TALKING BUSINESS
TALKING BUSINESS
Companies are
faced with an
ever-growing
list of options
for technology
investment, but
whether or not
those investments
are being put to
good use remains
an omnipresent
problem.
PWC’S DIGITAL IQ
SURVEY SHOWS SOUTH
AFRICA IS AT RISK OF
FALLING BEHIND
M
ost organisations around
the world have not done
enough to keep up with the
digital era – and leadership is falling
short, with many chief executives not
yet fully engaged in the initiatives
of digital transformation. African
companies match their global peers in
many measures of Digital IQ: just over
half (52%) rate their organisation’s
Digital IQ as strong – a score of 70%
or greater. However, South African
companies stand at risk, with less than
half (47%) rating their organisation’s
IQ over 70%.
These are some of the highlights
from the 10th edition of PwC’s Global
Digital IQ survey, with a focus on
Africa. “Digital IQ has a different
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INTELLIGENTCIO
meaning today than it had when
PwC started this research a decade
ago” Tielman Botha, Digital Lead
for PwC South Africa, says: “Today,
the scope and scale of digital-driven
change has grown significantly and
organisations have invested a lot of
time and money to keep up.
“Despite notable advances in
technology, company leaders are no
better equipped to handle the changes
coming their way than they were in
2007, according to the survey results.”
In fact, Digital IQ – the measurement
of an organisation’s ability to harness
and profit from technology has
actually declined since we began
asking executives to self-assess
their own organisations, comments
Botha. As this year’s survey shows,
many companies are grappling with
raising their Digital IQ. There is
awareness that digital capabilities
are a critical component to success,
and that emerging technologies have
to be explored. But leaders remain
challenged by the need to transform
their organisations to truly integrate
digital into the company’s culture.
Digital IQ, leadership and goals
C-suite engagement in digital
investment has grown in the past
decade, but a large portion of chief
executives are still behind when it comes
to being the change agents. In 2007,
one-third of companies said their CEO
www.intelligentcio.com
was a champion for digital, but that
number remains surprisingly low when
CEOs are responsible for staving off
disruptors and driving transformation –
even in 2017 only 68% of respondents
(Africa: 65%; South Africa: 50%) stated
their CEO championed digital. On top
of that, many respondents said other
senior executives remain disengaged
from digital transformations. “CEO and
CIO support is critical to developing
successful digital initiatives, along with
attention to human factors,” Botha adds.
The survey, now in its 10th year of
identifying trends in technology and
business adoption, examines just how
organisations maximise returns on their
digital technology investments, or not.
Over the past decade, PwC has
used this survey to ask corporate
leaders a critical question – how
are organisations maximising
and profiting from their digital
investments? Companies are faced
with an ever-growing list of options for
technology investment, but whether or
not those investments are being put
www.intelligentcio.com
to good use remains an omnipresent
problem, that has not been alleviated
in the last decade.
This year’s survey results, gathered
from the perspectives of 2,216
business and technology executives,
provides insight into the challenges
corporate leaders continue to face.
of things (IOT) and artificial intelligence
(AI), the foundational elements for the
next generation of digital; robotics,
drones and 3D printing, machines
that extend the realm of computing
power into the material world;
Business-model innovation and
technology platform integration are
considered the top digital initiatives
for African organisations over the next
three years: South African companies
are more likely to cite technology
platform integration (50%, vs 40% of
others in Africa).
Emerging technology: next
generation digital
A decade ago, technologies like social
media, mobile, cloud and analytics
were still entering into the mainstream.
Today a new wave of technologies,
including what are known as the
essential eight is emerging: the Internet
Tielman Botha, Digital Lead
for PwC South Africa
INTELLIGENTCIO
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