELL EMC (Asia-Pacific Region):

• Technology adoption rate has increased in an unprecedented way

Due to the pandemic, the adoption rate of the technology is much higher than ever. We found a lot of companies having success and great momentum in the past six months. These companies have two things in common; one, business resiliency and two ‘the digital first mindset’. They are able to operate the business in any kind of circumstances while they need to use technology to optimize. A lot of companies start building their digital innovation to ensure that they can actually survive no matter what it is in the near future. Because the past six months actually forced the change in terms of the customer behavior and the way we do business. In short, digital transformation that would’ve happened in the next two to three years, already happened because everyone had to adjust themselves. 

Maliha Quadir, Founder & Managing Director of Shohoz:

• Understanding the big picture is the key in digital transformation

In Bangladesh identifying and understanding your user is the key to digital transformation. When we were developing the service to sell tickets online, owners were very interested but the users in the counter were not so happy because they thought their job was in danger. We have seen similar trends with other products as well. It's a common theme amongst the B2B industry. So, figuring out your stakeholders and mapping them is imperative.

In order to do that you need on field experience as well. I myself went to the counters to see how the operation works for a counter master. I believe different levels of learning happen when you yourself become a customer. I think going to the field helped me a lot in understanding the customers. Now we have implemented a rule that when a newcomer joins our office, they have to spend 7-10 days in customer care because that’s when the real learning happens. Thinking as a consumer is a very important in digital transformation.  

In short, understanding the big picture, speaking to your customers, being the customer yourself, understanding the product and pointing out the rolling out timing, observing feedback are important components to consider while developing a product for the digital market.

Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO of Sheba Platform Ltd.:

• 99.5% of the 12 million small businesses of Bangladesh are still offline

In Bangladesh we have 12 million small businesses. Out of that, only 0.5% is digitally enabled and 99.5% are still offline. So, this is a huge business scope. In Covid19 time we have seen decline in service business but the MSME sector has seen a huge growth. Everyone is trying to adopt technology now and want to be digitized. Because they believe their way of traditional business will not work.

Helena Rebane, CEO of Addsearch:

• Digital strategy, vision and leadership must be specific before digital transformation

The more digital technology you have involved, the more it gives you the opportunity to take your business to the next level. With a digital strategy you need to think about how to make digital technology a part of your business, what is the role of it for your business, and what leadership is all about. You need to create a vision for why your business is here and have a very consistent way of approaching that vision because without the vision and leadership, it's just a piece of code on the internet that doesn't take you anywhere.