A Digital Transformation manifesto

It’s a new year and I wonder if a few people may find themselves in the position of writing introductions to Digital transformation projects or proposals. If so, please feel free to copy, paste, ignore or amend any of the words below…

Advances in certain technologies have meant that the world is now able to communicate better than it ever has done before. We can transfer information between people faster and in higher quality than we would have imagined only a couple of decades ago.

Businesses, charities and governments amongst others, are still working out what these new capabilities mean for them.

Fundamentally the world has not changed. People still want and need the same kind of things that they did before. However, the way that organisations should connect their customers with the value they create has shifted.

Decisions can be made later, plans adjusted with less overhead and people reached en mass at a fraction of the cost it would have taken us beforehand. You can have an audience of millions without leaving your bedroom and you can collect donations from across the world after a few taps on your phone.

The job of digital transformation projects is to understand how the existing capabilities of the organisation need to be adjusted to make the most of the new communication opportunities. This is not simply a channel review, it will go to the heart of many of our working practices, but the aim must always be to improve how we meet the needs of our audiences.

We must engage with as many people as possible who care about the future of what we do. We will do this on a level playing field with due respect for each other’s opinions, cultures and ways of making decisions. Expertise will be valued regardless of when they were learned and we will not unpick what we already know.